CHINOOK SALMON
(KING OR SPRING)
Guidance
- Limit : 2 per person over 62 cm(24.5 inch)
- Life : 4-7 years
- Av. Size : 6-14 pounds
- Season : All year
Chinook salmon have black gums and a silver, spotted tail distinguish the chinook salmon from other salmonids. It has a lightly spotted blue-green back and is the largest, most prized game fish. the chinook salmon lives from three to seven years. It weighs between 1.5 kg and 30 kg. Average-size chinooks salmon are often known as springs in B.C. Those over 13.5 kg are called tyees, and in the U.S., chinook salmon are called king salmon.
COHO SALMON
(SILVER)
Guidance
- Limit : 2 per person over 30 cm
- Life : 3 years
- Av. Size : 3-8 pounds
- Season : May-Oct
Coho salmon have white gums, black tongues and a few spots on the upper portion of their bodies and silver-coloured tails. They have a wide tail base. The cleithrum(collar of the fish, under the gillcover) is distinctly blue peppered or mottled. Bright silver with a metallic blue dorsal surface, coho salmon usually live for three years and grow rapidly in their final year. They weigh between 1.3 kg and 14 kg. In the Strait of Georgia from April to early June, small coho salmon passing from the grilse stage to maturity are called bluebacks.
SOCKEYE SALMON
(RED)
Guidance
- Limit : 4 per person over 30cm
- Life : 4-5 years
- Av. Size : 6-10 pounds
- Season : Aug-Oct
The sockeye salmon is almost toothless, with numerous long gill rakers and prominent, glassy eyes. Slimmest and most stream-lined of the Pacific salmon species, the silver-blue sockeye lives from four to five years. It usually weighs between 2.2 kg and 3.1 kg but can reach 6.3 kg. Young sockeye salmon remain in fresh-water nursery lakes a year or more before migrating to the sea.
PINK SALMON
Guidance
- Limit : 4 per person
- Life : 2 Years
- Av.Size : 4-6 pounds
- Season : July-OctPink salmon have tiny scales and a tail heavily
marked with large oval spots. Unlike the other salmon species, the tail of a pink salmon has no silver in it. In the sea, pinks have silver bodies with spotted backs. They are the smallest of the Pacific salmon, usually weighing about 2.2 kg, but occasionally reaching 5.5 kg. They are more abundant in northern waters in even-numbered years and in southern waters in odd-numbered years. Pinks live only two years.
CHUM SALMON
Guidance
- Limit : 4 per person
- Life : 3-5 Years
- Av. Size : 8-14 pounds
- Season : Sep-Nov
A white up on the anal fin usually identifies a chum salmon. Resembling sockeye salmon , but larger, chum have silvery sides and faint grid-like bars as they near spawning streams. The tail base is narrow and there is silver in the tail. They live three to five years and weigh about 4.5 kg to 6.5 kg, but they have been known to reach as much as 15 kg.
LING COD
Guidance
- Limit : closed
- Season : All year
- Limit : 1 per day
- Season : All Year
- Av. Size : 20-30 cm
You can catch them anywhere there is a rocky bottom. Because of there has been a decrease in their population over the past few years, we can’t retain any in the Strait of Georgia. They put up a good fight so it’s very enjoyable to catch them. One of the methods is by mooching using live herring.
ROCK COD
Guidance
You can catch them at the same locations that you catch Ling Cods. After the salmon have stopped bitting, fishermen can always try their luck catching rock cod as a bonus.
The above information is only for the Vancouver Coastal Area. Salmon limit is 4 per person a day.