Discover Vancouver

Fishing in Vancouver

Have you ever dreamed of catching a thirty-pound salmon?How about a chrome-colored steelhead fresh from the Pacific, or maybe a sturgeon more than seven feet long? You have? Then visit Vancouver and have your dreams come true. All of these trophies and many more are available within a one-hour drive of downtown Vancouver. Yes, you read it right—some of the best sport fishing to be found anywhere on the planet can be experienced just a short distance from the most beautiful city in Canada.

Every year, anglers from all corners of the globe pass through Vancouver on their way to fishing lodges in such exotic locations as Rivers Inlet, Langara Island and Hakai Pass.What these anglers don't know is that they are passing right through some of the most productive waters in the province.

Consider this: the Fraser River has the largest run of salmon in North America, by far. Some years the salmon count in the Fraser is in excess of forty million fish. The run includes all five species of Pacific salmon: Chinook, (we call them springs) Coho, Sockeye, Chum and Pink.All of them call the Fraser home and all five species return to their homes in huge numbers in a desperate attempt to spawn either in the main river or in one of the hundreds of tributaries that drain into the mighty Fraser. Forty million fish!

But that's not all. The Fraser is also home throughout most of its length to the giant White Sturgeon. These prehistoric creatures are often measured in the hundreds of pounds, and when fishing with a local guide for a day it's not unusual to catch several monster-sized sturgeons. Most of the sturgeon fishing is concentrated around the Mission City area 40 miles east of Vancouver, but many of the experienced guides follow the fish throughout the lower sections of the river depending on the time of year and weather. Decades of hunting for these unusual fish have taught them the best places to search for them as the seasons change. There may be no greater thrill in sportfishing than feeling the power of an enormous sturgeon peeling line off your reel and then jumping clear of the water, shaking its head trying to throw the hook. This is big game fishing at its best!

The Fraser River is truly an angler’s dream, but it's not all that's available in the Vancouver area. Trolling in the saltchuck close to the city can yield spectacular results, and let's not forget the dozens of lakes in the area that hold big populations of Rainbow Trout. Some of these smaller lakes are classified as trophy waters, home to trout up to seven pounds.You'll have to do a little homework to find the trophy lakes, but it can be well worth it.

So come to Vancouver and enjoy the sights and attractions, the food and the ambiance, but don't forget the fishing! It's world class.