Vancouver Island Business: Coastal Wilderness Adventures (Campbell River)



Since Vancouver Island is completely surrounded by ocean and has a multitude of lakes and rivers, it's not surprising it offers year round world-class recreational sports fishing that appeals to all kinds of fishing interests. You can fish for a huge halibut far out on the ocean to a small rainbow trout in one of the MANY lakes in the region. I had the opportunity to connect with a young successful sports fishing business owner, Curtis Smith of Coastal Wilderness Adventures.









1.Q - Hi Curtis, where do you live on Vancouver Island and what is your business?

A: I live in Campbell River and my business is guided Sport fishing on the North Central Island. We do river, lake and ocean fishing trips 12 months a year.

2.Q - What do you love most about your business and what do you find challenging?

A: It is absolutely fantastic to be able to do something that I love and share the outdoors of Vancouver Island with people from all over the world. The challenge most often is mother nature and what she throws at us sometimes.

3.Q - As a youngster what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: I really didn't have a plan like this. I had thought maybe I'd be an architect or something like that. This just fell in my lap

4: Q - How important do you feel social media is to the success of your business?

A: Most of my clientele really don't work with socail media that much, as most of them are of retirement age.....however, in the last 6 months or so people are really jumping into all of this it seems. Social media has really helped this year in getting the word of mouth out more and more about what I do. People always have family and friends and spreading the word is always great! It's really been fantastic to be able to have the hotels, visitor centres, local businesses and so forth be able to watch what we're doing daily, since it's really hard to keep them all informed when we're so busy with long days with clients.

5: Q - Biggest fish you've ever caught?

A: Biggest Chinook Salmon I've guided was 56 pounds and a 2.5 hour fight. Amazing! The biggest Halibut I've guided was 77 pounds. Lots of fun!

6: Q - Favourite restaurant in Campbell River?

A: For breakfast and lunch the Java Shack and dinner Dolphins Resort

7: Q - What do you love best about living on Vancouver Island?

A: We have everything. Fishing, Hunting, Hiking, Biking, Skiiing etc, etc. It's paradise for an outdoor person!

Find Coastal Wilderness Adventures on Facebook.

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