Fishing at Pedder Bay – A General Guide
Pedder Bay offers excellent year round opportunities for a good variety of game fish plus tasty bottom fish and crab. Largely sheltered from prevailing summer winds, Pedder Bay itself offers excellent salmon, halibut, crab and bottom fish opportunities all less than 10 minutes from our docks.
Here’s a little more information on the how to’s of fishing in our area to help you understand what’s biting when….
SALMON:
1. Chinook (King) Salmon – Available year ‘round.
- Winter Chinook, October to April are typically 5 to 15 lbs, and are caught usually in either Pedder Bay near the can buoy or in Whirl Bay. Winter Chinook are typically found pretty close to the bottom in 100 to 200 feet of water. Winter Chinook are aggressive feeders and can be caught on spoons, hootchies and bait usually trolled behind a flasher using a downrigger to get down to the depths required.
- Summer Chinook, May to September range from 10 to 45 lbs. These fish are usually more selective than winter Chinook and are most often caught closer to the surface in depths ranging from 40 to 120 feet. Effective lures include bait (herring & anchovies), spoons and hootchies trolled off a downrigger about 4 to 7 feet behind a flasher or dodger for bait, 36 to 45 inches for spoons and 24 to 36 inches for hootchies. Inside Pedder Bay, and only about 5 mins from our dock we have a very productive Chinook fishery based on using metal jigs like MacFish, Point Wilson Darts, Gibbs Minnows and Zzingers.
2. Coho (Silver) Salmon – July – November.
- Coho Salmon typically start to show up in catchable numbers in mid to late July with sizes ranging from 4 to 7 lbs in the early season. These fish are usually caught incidentally to the Chinook fishery, but in some years can be found in good numbers out in the tide lines in the middle of the Strait and can be specifically targeted. In most years, anglers can only retain hatchery marked Cohos until October 1st but hatchery fish make up a large percentage of the catch. Spoons, hootchies and bait will all catch these aggressive fish. The trick is usually just finding them, getting them to bite is not a problem.
- The bigger “Northern” Coho usually start to appear in good numbers by the end of August and peak in late September. Ranging from 7 to over 20lbs, these aggressive, hard fighting fish are found from the shoreline out to the middle of the Strait, usually associated with tide lines. Depths range from literally on the surface to as deep as 150 feet so changing depths often and running multiple rods are recommended until you find the fish. Bait, hootchies, plugs and spoons all account for their fair share of Coho but trolling quickly compared to Chinook fishing is usually required.
3. Pink Salmon – July –Sept.
- Every odd numbered year (like 2021!), vast numbers of Fraser River bound Pink salmon converge on Juan de Fuca Strait in the mid summer. Starting in early July, and peaking in late August these scrappy, tasty salmon range from 5 to 7 lbs and offer almost non-stop action.
- Perfect for family fishing outings, pink salmon will bite almost anything as long as it’s pink. These fish are perfect for introducing children to the sport of fishing due to their abundance and willingness to bite.
- Pink salmon can be caught from the surface down to 100 feet but usually in depths of 25 to 75 feet. They are a favourite with fly fishermen, and can also be caught on jigs and cast spoons.
BOTTOM FISH:
1. Halibut – Feb – Dec.
- Pedder Bay has excellent halibut fishing from March through to the end of September.
- Halibut are found as close as 5 minutes from our docks with most of the best spots located less than 20 minutes.
- Depths range from 100 to 300 feet, always right on the bottom.
- Halibut are fished either by anchoring or drifting. Picking days with small tidal fluctuations and slow currents (less than 1.5 kn max) is critical. You can’t effectively fish halibut in our area with big currents.
- Bait on a spreader bar or jigs are the preferred methods. Bait includes whole mackerel, extra large herring, octopus and squid. One or two lb weights are the norm.
2. Other bottom fish – All year depending on species.
- Ling and rockfish seasons typically run from June to Sept. Check for openings and bag limits.
- Cabezon, flounder, greenling, open all year.
- Depths and locations vary depending on species, but bait or small jigs work best in depths ranging from 25 to 200 feet.
3. Crab – all year.
- Dungeness and Rock crab are found close to Pedder Bay Marina in sheltered waters 12 months of the year.
- Depths typically under 50 feet.
Please check the regulations on limits before heading out
Some local Fishing Reports can be found at;
http://www.fishingvictoria.ca/fishinglocations.html
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