ReelCaster

Lingcod Fishing in Victoria, BC

16 spots · peak Dec-Feb, Apr-Jun

Lingcod live in Victoria's waters year round, so you are never planning a trip around a run of fish that might not show. They hold on the rocky reefs and pinnacles at Race Rocks, Constance Bank and Oak Bay, and we cover 16 spots that carry them, including Albert Head, Brodie Rock, Brotchie Ledge, Chatham Islands, Church Rock off Albert Head, Clover Point, Constance Bank and Discovery Island. Peak fishing falls in December through February and again from April through June, with the strongest stretch coming as post-spawn fish return to structure and feed hard.

Tide matters more than anything else here. Fish the slack. From dead slack up to about 0.5 knots you can hold your gear where you want it, and by roughly 0.5 knots the drift takes over and the water becomes unfishable for this. Plan your day around the window either side of high or low water and move between reefs as the current builds.

Jigging carries most of the fish. Work leadhead jigs with swimbait tails, metal jigs or bucktail jigs along the pinnacles and reef edges in 60 to 200 feet. When you want a bigger resident ling, drift live greenling or a live small rockfish on a wire leader tight to bottom structure. Mooching whole herring or anchovy along current-swept ledges picks up lingcod as you work the same ground.

When to go

Lingcod are resident year-round in Victoria's waters around Race Rocks, Constance Bank, and Oak Bay, so abundance never drops to zero. The lowest weeks are late winter/early spring when mature females are off the reef guarding nests in deeper or more cryptic areas, and the strongest peak is May–July when post-spawn fish return to structure and feed aggressively, with a secondary bump in late summer as juveniles recruit and adults fatten before fall.

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Relative abundance by month: Jan 91 percent of peak, Feb 89 percent of peak, Mar 86 percent of peak, Apr 91 percent of peak, May 97 percent of peak, Jun 94 percent of peak, Jul 83 percent of peak, Aug 85 percent of peak, Sep 83 percent of peak, Oct 82 percent of peak, Nov 85 percent of peak, Dec 89 percent of peak.

Relative abundance through the year around Victoria. Peak: Dec-Feb, Apr-Jun

How anglers fish it around Victoria

jigging

Most used here

Anglers work jigs along rocky pinnacles and reefs in 60 to 200 feet around Race Rocks, Constance Bank, and Oak Bay.

Bait and lures
  • leadhead jigs with swimbait tails
  • metal jigs
  • bucktail jigs

live bait drifting

A live bait fished on a wire leader near bottom structure reliably draws strikes from larger resident lings.

Bait and lures
  • live greenling
  • live small rockfish

mooching

Cut-plug or whole herring dropped near bottom along current-swept ledges accounts for incidental lingcod while targeting structure.

Bait and lures
  • whole herring
  • anchovy

Tide, current and light

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

Current
100% of the score

Fish the slack

Best from dead slack up to about 0.5 knots of tidal current, and unfishable by roughly 0.5 knots. In practice that is the window either side of high or low water, when gear hangs where you put it.

Tides here read off Oak Bay, Constance Bank, Esquimalt Harbour

Where to fish for lingcod

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

SEE THEM ON THE VICTORIA MAP →

Other Victoria guides

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