Sport & Spear Fishing in Tofino, Vancouver Island, BC

Story & photos by Jaime Ivars Hewitt

The fishing in Tofino is world class. Each year we have amazing runs of large chinook and coho salmon, great halibut spots, and exceptional lingcod fishing. Occasionally, you can throw your jig down and have a fish on before it hits the bottom; it’s surreal, very different from what I’m used to in Spain. 

I come from a small fishing village on the Mediterranean coast, where I grew up sailing, fishing and spearfishing. I’ve spent most of my life in or on the sea, studying fishing and marine transportation in college, where I learned how to operate large fishing vessels.

Three years ago I moved to Tofino, drawn in by the coasts’ remoteness, the surf, the shear stunning beauty and the abundance of fish and wildlife. Everyone in this incredible, tight knit community is here for the same reasons, the outdoors and fishing.

You don’t have to be a pro free diver to spearfish, however it does take some breathing exercises and a healthy lifestyle is a plus. You can target schools of black rockfish right from the surface, which makes it a great sport for anyone to take up. These curious fish don’t get scared easily and will naively come to you.

Autumn is a good time as the water isn’t frigid, and visibility can be up to ten metres. Our lingcod season is open a bit longer than other areas, so it is a great spot for some late season fishing. The currents here can be fairly strong so it is important to time it with the slack tides. 

You can enjoy some wonderful harvesting with your mask and snorkel on.  It’s quite an experience to grab Dungeness crab with your hands and bring them up - and sea urchins, which taste delicious! If you are fishing a sandier area you can find sole and flounder, which are fun to harvest with your dive knife, making it a little bit sportier. The rockfish are always in schools and tend to stay in one spot, which makes them easy for a beginner to target. Lingcod are a bit harder to find as they camouflage well on the rocks, and halibut are the hardest as they are usually lurking in sandy areas and deeper water.

Spearfishing the waters of the Pacific Northwest opens new doors to an underwater world, what you thought were dark and murky waters, turn out to be gleaming and full of life. There is something to be said about not waiting on your boat for the unknown to take a bite at your lure, but to go down and hunt it directly.

Include Tofino on your next Vancouver Island adventure. You can book a fishing charter, and perhaps learn about spearfishing, buy some gear for your next dive, or simply check out the cool wooden spearguns.

Jaime Ivars Hewitt is the owner and guide at Tofino Fishing. Reach him at 888-534-7422 or www.tofinofishing.com.