Salmon and Halibut Information
Chinook(King) salmon, Coho(Silver) salmon and halibut are the species we target. We also catch sockeye salmon and lingcod as incedentals.
Chinook (King) salmon (above) are the salmon most anglers come for because of their size. When a Chinook salmon is bigger than 15-20 pounds, it usually produces a great fight. When you get one of these large salmon on the line, you really know your in for a battle. The world record sport caught Chinook salmon was just over 97lbs. The record sport caught chinook salmon for Ucluelet was about 63 lbs. Commercially they have been caught much larger, so it is just a matter of time before the record is broken again in Ucluelet. Larger Chinook salmon are great smoked while the smaller ones(under 15 pounds) are great pan fried or on the BBQ. We catch Chinook salmon all summer.
Coho salmon (above) are very aggressive feeders. Often in July, August and September you can barely get your line down while fishing off LaPerouse Bank. Sometimes when it is foggy early in the morning you can see Coho surfacing all around for as far as you can see. Coho salmon are scrappy fighters and often come out of the air. Sometimes you will see them do a little tail walk for you! Coho salmon are generally between 5-15 pounds in Ucluelet. They are great on the BBQ, fried in a pan with butter, or candy smoked. Coho fishing usually starts near the end of June right up into late September.
Halibut are not much of a fight, but they are good eating. We often get requests from people wanting to catch halibut since they haven't ever caught one. They usually don't provide too much of a fight unless they are bigger than 40 pounds. We usually don't recommend catching halibut over 30-35 lbs as the meat seems to get a little grainier. Some people don't mind, however, if you are interested in the best halibut, you will want to eat the smaller ones (often called chickens). Halibut fishing is usually good from May right into August and September. Pictured above is the white side of the Halibut and below is the dark side of the halibut. Halibut become hard targets for predators to see while lying on the bottom with the dark side facing up and the white side facing down. The white side often becomes red as the halibut migrate and move along the bottom.
