ReelCaster

Qualicum Beach Fishing Report & Forecast

Today's best window: 9 AM to 12 PM

Do I need a licence in Qualicum Beach?

Updated today

Chinook fishing at French Creek looks good today.

ReelCaster scores every hour at French Creek from 0 to 100, reading the tide, current, wind and weather for Chinook. The higher the score, the better your odds. Green means go.

Chinook
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Every spot around Qualicum Beach, scored

Each number is today's best score out of 100 at that spot. The card walks the most-fished spots.

View Qualicum Beach fishing map

The next 14 days in Qualicum Beach

Data from: ECMWF + GFS + BlueCaster

  • Two weeks ahead

    Most forecasts stop at the weekend. This one runs a full 14 days, so you can pick the day before you book the time off.

  • One number, out of 100

    The best score anything in Qualicum Beach reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.

  • 11,424 scores behind it

    34 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.

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Hour by hour today at French Creek

All times PDT

  • One real spot

    A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is French Creek, the most fished spot in Qualicum Beach, scored for Chinook Salmon.

  • Six readings, one clock

    Tide, current, wind, sea, air and sky, all lined up on the same hour, so you can see what is actually driving the score.

  • Currents, not just tides

    Modelled flow for the water off Qualicum Beach, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.

Conditions
Time
2 PM
Now
Score
78
Good
Tide
15.0 ft ▼
Ebbing
Current
—
Ebb
Wind
3 kn
NE · steady
Sea state
Flat
0.0 m
Air temp
8°
Cold
Weather
Overcast
100% cloud
Hour 2 PM. Score 78 Good. Tide 15.0ft Falling ▼. Current -0.5kn Ebb. Wind 3kn NE G5. Sea 0.0 m Flat. Air 7.5°.

The spots people actually fish in Qualicum Beach

28 more on the map

  • A year of catch reports

    The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Qualicum Beach comes first.

  • Today's number too

    Beside each name is the best score that spot reaches today, so you can weigh a proven mark against a good forecast.

  • Every spot has a page

    Its own chart, its own species and its own rules, worked out the same way as everything above.

Every spot we score in Qualicum Beach

Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCan

  • Real charted seabed

    Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.

  • 34 spots, all scored

    Every spot we cover around Qualicum Beach, each one carrying its own number for today.

  • Point at any of them

    The name, how busy a mark it is, and the tide, sea and seabed at its best hour.

Create custom spots

Our full model on your custom private spots.

  1. Drop a pinAnywhere on the water. The ledge you found, the bay nobody talks about.
  2. Name itYour name for it, not ours. It stays private to your account.
  3. Choose speciesPick what you fish there, and it starts scoring from the next run.

What you can keep in Qualicum Beach today

  • Chinook SalmonKeep2 a day · min 62 cmOpen at all 30 spots we cover
  • Coho SalmonKeep2 a day · min 30 cmOpen at all 34 spots we cover
  • SurfperchKeep8 a dayOpen at all 8 spots we cover
  • Flounder / Sole (Flatfish)Keep8 a dayOpen at all 2 spots we cover
  • LingcodClosedShut at all 31 spots we cover
  • Black RockfishClosedShut at all 17 spots we cover
  • Rockfish (Aggregate)ClosedShut at all 2 spots we cover

Rules differ between PFMAs and change in season. Check DFO for the PFMA you are fishing before you keep anything.

All 31 spots in Qualicum Beach

Every spot we cover around Qualicum Beach has its own page, with the tide, the wind and the next 14 days.

That was one day. Pro opens the next fourteen.

Every spot on this map, hour by hour, two weeks out, with alerts when your water crosses the score you set.

$0 today, then $33 CAD a year, which is $2.75 a month. Card required, cancel any time.

When to fish Qualicum Beach

Each row is shaded against that species' own best month here, so a dark cell means a good month for that fish rather than a comparison between them.

Relative abundance by month for each species around Qualicum Beach
SpeciesJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Chinook Salmon
Coho Salmon
Lingcod
Black Rockfish
Surfperch
Flounder / Sole (Flatfish)
Herring
Rockfish (Aggregate)

Chinook Salmon: January poor, February fair, March good, April fair, May poor, June good, July peak, August peak, September peak, October poor, November poor, December poor. Coho Salmon: January none, February none, March none, April none, May poor, June peak, July peak, August peak, September peak, October good, November none, December none. Lingcod: January good, February good, March excellent, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December good. Black Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Surfperch: January poor, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December poor. Flounder / Sole (Flatfish): January poor, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June good, July good, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December poor. Herring: January peak, February peak, March peak, April poor, May none, June poor, July poor, August poor, September poor, October fair, November fair, December good. Rockfish (Aggregate): January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair.

