Vancouver Salmon Fishing Season & Salmon Types

Vancouver, B.C. is lucky to have salmon fishing all year round. We have 5 species of salmon we fish for at different times of year – this is great for keeping my clients excited and happy every time they come out for sports fishing.

OUR FISHERIES

[[Spring salmon]] ([[King Salmon]], [[Chinook Salmon]], Feeder Salmon, [[Tyee salmon]])

Spring salmon can be referred to by using any of these names in the West Coast and in Vancouver. I hope you will get your chance to use the term Tyee because that means you have caught a Spring over 30lbs – a trophy fish! In the winter, I get lot of hits from the aggressive Feeder Springs from November through March. I generally fish the west side of Bowen Island in quiet bays and the fish range in size from 5 to 18lbs with a few sometimes hitting the 20lb mark for the lucky angler. In the spring and summer months I fish a variety of locations depending on where the fish are and where the feed is. In the spring fish usually range in size from 10 to 25lbs with a few hitting the Tyee mark. In the summer the Spring salmon usually average between 10 and 30lbs – at this time of year I am usually targeting a few species of salmon; pink, coho, and sockeye salmon are the species of salmon that are all in the Vancouver area at the same time it makes for exciting days guessing what will hit next. In the fall the big Spring salmon move in usually in early September. These salmon range from 15lb to 40lb with a few 50lbs caught every year. We can fish these salmon until mid October if the rain stays away. This is your best bet to get yourself your Tyee salmon and as we catch your Tyee salmon you will be overlooking downtown Vancouver, it is really that close to the city.

[[Coho Salmon]]

This Vancouver salmon fishery starts in June and usually ends in late September along the West Vancouver shoreline. This Vancouver fishery peaks in July to the first week in August depending on the rain. In Vancouver you can only keep hatchery Coho salmon identified by the fact that these salmon have there adipose fin clipped. These salmon range in size from 4 to 12 pounds with some bigger ones coming in late September.

[[Sockeye Salmon]]

The Sockeye fishery usually starts mid to late July and goes through until September. The Sockeye salmon run in huge schools; it is not uncommon to get double and triple headers so the action is fast and furious. If you’re not busy catching one, you will see them fin around, jump, or the person next to you will be playing a Sockeye salmon. Known as the best eating salmon their meat is dark red and are the most sought after for the table. I usually fish by the Fraser River just out from the Vancouver airport for these salmon.

[[Pink Salmon]]

The Pink salmon come every odd year so this year 2009 is a year for their return. They come back in the millions – 10 to 20 million of these salmon in the Vancouver waters are common. These fish are smaller, 3 to 10lbs, but great on light action rods. They come in early August, usually a pretty similar time to the Sockeye run. I fish for these salmon up Howe sound or off the Fraser river.

[[Chum Salmon]]

Chum salmon usually come in late September and last until the end of October. These fish are hard fighters and range in size from 8to 20lbs. Usually Chum salmon are caught while we are fishing for Spring salmon.

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