Halibut Fishing in Vancouver, BC

Pacific halibut move inshore from deep continental shelf water in spring, filtering into the Strait of Georgia and the Fraser approaches as the herring, eulachon and sand lance show up. Your window runs March through August, with the heaviest concentration of fish from May into July when post-spawn halibut settle onto shallower feeding ground. A second plateau holds through late summer as fish stage before heading back offshore. By November most of the stock has left for deeper spawning water west of Vancouver Island, and midwinter abundance sits near zero.

We cover 22 spots that hold halibut around Vancouver. Bowen Island in Queen Charlotte Channel, Comet and Hood Point off the north end, and Cowan Point all put you on structure worth drifting. Bowyer Island and Halkett Point sit inside Howe Sound, and Capilano Mouth, Gower Point and Hole in the Wall round out the run of water you can reach on a single tide.

Tide dictates everything here. Fish the slack, from dead water up to about 0.5 knots, and expect it to shut down by roughly 2.5 knots. Work the hour either side of high or low water when your gear hangs where you drop it. Drift jigging is the main game, leadhead jigs with soft plastic, metal jigs or salmon bellies worked near bottom over gravel and sand flats in 150 to 400 feet. Bottom bait fishing with a weighted spreader bar backs it up.