Quadra Shorelines and the Passage Are Holding Winter Chinook

Where the Fish Are Holding Today

Good morning from Campbell River. If you want to find winter Chinook right now, you need to know where to look, and the answer is close to home. Discovery Passage is the engine driving our fishery this week, with resident Chinook stacked up and feeding hard along the structure. The shorelines around Quadra Island are producing just as well, where bait pushes tight to the bottom and the Chinook follow it in. These are local resident fish in the 8 to 15 pound class, and they are hungry.

This Morning's Conditions

We are looking at a crisp 5°C start under partly cloudy skies. Northwest winds are light at 12 km/h, and with wave height sitting around 0.2m, the water is about as forgiving as it gets this time of year. We are working a morning slack transitioning into the flood, which is exactly the tide window you want for winter Chinook. That building flood gets the bait moving and switches the fish into feeding mode along the passage edges.

Technique That's Working

Depth is everything with winter springs. Get your gear down into that 100 to 120 foot range where the fish are holding against the bottom contours. Glow spoons and glow hoochies behind a flasher are the ticket on these darker, low-light October mornings. Troll slow, hug the structure off Quadra Island and through the deeper edges of Discovery Passage, and keep your gear in the zone. When you mark bait, slow down and stay on it.

What Guests Can Expect

Retention is 2 per day with a 62cm minimum, and the fish are cooperating. We are seeing consistent action on healthy, chrome-bright resident Chinook that fight well above their weight in the cold water. Johnstone Strait can produce too, but the inside waters off Campbell River are giving up fish with less running around. With the calm forecast and that productive flood tide, this is a prime day to be on the water.

Book Your Spot

Winter Chinook fishing is one of our best-kept secrets, uncrowded water, feeding fish, and spectacular scenery. The calm conditions won't last forever, so if you've been thinking about getting out, now is the time. Give us a call or book online and let's put some chrome in the boat.

Ready to experience world-class fishing in Campbell River? Book your charter trip with Fishing Storie Charters today. Captain Jason and the crew are ready to put you on fish.