ReelCaster

Chinook Salmon Fishing in Sooke, BC

18 spots · peak Jun-Aug

Sooke puts you right on the highway that Chinook use to reach the Fraser, the Columbia and Puget Sound, and you can fish it from a boat within minutes of the ramp. We cover 18 spots that hold Chinook here, including Otter Point, Beechey Head, Aldridge Point, Christopher Point, Bentinck Island, Pedder Bay, Muir Creek and Muir Point, and the Jordan River Mouth. The bluffs and offshore ledges concentrate bait, and the fish sit on that bait.

The season runs in two parts. Resident winter springs feed through January to May, with numbers building slowly and a short lull in late April and May as those fish spread out. The main event is mid-July through August, when mature migratory stocks transit the Strait of Juan de Fuca past Otter Point and the Sooke bluffs. June through August is your peak window. September drops off fast as fish push inside, and the resident feeders rebuild through late fall and winter.

Trolling carries most of the fishing. Run anchovy or herring behind flashers along the bluffs and offshore, near bottom in 100 to 200 feet, and swap to trolling spoons or hootchies when the bait gets picked apart. Drift mooching a cut-plug or whole herring on a banana weight works the tide lines and shallower structure, and metal jigs fished vertically take fish holding tight to bait balls over the reefs.

When to go

Sooke shows a clear bimodal Chinook pattern: resident 'winter springs' feed through Jan–May with gradually building numbers, then the major migratory peak hits mid-July through August as Fraser, Columbia, and Puget Sound-bound stocks transit the Strait of Juan de Fuca past Otter Point and Sooke Bluffs. September sees rapid decline as fish push inside, with low resident-only abundance through late fall.

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Relative abundance by month: Jan 64 percent of peak, Feb 72 percent of peak, Mar 70 percent of peak, Apr 63 percent of peak, May 76 percent of peak, Jun 97 percent of peak, Jul 99 percent of peak, Aug 82 percent of peak, Sep 60 percent of peak, Oct 55 percent of peak, Nov 57 percent of peak, Dec 57 percent of peak.

Relative abundance through the year around Sooke. Peak: Jun-Aug

How anglers fish it around Sooke

trolling

Most used here

Anglers troll bait behind flashers along the Sooke bluffs and offshore, often near bottom in 100 to 200 feet.

Bait and lures
  • anchovy
  • herring
  • trolling spoons
  • hootchies

mooching

Drift mooching with a banana weight and cut-plug herring works the tide lines and shallower structure off Sooke.

Bait and lures
  • cut-plug herring
  • whole herring

jigging

Vertical jigging targets chinook holding tight to bait balls over local reefs and ledges.

Bait and lures
  • metal jigs

Tide, current and light

These are the conditions ReelCaster weights when it scores chinook salmon at Sooke spots, and they are the ones worth planning a trip around.

Light
75% of the score

Go at first light

The bite is strongest with the sun low: from just before sunrise through the first couple of hours of daylight, and again as the light goes in the evening. Through the middle of a bright day it tails off, and scores follow it down.

Current
25% of the score

Fish moving water

Best once the tide is running at about 1.5 knots or more. The bite fades as the current drops away and dead slack is the worst of it, so plan the trip around the run of the ebb or the flood rather than the turn.

Tides here read off Sooke Basin, Becher Bay, Race Rocks

Where to fish for chinook salmon

Every spot we cover around Sooke that holds chinook salmon, with today's score for this species. Open the spot for the tide, wind and the next 14 days.

SEE THEM ON THE SOOKE MAP →

Other Sooke guides

Guide last reviewed August 2026. Seasons, limits and closures change: confirm the current DFO notice before you fish.