British Columbia - Fishing Vancouver Island: Saltwater Options

Fishing Vancouver Island, British Columbia, encompasses two different sorts of angling, both fresh and salt water. For now, let's take a look at the salt water variety and come back to fresh water fishing at a later date.

The salt waters of Vancouver Island are great for all types if fish, but the most popular with fishermen are the 6 different types of salmon, barn door halibut and rockfish. There are also some very unusual options that many anglers enjoy catching, and both charters as well as head boats can take anglers out into these waters. However if you are also a boater, there are ample ramps for launching your own craft.

If you are planning a weekends fishing in British Columbia, you might want to extend your stay a little, prices are about the same as in the US, but the CAD exchanges at around 64 cents to the dollar, so you make a saving of 33 % on everything you have to pay for apart from gas. This sells per liter and works out to be more expensive. Apart from your savings on the exchange rate of the dollar, there is also a Federal rebate on Goods and Services Tax.

A boat trip will take you from Victoria for a day out on the sea to catch both bottom fish and fly fish for salmon. It is better to avoid the busiest season, because it gets very busy. Reasonably priced and good value for money live on-board operations will take you out to find the best traditional fishing spots and guarantee you a catch worth talking about. Once of the most popular spots is the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Islands, Port Hardy.

Cheap packages that include flights from Vancouver, accommodation, a couple of days fishing and fish packing can be found at most times of year when it is out of peak season. The cost is based on the type of accommodation you choose and the more up market fly fishing lodges with their own guides tend to be more expensive, but they do provide extras

There are plenty of B&B's in the Island which offer reasonably priced accommodation and will include in the cost of your stay a day out fishing from the beach and the bank as well as crabbing, shrimping, clamming and musseling.

Camping facilities are good and very reasonably priced, but bear in mind that the roads are not great and in the wet season, this can be a problem. Camping could become uncomfortable to say the least. Finding budget accommodation is easy at most times of year, barring the salmon season.

Uclet and Tofino celebrate a salmon festival in the fall and offer inexpensive lodging and wonderful seafood all year round. They can be a little far to travel to from Port Alberni, for a weekend, but if you stay a few extra nights it is worth taking the trouble.

Taking a trip to Big Bank is worthwhile if you don't get sea-sick. Fleets of charters are available to do this. If you take your own boat make sure you check the tide tables and weather. Using the locals is a better idea as they know the best angling options. If you don't like boating at all and prefer to stand on your own two feet, you still have lots of angling options. Flies and streamers may be cast from the beach, piers and rocky outcrops. There is plenty of salmon, flatfish, herring, rock fish and perch to be caught. If you are lucky you might even get eel or octopus... Delicious!