Year-round salmon in the Juan de Fuca Strait makes Sooke a hub for sports fishing on southwestern Vancouver Island.
A handful of guides and charter operators are based in town and make it easy to get out onto local waters with all necessary bait and tackle. The main competition for fish? Passing pods of Orcas.
Most operators zip patrons out of Sooke Harbour and into a rich fishing zone commonly known as "the west side." It extends from Race Rocks lighthouse in the south off Metchosin to Sheringham Point, Point No Point and Jordan River in the north. Favourite local fishing spots include Possession Point (not far past the Whiffin Spit lighthouse), Secretary Island (a few minutes further east towards East Sooke) and Otter Point (a 20-minute trip west of town). Up in Port Renfrew, charters sail out to Swiftsure Banks, known its for summer schools of coho and chinook salmon.
Where Salmon is King
The T'Sou-ke peoples have lived off the ocean for millennia. While fish stocks have declined dramatically here as elsewhere, chinook (aka king or spring salmon) and giant halibut can be reeled in from the deep, cold waters 12 months per year. During the summer, maturing chinooks average between 7 kilos/15 lbs and 18 kilos/40lbs, while some rare specimens are 20 percent bigger still. In the winter, the chinook are smaller but more abundant.
All credit goes to the volunteer-run Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society, which operates the Jack Brooks' Hatchery near Young Lake north of town (on private forestry lands and not open to the public). Between 600,000 and a million fish are released annually into the Sooke River and its tributaries – cutthroat, rainbows, steelhead, kokanee, coho, chum and chinook included. The society's motto: "We hatch them. You catch them."
Fishing Derbies
The thrill of competition along with the promise of prize money for the day's biggest catches fuel a number of local fishing derbies held during the summer. The Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina has set the bar high with its annual Vancouver Island Salmon Classic. Some 55 teams compete for a whopping $175,000 in prize money over the September Labour day weekend.
The Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society's annual derby is held a month earlier at the beginning of August. The Sooke Legion is also known for hosting a low-key and fun summer salmon derby.
Fishing Guides and Charters
The best starting point is Eagle Eye Outfitters (2051 Anne Marie Road off Highway 14 near the Home Hardware store). The info centre here has brochures for local guides and the staff are happy to share tips. The shop itself carries ocean, river and lake fishing gear, lures and lines along with all-weather clothing, information on licenses required, GPS navigational aides and other outdoor essentials.
Eagle Eye's Ron Neitsch runs 2 Reel Fishing Adventures. Half-day outings (four to six hours) for parties of two or more begin at $300. He and his guides also provide fish cleaning and packaging services along with tasty onboard snacks. Other local operators include VIP, Back For More and Reel Excitement salmon charters, while a dozen more Victoria-area operators set out routinely from Sooke.
In Port Renfrew, Quigley Sports Fishing utilizes a 28'/8.5m pleasure boat known as the Fighting Sioux. It's loaded with technology that can track fish down to their ocean lairs.
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