Ucluelet Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Ucluelet on the Pacific Rim: chinook, coho and halibut off the open coast and Barkley Sound, beside a national park reserve with its own fishing limits.
2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.40 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
Next tide
Low 6:11 p.m. model
Air / High
8 °C / 10 °C
Wind
E 22 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ucluelet is in its winter rhythm: slow, deep and around the brightest hours. Today brings cloud cover, wind E around 23 km/h, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 11 °C. Tides: high 11:21 a.m., low 5:18 a.m. and 6:11 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 12:10 AM-2:10 AM and 12:29 PM-2:29 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: 12:10 AM-2:10 AM, 12:29 PM-2:29 PM, 8:54 AM-9:54 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 Ucluelet today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (08:22), sunset (17:49), 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 12:10 AM-2:10 AM and 12:29 PM-2:29 PM; minor 8:54 AM-9:54 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
LOW5:18 a.m.-0.19 m
HIGH11:21 a.m.1.84 m
LOW6:11 p.m.-1.31 m
Tue
HIGH12:43 a.m.1.25 m
LOW5:48 a.m.0.00 m
HIGH11:51 a.m.1.85 m
LOW6:42 p.m.-1.17 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp8 °C
High / Low10 °C / 7 °C
WindE 22 km/h, gusts 41 km/h
Pressure101.43 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain90% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset08:22 / 17:49
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~10 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Ucluelet
The best day on Ucluelet this week looks like Thursday Nov 12, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, Nov 12 — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, Nov 9 — Tough
40 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
- Solunar majors
- 12:10 AM-2:10 AM and 12:29 PM-2:29 PM
- Minor period
- 8:54 AM-9:54 AM
- Sun
- 08:22 to 17:49
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 40 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ucluelet: 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
Open now Closes Nov 16, 2026. Outside waters are open to rockfish and lingcod 1 April to 15 November; lingcod 3 a day, 65 cm minimum. Rockfish Conservation Areas, and the permanent finfish closure in the Broken Group, are closed to all finfishing. Rule as read from Fisheries and Oceans Canada on 2026-09-27.
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 Ucluelet 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 Ucluelet today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 40 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Coho salmon led the card at good. High of 12 °C, wind to 40 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 43 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Coho salmon led the card at good. High of 13 °C, wind to 43 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 42 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Coho salmon led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 42 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
Salt water needs the DFO tidal licence and the salmon conservation stamp, and each chinook and halibut kept goes on the licence at once.
About this water
Ucluelet is a coastal town in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Ucluelet: the full guide
Fishing Ucluelet
Ucluelet is the fishing town on the west side of Barkley Sound, on a peninsula facing the open Pacific next to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, whose administration office is in the town. Its harbour is a working one, and its sport fishing reaches the banks offshore and the edges of the sound. Scoring on this page uses the town’s coordinates and a modelled tide curve.
Species and seasons
Chinook and coho feed along the outer coast from early summer, and halibut, lingcod and rockfish are fished on the offshore banks and reefs. DFO manages Barkley Sound as Area 23, with Clayoquot Sound to the north as Area 24 and the offshore waters as Areas 123 and 124; its West Coast Vancouver Island chinook measures set the limits for each, with extra closures and size caps in some zones.
Where to fish it
Charters and private boats run offshore to the banks on calm days and fish the outer edges of Barkley Sound when the swell is up; the waters off Amphitrite Point mark the change from sheltered sound to open coast. A large part of the Broken Group Islands, inside the park reserve, is permanently closed by DFO to all fin-fishing to protect inshore rockfish, and Parks Canada reduces harvest limits within the park. From shore, the rocky outer coast is exposed and its waves can be dangerous.
Planning a visit
Ucluelet is reached by Highway 4 across the mountains of central Vancouver Island. The town has lodges, marinas and charter operators. Green Point Campground, the park reserve’s frontcountry campground midway between Ucluelet and Tofino, is open from May 1 to mid-October and takes reservations.
The water through the year
The salmon and halibut season runs through summer, and winter brings storms that people come to watch rather than fish. Early summer brings the first chinook along the outside, midsummer the coho and the calmest halibut weather, and late summer the salmon that turn into Barkley Sound for the Alberni Inlet.
Reading this report here
The tide panel shows a modelled curve, not the Canadian Hydrographic Service prediction, which is the official one. The swell and the wind decide whether the boats go out, with pressure and sky a distant second.
Licence, access and rules
Salt water needs the DFO tidal licence and the salmon conservation stamp, and each chinook and halibut kept goes on the licence at once. Inside the park reserve, Parks Canada adds its own rules to DFO’s and asks anglers to stop fishing within 1,000 metres of killer whales. Area limits and closures are in the DFO Fishery Notices.
Common questions
What is the fishing like in Ucluelet?
Chinook and coho in summer, and halibut, lingcod and rockfish offshore, fished mostly by charter or private boat.
Can I fish in the Broken Group Islands?
A large part of the Broken Group is permanently closed by DFO to all fin-fishing to protect rockfish, and Parks Canada reduces harvest limits in the park; check the closure boundaries before you go.
Can I fish from shore in Ucluelet?
In places, but the open coast is exposed and waves can be dangerous; most fishing here is from boats.
Is fishing good at Ucluelet right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 40 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
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
- 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.