Halibut Fishing in Cowichan, BC

Halibut move into the waters around Cowichan on a schedule you can plan around. Pacific halibut push onto the shallower banks in the Gulf Islands and Juan de Fuca approaches from spring through early fall, with the first strong showing in March through May as fish come inshore to feed after spawning offshore. A second sustained peak runs through July and August, when they work herring and salmon bellies hard in the Strait of Georgia feeding grounds. By late fall most mature fish have dropped back into the deep trenches and offshore shelf, leaving a thin residual presence through winter. March through July is your window.

We cover 11 spots that hold halibut here. Active Pass, Cowichan Bay Reef, Danger Reefs and Enterprise Reef in Stuart Channel all fish well, along with the Genoa Bay area, the mouth of Bird's Eye Cove at Maple Bay, Burial Islet, and Nose Point off Prevost Island.

Tide runs this fishery. Fish the slack. From dead slack up to about 0.5 knots you can hold bottom and feel everything, and by roughly 2.5 knots the spot is unfishable, so time your drifts either side of high or low water. Drift jigging is the main game, working leadhead jigs with swimbait tails, heavy metal jigs or octopus skirts near the seafloor in 150 to 400 feet off the Cowichan Bay and Sansum Narrows approaches. Back that up with bait on the bottom, whole herring, salmon bellies or octopus on spreader bars over mud and sand flats.