Beach Fishing in Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island boasts of the presence of both fresh waters and salty waters hence fishing is a common activity in the region. However, unlike commercial fishing inland and deep into large water bodies like in the Pacific Ocean or fishing from boats in rivers, beach fishing is a great outdoor activity that you partake and have fun while vacationing. Salmons are the most common species of fish available in Pacific Ocean and it’s usual to find visitors and locals fishing for them along the shores and in the beaches.
Beach fishing is seasonal and mostly done for adventure and, fun and leisure by fish anglers who don’t possess either the courage to penetrate deep in the fast-raging waters or don’t have the time to fish in boats. Unlike normal fishing, beach fishing may appear tricky and challenging for first time fishers but all what is vital in getting started, is for one to concentrate in timing and casting the fish and eventually retrieving them from the river.
Preparing for beach fishing
To help you with general knowledge of how to fish along the beach, you need to understand the behavior of the salmons or other fish species that you may be targeting.
When fishing for salmons, you will need to know which variety of salmons sail close to shores; the season during which they mostly appear near shores and the foods that they eat. Basically there are majorly two varieties of salmon which can be easily fished along the shores because they at times come so close to the shores in the ocean. They include the pink salmon and the coho salmon.
These two varieties of salmon fish are usually very hungry as they near their end of adulthood and have a great urge to feed more. Hence they will sail along the shores from time to time because food is abundant along the beaches and coastline.
To bait these varieties of salmon you need determine what they are feeding during that season because they are usually lock-jawed at times and may not bite whatever bait you are using at the said moment. There is usually a wide array of bait that you could use which is usually their food and it includes; needle-fish, shrimps, crab larvae, herring, anchovy, sand lance, stickleback etc.
You may need to use binoculars to spot them when they are moving along the shores and also to help you know which areas they frequent. However, this may not be of much importance if you are on vacation and fishing just for fun.
Casting the fish
When spin-casting fish from the beach or coastline, you will need to fishing equipments which are designed to reach further and deeper into the waters unlike in river casting whereby you can use shorter casting systems. The fishing rod needs to be at least 9″ long to be able to go further from the beach and thus increase the likelihood of a good catch.
You may either use a bait-casting rod or a spinning rod, but what is essential is the rating of the rod which needs to be between 6-10 lb test. It should also be able to cast baits which weigh up to ½ oz.
Note that even though a long fishing rod is vital for beach fishing, it shouldn’t be unnecessarily long. This is because if you are unlucky in the whole event and you have spent quiet a considerable amount of effort fishing, you may end up with sore arms.
Thinner fishing lines are also preferable for fishing because they allow you to cast deeper into the waters but may easily be destroyed and cut by rocks and other ocean debris especially in beach fishing because most shores have be littered with sharp rocks and shoals. Consequently, thicker lines will be tougher in rocky beach areas but will limit your distance of casting.
You may consider spooling your reel with a braided fishing line which strengthens the fishing line while making it lighter hence enabling you to cast it further & deeper while withstanding damages or breakages of the fishing line.
You will also need a reel which can withstand salty waters without getting damaged and a drag system which has the capability to handle strong fish movements and resistance.
