ReelCaster

Today's best fishing in Qualicum Beach: 7 AM to 10 AM

This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Qualicum Beach.

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.

  • 10,752 scores behind it

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

Tue
Sep 15
Wed
Sep 16
Thu
Sep 17
Fri
Sep 18
Sat
Sep 19
Sun
Sep 20
Mon
Sep 21
Tue
Sep 22
Wed
Sep 23
Thu
Sep 24
Fri
Sep 25
Sat
Sep 26

Hour by hour today at Sangster Island

All times PDT

  • One real spot

    A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Sangster Island, the most fished mark 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
10 PM
Now
Score
18
Tough
Tide
11.6 ft ▼
Ebbing
Current
—
Ebb
Wind
8 kn
SE · gusty
Sea state
Easy
0.2 m chop
Air temp
16°
Mild
Weather
Partly cloudy
55% cloud
Hour 10 PM. Score 18 Tough. Tide 11.6ft Falling ▼. Current -1.4kn Ebb. Wind 8kn SE G18. Sea 0.2 m chop Easy. Air 15.6°.

The spots people actually fish in Qualicum Beach

26 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 mark 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.

  • 32 marks, 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 32 spots we cover
  • Coho SalmonKeep2 a day · min 30 cmOpen at all 32 spots we cover
  • HalibutKeep in places2 a dayOpen at 31 of 32 spots we cover
  • LingcodKeep in places1 a day · min 65 cmOpen at 31 of 32 spots we cover
  • Black RockfishClosedShut at all 11 spots we cover

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

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.

Start your 7-day free trial

$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
Halibut
Lingcod
Black Rockfish

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. Halibut: January none, February poor, March good, April peak, May peak, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September fair, October poor, 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.

  • 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.
  • Halibut. Pacific halibut in the Strait of Georgia near Qualicum Beach are most abundant late spring through summer as fish move onto shallower feeding banks with warming water and abundant baitfish/herring; a secondary rise in late summer reflects continued feeding, while winter shows lower nearshore presence as many fish shift to deeper offshore areas.
  • 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.

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
  • 14-6
  • 16-21
  • 17-11
Licence you need

Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence

Fisheries and Oceans Canada · 2026-27

Annual, Canadian resident, 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.

Full licence guideBuy 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, while others sit over deeper open ground favored by Pacific Halibut from March through August. 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.

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