Lingcod Fishing in Vancouver, BC

Lingcod hold in Vancouver waters all year. They are resident ambush predators that sit on rock and wait, so there is no month when they empty out of Howe Sound or the Strait of Georgia. The concentration changes, though. From late December through March males move shallow to guard egg masses on rocky reefs and hold their ground, with females staging nearby, and that aggregation carries the peak through April. Late summer brings a softer bump as adults feed hard on herring and juveniles recruit onto the same structure.

We cover 24 spots that hold lingcod. Bowen Island in Queen Charlotte Channel, Comet and Hood Point off the north end, and Cowan Point give you rock and current edges within a short run. Bowyer Island and Halkett Point sit further into Howe Sound. Hole in the Wall, Gower Point and the Capilano Mouth round out the range from broken bottom to river-influenced water.

Plan your day around the tide, not the clock. Fish the slack, from dead water up to about 0.5 knots, which means the window either side of high or low. By roughly 2.5 knots your gear sweeps off the structure and the spot is done. Drop metal jigs, swimbaits or leadhead jigs onto pinnacles and reefs in 40 to 150 feet. Whole herring, live greenling or squid worked near the bottom over the same rock brings the bigger fish.