  • Chinook Salmon. Qualicum Beach (Strait of Georgia) holds resident/feeder Chinook through winter and spring giving a moderate baseline that builds with warming water and bait, then peaks in late July through August as maturing Fraser and Puget Sound-bound stocks stage and migrate through. Abundance tapers through September as fish move to natal rivers, settling back to a winter feeder-Chinook baseline.
  • Coho Salmon. Coho are largely absent from Qualicum Beach waters in winter/early spring, with a modest presence of feeder/immature coho building through late spring and early summer. The dominant peak is the fall run (late August through September) as maturing coho stage in the Strait of Georgia near the Qualicum and Little Qualicum river mouths before spawning, then abundance drops sharply through October as fish move into freshwater.
  • Lingcod. Lingcod are resident year-round in Strait of Georgia waters off Qualicum Beach, so abundance never drops to zero. A late-winter/early-spring peak (Feb–Mar) reflects males guarding nests in shallower reefs, with a slight post-spawn dip in late spring as fish disperse, then a broad summer-fall rebuild as fish feed heavily and grow.
  • Black Rockfish. Black rockfish are non-migratory, structure-oriented resident fish in the Strait of Georgia around Qualicum Beach, so abundance stays near baseline year-round with no true biological absence. The modest summer-to-early-fall peak reflects warmer water pushing fish shallower and more active onto reefs, while winter shows slightly reduced presence as they hold deeper and feed less in colder temperatures.
  • Surfperch. Shiner and pile perch are resident year-round in Qualicum Beach's shallow eelgrass and sandy shorelines, so abundance stays near baseline. The spring peak (roughly March–April) reflects gravid females moving inshore to give live birth in warming nearshore waters, the best window for surfperch presence.
  • Flounder / Sole (Flatfish). Flatfish are resident year-round in the shallow sandy flats around Qualicum Beach, so abundance stays broadly near baseline with no true zero weeks. A spring peak (Apr–Jun) reflects fish moving inshore to feed and spawn as water warms, with a secondary late-summer bump before deeper-water dispersal in colder months lowers inshore density.
  • Herring. The Strait of Georgia herring stock stages and spawns in the Qualicum Beach/Parksville area in late February through March (weeks 8-13), producing the dominant peak as mature fish mass in shallow nearshore waters to spawn on eelgrass and kelp. After spawning most adults disperse offshore to feed, leaving reduced but persistent nearshore presence of juveniles and residual schools through summer and fall, with abundance ticking up again in early winter as fish begin restaging.
  • Rockfish (Aggregate). Rockfish are long-lived, resident, non-migratory reef and rocky-structure dwellers in the Strait of Georgia near Qualicum Beach, so biological abundance is essentially flat year-round. A very mild summer bump reflects juvenile recruitment settling and slightly increased activity/feeding in warmer water, but the stock never truly leaves — the flat curve is realistic for this sedentary aggregate.

Before you go

Management areas

Water around Qualicum Beach falls into 6 areas, and the rules can differ between them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets them.

  • 14-1
  • 14-2
  • 14-3
  • 14-4
  • 16-21
  • 17-11
Licence you need

Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence

Fisheries and Oceans Canada · 2026-27

Annual, Canadian resident aged 16 to 64: $25.86

Salmon Conservation Stamp $7.39, required to keep any salmon. Releasing does not need it.

This is the federal tidal licence. Fishing fresh water in BC needs a separate provincial licence, and one does not cover the other.

Do I need a licence in Qualicum Beach?Buy from Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fishing Qualicum Beach

Qualicum Beach sits on the east coast of Vancouver Island, fronting the sheltered waters of the Strait of Georgia and the string of reefs, points, and small islands that break the current offshore. The fishery centers on Chinook Salmon, which peak from July through September, and Coho Salmon, which run strong from June into October, with Lingcod holding through the winter months of January to March. Anglers work Chinook by trolling along the tide lines and drop-offs that form around the exposed points and rocky islets scattered across these waters. Many of the 32 spots cluster around submerged reefs and headlands where structure concentrates fish. The core season carries from late spring through early fall, when salmon dominate, with bottom species like Lingcod and Pacific Cod extending the fishing into the colder months.

Common questions about Qualicum Beach

›Do I need a fishing licence in Qualicum Beach?

Yes. Fishing around Qualicum Beach needs the Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. $25.86 a year for a Canadian resident aged 16 to 64 in 2026-27. The Salmon Conservation Stamp ($7.39) is required to keep any salmon. Releasing does not need it. This is the federal tidal licence. Fishing fresh water in BC needs a separate provincial licence, and one does not cover the other.

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