B.C. coast spearfishing anyone?

[sloughshark]

I am moving to Prince Rupert or Terrace BC in the spring, and i would love to know more about spearing opportunities there. Do halibut ever come into less than 60/70 ft?

I dove in Vancouver a bit and for a week on the Queen Charlottes, but only caught crabs, saw octopus and tiny flounders. What about a big halibut? Or a rock cod?

I'd love to know more before heading out there with my brother. We've dove mostly tropical waters of OZ and NZ, but very little in Canada, any input would be appreciated.

 

[Pixie74]

http://forums.deeperblue.com/canada/73725-bc-spearing-trip-round-3-2008-a-19.html

 

[Erik]

Greenling, Lingcod, Rockfish are great hunting up there. Halibut are around and get into the shallows but I've yet to get one- usually I see a blast of sand and that's it. Amphibious (Colin) may have had better luck with flatfish than me as he's hunted up there more. When are you moving? Would you like to get together for some freshwater shooting this fall? I'm in Edmonton.

 

[sloughshark]

Thanks Eric. My brother and I are moving to Terrace or Rupert in Feb. to guide for bear in the spring (hopefully). I'm pretty busy this fall with work and big game hunting, but we should stay in touch. I've never shot a freshwater fish, only hunted in OZ for 6 months. Later

 

[Erik]

Very cool. The above-mentioned Colin is a helicopter pilot that until recently was a guide out of Prince George. Hopefully we can all get together at some point.

 

[cdavis]

Sloughshark,

Welcome to DB.

British Columbia has some primo diving, as long as you can get used to diving in your ice drink. Jokes aside, I just got back from the Telegraph Cove trip to BC and this tropical water diver loved it.

You mentioned the Queen Charlotte's. That area is on our list for a future trip. Where exactly were you and what were the conditions??

Connor

 

[sloughshark]

The sandy north shore had very poor visibility, because of the surf. Very shallow a long way out. I caught enough crabs for everyone here. Great fun, but no fish. With a boat, maybe you'd have better luck. On the East side of the Is, the water was very clear and stone crabs were easy to come by. I didn't spend enough time here to see any fish (5 hrs) near Charlotte city, but it was beautiful. Very rocky and clear, big boulders and octopus. Really an awesome place. I'll def. be back there next summer.

 

[cdavis]

Good info, thanks. What dates were you there? What's "clear" how far? I think I found an outfit to take divers over to the west side of the island in one of the deep fiords. We'll see how this plays out.

Connor

 

[sloughshark]

Mucking around in the surf was good for crabs, (north shore) but vis was only five feet. I was alone, so wary of going out beyond the surf. Its a long shallow beach, and I know very little about the rips there. On the east side of the Is the vis was 30ft, but I didn't see any fish. I was there in the middle of august. I also dove a couple bays on the west side, and vis was very good there too. Still no fish though. Very different from OZ, but very cool. Jerrod.

 

[cdavis]

Sounds a lot like the north end of Vancouver Island. I was very surprised at what seemed like a small number of fish in a lot of places, then we began to find the fish. Some places, if you pulled the trigger, you got two (literally, ask Eric). Seems like being in the right place is particularly important up there.

Connor