Vancouver Island Adventures: Coho Fishing in Sooke





It was a beautiful Sunday morning and there is nothing better than getting up at the crack of dawn (5:30am to be exact) for a fishing adventure in Sooke. As of October 1st anglers in Sooke waters can keep 4 coho (1 wild and 3 hatchery) Coho are probably my favourite to fish as they are usually very energetic and acrobatic fishing when they hit. 

It's very important to remember your fishing license. (As well, be aware of all current regulations in the area you will be fishing) All this information can be found on the Department of Fisheries website.

A full year saltwater fishing license is only $21 but you can also get a 1,3 or 5 day if you don't think you'll be hitting the waters too much in a year. 

This was going to be my first salmon fishing trip this year, once September hit I was disappointed I hadn't gotten out on the water so I was stoked on my dad calling me late Saturday to invite me on a little trip down to Sooke. We've fished in Sooke since I can remember, usually staying at the Sunny Shores Resort. This particular trip was just going to be a day trip, since we were hitting October at this point and it's not so desirable for camping. 
It was a beautiful clear October morning, but still crisp so it was important to dress in layers in case a wind picked up later on. 

We checked the fishing report and anglers were catching lots of coho relatively close to the surface (not usually more than 100ft down) using hootchies, spoons and coho killers. People were often coming in limited out so we were exciting to fill the boat with some nice salmon.

The first bite came literally 5 minutes after dropping the lines in the water, the rest of the day held pretty steady with bite after bite. We had to throw a few smaller wild coho back (one's that still have their adipose fin intact, the small fin between the dorsal and the tail). Before noon we had 6 in the boat and then the wind started kicking up. We were out a little further than most of the other boats and the swells became a little bit too much so we decided to head in a bit. We hooked one more hatchery coho. Though it was a little calmer it was still knocking us around significantly so we made the decision to call it a day. Though it was a shorter day than expected, we caught some delicious coho and we headed home excited to have fresh salmon for dinner! Vancouver Island fishing is always an unpredictable adventure! Happy fishing!




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