September 01, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Fishing
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Port Renfrew is one of Vancouver Island's best fishing hot spots. The starting point for the famous West Coast Trail hiking route, it also offers saltwater anglers excellent salmon and halibut fishing opportunities.
Our charter, from Victoria's Island Outfitters, was scheduled to depart the Port Renfrew dock at 6 am, so we left Victoria just after 4 am - yikes! A quick stop at a 24hr Tim Hortons gave us a much needed boost: sugar and caffeine, the classic fisherman's breakfast.
From Port Renfrew it was a 20-minute run to the fishing grounds. Within minutes our guide, Dan, had the lines down and was working hard to get us "on the fish". As we trolled the shoreline the fog burnt off, revealing colourful tents and campfire smoke from hikers on the West Coast Trail. We could see boats around us landing fish, and our excitement grew as we figured we were due for one soon...
Bam...fish on!! The rod tip was wrenched down and line started peeling off the reel as I fumbled to get the rod out of the holder. Once in my hands, the fight was on...and it was a good one. Ten minutes later we had the fish aboard - a beautiful 20lb chinook salmon. After the morning "bite" died down we decided to head offshore to try for halibut. Along the way we dropped the lines for pink salmon and picked up 6 in only 10 minutes - sweet!
We anchored on one of Dan's halibut hot spots on Swiftsure Bank - this is definitely offshore water! Even on calm days there is an ever-present ocean swell. This is where the big ones are, though, and we weren't disappointed - after landing two "chickens" (the name given to 15-20 lb halibut) we hooked a beauty. After 15 minutes of hard cranking we could see it just below the surface - and when I heard Dan call for the harpoon, I knew it was a big one. When the 65 lb halibut hit the deck I was officially the happiest guy on the water.
We headed back to Port Renfrew tired, worn out and content. We stopped to check a crab pot on the way in and ended up with 15 Dungeness "keepers", a nice bonus to end the day.
This was my third fishing trip to Vancouver Island; two from Ucluelet and one from Port Renfrew. I can't wait for my next BC fishing adventure!
August 31, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Fishing
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I have compiled this random list of what I think are the best things to do on Vancouver Island (mainly in the summer months).
10. Go Fishing:
There are so many fishing hot spots off of Vancouver Island it's
amazing, so many choices of location (Port Alberni, Campbell River,
Sooke, Port Hardy, etc) and so many choices of fish! (salmon, trout,
cod, etc).
9. Nanaimo's International World Championship Bathtub Race: This occurs near the end of July and is one of the biggest events of the year for Nanaimo.
8. Vancouver Island MusicFest: This happens July 10-12 in the Comox Valley, the organizers try to keep
it as green as possible, local food, recyclable products, etc! 3 days
of great music!
7. Saratoga Speedway: Located halfway between Campbell River and Courtenay, drag racing,
monster trucks and modified stock cars will keep everyone entertained!
6. West Coast Trail: This 75km hike that stretches in between Gordon River and Pachena Bay
is a popular one, reservations required! Experience the natural world of
Vancouver Island.
5. Strathcona: This is BC's oldest provincial park and the location of Vancouver
Island's highest mountain. Plenty of hiking, mountain biking and camping
can be done.
4. Camping:
Lake Cowichan, Port Alberni, Goldstream, and Tofino are some popular
camping areas, but any community on the island is campable! (is that
even a word?)
3. The Beach: There are many beaches but the most popular ones would probably be Parksville, Rathtrevor, Long Beach and Pachena Bay.
2. The River:
River swimming is very popular on Vancouver Island. Sooke Pot holes,
Nanaimo River, Nimpkish, and Englishman River are some good areas to
check out.
1. Long Beach, Tofino:
With a population of about 1900 (this triples in the summer), Tofino is
the place for surfing, classy resorts/spas, amazing beaches, fishing
and the true West Coast.
Did I miss anything?
March 03, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Fishing
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It was the summer of 2010 and we wanted to escape our city life in Austin, Texas and visit the Pacific Northwest. We had ten days off and decided to drive from Texas, to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia (3000+ mile car trip). We had just bought a new VW and thought it would be fun to drive it across country and have an adventure along the way (and, boy did we ever)!
We entered BC the “round-about” way by ferry from the NAS base on Whidbey Island to Victoria BC (you can make reservations for some of these BC ferries, so plan ahead). I highly suggest traveling on at least one of the ferries in British Colombia because it is a great way to see some of the Canadian coastline. We saw thousands of puffins and what we thought was a whale plume in the distance during the journey, it was fun!
We had booked a hotel room in Victoria BC for a couple of days with a family-owned hotel that also had a hotel in Vancouver (made it really easy for us since that was another destination on our itinerary), but we did not make any activity plans so that we could depend on the locals’ recommendations and be more impromptu rather than planning out everything before arriving in Canada. It was a good thing that we had booked our hotel though because we didn’t realize July 1st was Canada Day (we thought we had avoided the crowds of July 4th weekend in the states!) and hotels were booked up.
We ended up stopping at the
visitor center in Victoria so that we could gather local flyers and talk to a tourism expert who was able to recommend activities still available for the holiday weekend.
Through the BC tourist official, we ended up going deep sea fishing off of Vancouver Island which was completely amazing. I kinda like fishing, but deep sea fishing is a whole adventure on its own (do not forget the Dramamine if you even get a little motion sick). I caught a silver salmon, red snapper, and a smaller halibut. We even found a storefront in the Fisherman’s Wharf that would smoke and vacuum seal our fish so that we could take our catch home with us!
I had a great time overall. We met some wonderful people, compared mosquito size (Canadian vs Texan), and had some Canadian beer! Overall, our time in Victoria BC was marvelous. Next stop, Vancouver and the Strait of Georgia!
To Come:
Part 2: Vancouver and the Strait
of Georgia
Part 3:
Glacier National Park
April 15, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Fishing
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The South Island is usually the first place in the province to experience the spring fishing bight, and Victoria is no exception. It is no wonder that the earliest fishing derby of the year is on Elk/Beaver lake in early April. The fish can also be surprising large rivalling even the much lauded lakes of the Thompson/Nicola. Rumor has it that this year's derby winner was a 4 1/2 pound rainbow! That's no small potatoes. That fish would have been about double the size of the one you see in this photo. However, I did get three fish the week before the derby all over two pounds. I caught them all on a Wigglewood plug that I got from Black Creek Fly and Tackle. The Watermelon plug is what did the trick. Some other lakes on the South Island that hold larger than average trout to try out in April include Fuller lake, Cowichan Lake and Loon lake near Port Alberni. Have fun.
April 15, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Fishing
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The South Island is usually the first place in B.C. to experience the new season's spring fishing, and Victoria is no exception. It is no wonder that the earliest of the freshwater derbies is held on Elk/Beaver lake in early April. And wonder of wonders the fish can be surpirisingly large. Rumor has it that a four pound rainbow took the prize this year. That will be about double the size of the fish you see in this photo. I caught it on a Wigglewood plug that I obtained from Black Creek Fly and Tackle. The Watermelon plug caught me three fish of that size the weekend before the derby. A few other lakes down that way to check out for good size fish are Fuller, Thetis and Loon lake near Port Alberni. I love getting out in the early part of the season. The weather is comfortable, the water skiers aren't out yet and the fishing is fantastic.