Coho Salmon Fishing in Sidney, BC

Sidney sits right on the Coho highway. Fish moving through Haro Strait and the southern Gulf Islands pass within a short run of the ramp, and we cover nine spots that hold them: Active Pass, Colburne Passage and Moresby Island, D'Arcy Island, James Island, Patrician Bay, Portland Island, Sidney Spit and Willis Point. Each one puts you on a different piece of the migration, from the tide-scoured water of Active Pass to the shallower flats and drop-offs off Sidney Spit.

Plan your trip between May and September. May and June bring a modest bump of resident bluebacks feeding through Juan de Fuca, then numbers build hard from June onward. Late August through September is the heavy end of it, when large numbers of migratory adults stage here before pushing into local, Fraser River and Puget Sound streams. Through October the fish move into the rivers and the fishery falls away, leaving smaller resident feeders through winter and spring.

Trolling does most of the work. Run flashers with trolling spoons or hootchies in the top 60 feet, or pull cut-plug herring where fish are holding on bait. When Coho are chasing bait on the surface, bucktailing with bucktail flies takes actively feeding fish. Mark a school tight to a bait ball and drop metal jigs straight down on them.