The Salmon fishing Victoria offers each year is full of non-stop action, with the opportunity to hook into a grand total of 5 different species here. Chinook Salmon (also known as Spring Salmon) are the most popular catch in these waters, weighing anywhere from 3-60 lbs. Specimens 30 lbs and above are called Tyees, and these brutes tend to be the main event of the summer.

The local Salmon fishing is about much more than these trophy fish, however. Scores of winter Chinook along with seasonal runs of Coho, Pink, Chum, and Sockeye Salmon make Victoria a real hub for these fish and the anglers who are eager to catch them.

When to Catch Salmon

There’s never a bad time for Salmon fishing in Victoria, especially if you’re in the market for a Chinook. While your chances of landing a Tyee are best between May and August, there’s much more to the Chinook season than that. You can expect consistently good fishing for this species from October to May, with the highest numbers appearing between November and late April. Though smaller than summer Chinook, these 5-20 lb winter fish put up a mean fight and make for excellent eating.

If you’re looking for the widest variety of Salmon, try casting lines between August and December, when you can catch Chum, Pink, Sockeye, and Coho (a.k.a. Silver) Salmon. While Salmon are scarce in most parts of British Columbia by this time of year, the protected waters of Victoria are teeming with them as they follow their instinct back to the rivers where they hatched. Add to that some of the best weather on Vancouver Island and you’ve got yourself the perfect conditions for winter Salmon fishing.

Victoria Salmon Fishing Techniques

With such a wide variety of Salmon at their doorstep, anglers in Victoria–and British Columbia at large–have developed many tactics when it comes to catching this fish. The most common method is trolling, typically with Anchovies, spoons, and squid-like artificials called “hoochies.”

You’ll hear lots of talk about “mooching” around here, a specialized form of trolling that anglers in BC have found to be tried and true. This involves dragging a weighted line behind the boat at a 45-degree angle, keeping the hook several feet above of the bottom.

Another popular and culturally distinct method of Salmon fishing in this corner of the world is “bucktailing.” Anglers mainly use this technique to catch Coho Salmon feeding near the surface in deep water. A combination of trolling and fly fishing, bucktailing involves tossing a bucktail fly into the prop wash behind a moving boat, usually while maintaining a speed of 5-8 knots.