Whale Channel

Whale Channel is a mid-exposure corridor of sand bottom running through DFO subarea 29-3 off Vancouver, with working depths from 65 to 330 feet. The channel funnels Chinook Salmon through the summer, with the fishery peaking from June through August. Downrigger trolling is the dominant approach here, pulling anchovy in teaser heads, hootchies, or trolling spoons behind flashers along the depth breaks. Anglers working the tide seams also mooch cut plug or whole herring, and vertical jigging with metal jigs or soft plastic swimbaits produces on fish holding deeper in the water column. Tide movement through the corridor concentrates bait, and adjusting downrigger depth to match active feeding zones is central to the presentation.