FISHING GUIDE · CAMPBELL RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Campbell River & Vancouver Island Fishing Guide

Campbell River has fished for big chinook salmon for more than a hundred years, and the Tyee Club still fishes from rowboats at the river mouth every summer. Boats troll for chinook, coho, pink and chum salmon in Discovery Passage, and halibut, lingcod and other bottom fish are also found in Area 13. Salmon limits in Area 13 change during the season, so anglers must check the DFO page before every trip.

📍 Campbell River, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It sits on Discovery Passage, the channel between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island. This is DFO tidal Area 13.

Map: spots, ramps and marinas

★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)

Open the full British Columbia map →

Quick facts

Campbell River is known as the 'Salmon Capital of the World'; all five Pacific salmon species pass through the area.
A 'tyee' is a chinook salmon of 30 pounds or more.
The Tyee Club of British Columbia was founded in 1924; members must catch a tyee from a rowed boat with an artificial lure.
The Tyee Club record is a 71-pound chinook caught by Walter Shutts of Oregon.
Discovery Passage runs about 50 km from Chatham Point to the south end of Quadra Island and has strong tidal currents.

What you can catch

Chinook (king) salmon
The top target; fish of 30 lb or more are called tyee. Immature chinook feed in the area year-round.
Coho salmon
Summer into fall; in October 2026 only hatchery (fin-clipped) coho could be kept.
Pink salmon
Return to the Campbell and Quinsam rivers around July.
Chum salmon
Hard-pulling late-season fish into November.
Pacific halibut
Bottom fishing; strict size and annual limits apply.
Lingcod
Inside waters are generally open May 1 to September 30.
Sea-run cutthroat trout
Fished from beaches and breakwaters with light tackle or fly rods.
Sockeye salmon
Pass through the area but were non-retention in Area 13 in 2026.

Month by month

January	Winter chinook (immature fish) in the upper Strait of Georgia. Check current limits.
February	Winter chinook. Single-point hook rules apply (Sep 1 to Mar 31).
March	Winter chinook. Tidal licences expire March 31.
April	New licence year starts April 1; the annual halibut count resets.
May	Lingcod in inside waters generally opens May 1. Sea-run cutthroat along the beaches.
June	Salmon Bay (13-34) closed to all finfish from June 1.
July	Pinks arrive. Tyee season opens July 15. Village Bay closed from July 1.
August	Peak summer: tyee, coho and pinks. Snorkel trips with salmon on the Campbell River.
September	Tyee season ends September 15. Lingcod generally closes September 30.
October	Coho and chum. In 2026 the approach waters to Campbell River were closed October 8 to 31.
November	Chum salmon into November.
December	Winter chinook. Salmon Bay closure ends December 31.

Tips

Buy your BC tidal waters licence online before you go and add the salmon conservation stamp if you plan to keep salmon.
Record every chinook, halibut and lingcod you keep right away, on the licence or in the app.
Use barbless hooks only, and learn to tell a fin-clipped hatchery coho from a wild one.
Discovery Passage currents are strong; check tide and current tables before heading out.
Carry a descender device to send released rockfish back down.

Rules and license

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Pacific Region · Official rules page ↗

A BC Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence is needed to fish salt water (licence year April 1 to March 31). A salmon conservation stamp is needed at any age to keep salmon. Under-16s get a free tidal licence.
Freshwater salmon fishing (e.g., Campbell or Quinsam rivers) needs a BC provincial freshwater licence for anglers 16 and older.
Area 13 limits as posted in October 2026: chinook 2 per day (62 cm minimum), coho 2 per day hatchery-marked only, pink 4, chum 4, sockeye none. All salmon combined: 4 per day. Limits change in-season: check before each trip.
Chinook: coastwide annual limit of 10; record each one (head-on length) right away.
Halibut 2026-27: max 10 per person from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027; none over 112 cm head-on; record each one.
Barbless hooks year-round in Area 13; from September 1 to March 31 only single-point hooks no wider than 22 mm point to shank.
Closures: approach waters to Campbell River (Oct 8-31, 2026), Phillips Arm (year-round), Salmon Bay (Jun 1-Dec 31), Village Bay (Jul 1-Oct 31), proposed Homayno Marine Refuge. Check Rockfish Conservation Areas too.
Rockfish were closed in Area 13 in October 2026; released rockfish must go back down on a descender device.

Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.

Boat ramps and marinas

The map above shows 17 boat ramps and 7 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.

Brown's Bay Marina
Comox Bay Marina
Courtenay Slough Marina
Discovery Harbour Marina
Goose Spit Marine Railway
Gorge Harbour Government Wharf
Pacific Playgrounds Marina
Point Holmes Boat Ramp
Royston Small Craft Boat Launch
The Coast Marina Campbell River

Sources

Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.