Coho Salmon Fishing in Vancouver, BC

Vancouver puts coho within a short run of the city, and we cover 29 spots that hold them across Howe Sound and the Strait of Georgia. Bowen Island water off Queen Charlotte Channel gives you Comet and Hood Point on the north end, Cowan Point on the south, and Hole in the Wall in between. Bowyer Island and Halkett Point sit inside the Sound, Gower Point sits out toward the Sunshine Coast, and the Capilano Mouth holds fish right off the harbour.

Fish June through September. Numbers build through summer as feeder coho fatten, then peak from late August into mid-September when mature fish stage off the Fraser, the Capilano and the Squamish before they push into the rivers in late September and October. There is a smaller plateau in spring when resident bluebacks are around, but the heavy fishing is late summer.

Trolling carries the fishery here. Work the top 60 feet with flashers ahead of small trolling spoons or hootchies, run your speed up, and swap to cut plug herring when the fish want bait. Bucktailing with bucktail flies is a fast surface troll for aggressive fish near the top. When coho pin bait on the surface, drop metal jigs into them. Go at first light, fish again as the light goes, and time your trip to a tide running 1.5 knots or better.