Sooke Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Sooke on the Strait of Juan de Fuca: summer chinook and coho along the kelp west of Victoria, with killer whale closures offshore.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 6:09 p.m. model
Air / High
6 °C / 12 °C
Wind
N 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Sooke is a cold-water proposition today: small baits, slow presentations and a long soak. Today brings cloud cover, wind N around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 12 °C. Tides: high 11:14 a.m., low 5:28 a.m. and 6:09 p.m.: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 10 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 12:03 AM-2:03 AM and 12:22 PM-2:22 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Chinook (spring) salmon
Slow
Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 12:03 AM-2:03 AM, 12:22 PM-2:22 PM, 8:44 AM-9:44 AM. Similar at 13 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Sooke today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (08:13), sunset (17:43), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 12:03 AM-2:03 AM and 12:22 PM-2:22 PM; minor 8:44 AM-9:44 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Tides (modelled)
Modelled sea level curve from Open-Meteo Marine for these coordinates, datum mean sea level. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
A model, not the official prediction: times can drift by tens of minutes inside bays and estuaries. Check the Canadian Hydrographic Service predictions at tides.gc.ca for the exact times before you rely on them.
Mon
LOW5:28 a.m.-0.46 m
HIGH11:14 a.m.2.14 m
LOW6:09 p.m.-1.67 m
Tue
HIGH12:21 a.m.1.51 m
LOW6:01 a.m.-0.36 m
HIGH11:47 a.m.2.10 m
LOW6:42 p.m.-1.57 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp6 °C
High / Low12 °C / 5 °C
WindN 9 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure101.63 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 95%
Sunrise / Sunset08:13 / 17:43
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~10 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Sooke
Today is the pick of the week on Sooke, at 3 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, Nov 9 — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, Nov 9 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 12:03 AM-2:03 AM and 12:22 PM-2:22 PM
- Minor period
- 8:44 AM-9:44 AM
- Sun
- 08:13 to 17:43
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 95%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Sooke: 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. Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
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. Late fish in the rivers are dark and done; the coast is quiet until spring.
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. Out of season or unfishable weather.
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. Closed in many areas for the nesting season.
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. Out of season.
When to come: the Sooke 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 10 °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 Sooke today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 35 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 34 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 35 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 → In salt water you also need the federal BC Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence.
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. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on British Columbia fishing seasons.
Access
In salt water you need the DFO tidal waters licence, with the salmon conservation stamp to keep salmon; the Sooke River needs a BC freshwater licence and, for salmon, the non-tidal salmon surcharge.
About this water
Sooke is a coastal town in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Sooke: the full guide
Fishing Sooke
Sooke is the harbour town on the Strait of Juan de Fuca west of Victoria, where the south coast of Vancouver Island runs past Otter Point toward Port Renfrew. Its fishing is salmon trolled close to the kelp and the rocky shoreline, where fish bound for the Fraser and Puget Sound pass through the strait. The report here is calculated for Sooke itself, alongside a modelled tide curve.
Species and seasons
Chinook and coho are the summer fish, with pink salmon in odd-numbered years; halibut are fished on the banks offshore, and lingcod and rockfish on the reefs. Sooke lies in DFO Area 20, which is split for bottom fish: subareas 20-1 to 20-4 follow the outside-waters rules, while 20-5 to 20-7 follow the stricter inside-waters limits and season. Chinook retention and size limits change by notice through the year.
Where to fish it
The shoreline from the harbour mouth west past Otter Point is trolled close in along the kelp on the tide changes. Sooke Harbour and the Sooke Basin are sheltered water for small boats; the open strait needs a seaworthy boat and a watch on the wind. From August 1 to October 31, 2026, DFO closed an offshore block of Subarea 20-5, out toward the international boundary, to salmon fishing for Southern Resident killer whales.
Planning a visit
Sooke has marinas, launch ramps and guides, and Highway 14 continues west to Port Renfrew. Fog and the afternoon westerly are the two things to plan around. East of town, in Becher Bay, a rockfish conservation area boundary reaches Frazer Island, a reminder to check the conservation area charts before dropping gear to the bottom.
The water through the year
Summer is the Sooke season, when migrating salmon hug the island shore; spring brings the first halibut, and winter is quiet, fished on calm days for chinook under the rules DFO sets for the waters near Victoria. The Sooke River, which runs into the basin, has its own freshwater rules: it is closed from July 15 to August 31 and is fly fishing only below Sooke River Falls from September 1 to November 30.
Reading this report here
Tidal currents shape the fishing along this shore. The tide panel shows a modelled curve for the town, while the official predictions are the Canadian Hydrographic Service’s. On the open strait, wind speed matters more than anything else in the score.
Licence, access and rules
In salt water you need the DFO tidal waters licence, with the salmon conservation stamp to keep salmon; the Sooke River needs a BC freshwater licence and, for salmon, the non-tidal salmon surcharge. Area 20 limits, killer whale closures and rockfish conservation areas change through the season, so read the DFO Fishery Notices for Area 20 before each trip.
Common questions
What can I catch off Sooke?
Chinook and coho in summer, pinks in odd-numbered years, halibut offshore, and lingcod and rockfish on the reefs in their open season.
Is there a killer whale closure off Sooke?
Yes. In 2026 DFO closed part of Subarea 20-5, offshore toward the international boundary, to salmon fishing from August 1 to October 31 for Southern Resident killer whales.
Is Sooke far from Victoria?
It lies a short way west of Victoria on the south coast of Vancouver Island, on Highway 14 toward Port Renfrew.
Is fishing good at Sooke 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
- Tide curve (modelled)
- Open-Meteo Marine, sea level height including tides
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&ID=all&DOC_
- notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&ID=all&DOC_
- notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&ID=all&DOC_
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/activ/SCO-WCT
- 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.