Coho salmon
Excellent
The river run. Float gear with roe or a jig, or cast spinners and spoons in the slower tailouts after a rise in water.
Port Alberni Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
Port Alberni at the head of the Alberni Inlet: the Somass sockeye, late-summer chinook and the Stamp River close by.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~13 °C est.
Air / High
10 °C / 17 °C
Wind
SSW 1 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Port Alberni rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1005 hPa and a high of 17 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Chinook (spring) salmon
Good
Fish are staging or moving to the rivers. On the coast, the deeper banks and the winter feeders; in Great Lakes rivers, drifted roe and spinners in the deeper runs.
Tie on: Float and roe · Swung fly through the tailout · Jerkbait, long pauses · Hair jig on the rock. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 17 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
British Columbia requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$11.43. British Columbia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing chinook (spring) salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with BC Freshwater Fishing before you keep anything; the Chinook (spring) salmon page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Port Alberni today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:10), sunset (19:10), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low17 °C / 9 °C
WindSSW 1 km/h, gusts 10 km/h
Pressure100.52 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 68%
Sunrise / Sunset07:10 / 19:10
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Port Alberni
The best day on Port Alberni this week looks like Sunday Sep 27, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Sunday, Sep 27 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Sep 25 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 07:10 to 19:10
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 68%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Port Alberni: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Chinook (spring) salmon
BC coast: spring to late summer; Great Lakes tributaries: September and October
The biggest Pacific salmon, called spring or king on the BC coast. Feeds along the kelp lines, points and tide rips of the BC coast before running rivers in late summer; introduced to the Great Lakes, where it runs the tributaries in fall. Retention on the BC coast changes by area and by DFO fishery notice. Fish are staging or moving to the rivers. On the coast, the deeper banks and the winter feeders; in Great Lakes rivers, drifted roe and spinners in the deeper runs.
Coho salmon
BC coast: July to September; rivers: October and November
Silver, aggressive and surface-oriented. Feeds hard along the BC coast through summer and runs the Fraser Valley and Island rivers in fall, the Vedder and the Stamp among them. Hatchery coho are marked by a clipped adipose fin; what may be kept depends on the water and the DFO notice. The river run. Float gear with roe or a jig, or cast spinners and spoons in the slower tailouts after a rise in water.
Pacific halibut
Spring and summer on the BC coast, under DFO limits
The big flatfish of the outer coast: Bamfield, Ucluelet, Tofino, Nootka and the north coast. Annual and daily limits and size rules are set by DFO and change during the season. Fewer fish; the offshore banks on the calm days.
Lingcod
Spring to fall, with a winter closure in many areas
The toothy reef fish of the BC coast, on rock piles and pinnacles. Limits and closures vary by DFO management area. Fish move shallower; jig the rocky points.
Pink salmon
Late summer, mainly in odd-numbered years in the south
The smallest and most numerous Pacific salmon. In the south of BC the big runs come in odd-numbered years; the fish crowd the estuaries and the lower rivers in August and September. The run is over.
When to come: the Port Alberni calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Chinook (spring) salmon
Coho salmon
Pacific halibut
Lingcod
Pink salmon
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Port Alberni today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at excellent. High of 15 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
BC freshwater fishing licence, from C$11.43 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by BC Freshwater Fishing and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the British Columbia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The inlet needs the DFO tidal licence and the salmon stamp; the Somass, Stamp and other rivers need a BC freshwater licence with the non-tidal salmon or steelhead surcharges as required.
About this water
Port Alberni is a coastal town in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Port Alberni: the full guide
Fishing Port Alberni
Port Alberni is the mill town at the head of the Alberni Inlet, the long fjord that runs forty kilometres inland from Barkley Sound, where the Somass River, fed by the Stamp and the Sproat, meets the salt water. The salmon of the Somass system gather in the inlet and the harbour in summer, and the town fishes them from boats and the shore. The report on this page is scored for the town, with a modelled tide curve.
Species and seasons
Sockeye bound for the Somass are the first run, in early summer, fished only when DFO opens a fishery; chinook follow in late summer, and coho in the fall. The Stamp River, above the town, is fished for steelhead and salmon under the freshwater rules. DFO sets the inlet rules by notice through the season.
Where to fish it
Boats fish the inlet from the harbour down toward the sound, and the mouth of the Somass. The Stamp River, with the Robertson Creek Hatchery on its upper reach, is fished from the bank above the town and has its own character.
Planning a visit
Port Alberni is on Highway 4, the road to Ucluelet and Tofino, about ninety minutes from Nanaimo. It has launches, tackle shops and guides, and the passenger freighter to Bamfield leaves from here. Harbour Quay, on the waterfront, is the place to watch the boats come in and hear what is being caught.
The water through the year
Early summer sockeye, late-summer chinook and fall coho give the inlet a long season; the rivers run high with the winter rain, when the steelhead come.
Reading this report here
The tide panel shows a modelled curve for the head of the inlet, labelled as a model; the official times are from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. Wind funnels up the inlet in the afternoons; pressure and sky build the score.
Licence, access and rules
The inlet needs the DFO tidal licence and the salmon stamp; the Somass, Stamp and other rivers need a BC freshwater licence with the non-tidal salmon or steelhead surcharges as required. The rules are linked below.
Common questions
When is the sockeye run at Port Alberni?
In early summer; it is fished only when DFO opens a recreational fishery by notice.
What rivers are near Port Alberni?
The Somass, fed by the Stamp and the Sproat, which meets the inlet at the town.
Do I need two licences at Port Alberni?
For the inlet and the rivers, yes: DFO tidal and BC freshwater.
Is fishing good at Port Alberni right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.