#canada #fishing #britishcolumbia #oceanfishing #salmonfishing #halibutfishing
Salmon trolling and halibut jigging is a foreign concept to me. Growing up in Alberta, I can only dream of opportunities to fish the ocean for these majestic fish species!

The morning begins dark and rainy, unknowing of what is about to unfold, I am full of excitement. Upon getting on our guide, and good friend Ryan's boat, I finally get my first glimpse at the massive rods that we will be putting to use on some massive ocean beasts! After a smooth boat ride full of picturesque scenery, we have arrived at the first spot of the day. This specific area is a rocky point which extrudes far into the open ocean abyss. It is here where some gigantic Chinook Salmon live. It is not long after we drop the lines trolling that we hook up! These trophy King Salmon fight ten times harder than I could have ever imagined! It is not long before we hit our keeping limit, which is the deciding factor to completely switch gears, and head out deeper in search of a monster that lives deep down, on the ocean floor. Dropping down heavy weight connected to hooks bigger than my hand, we fish a large ocean hump, which has deep water nearby. On these thick giant hooks we are using entire octopus tentacles as bait. Once our rigs are scattered along the bottom, we eagerly sit and wait. Of course, with the excitement coursing through my veins I can't sit still and I have to be moving. So, I pick up a rod with a jig and cast it out in search of some small Coho Salmon or any type of Rockfish. I end up catching a gorgeous Copper Rockfish and then after releasing it, one of our big rods starts to get bites. Ryan quickly takes action and sets the hook harder than I've ever seen before. Immediately my heart drops, I know this is going to be a big fish. Without warning, Ryan hands the rod off to me and I begin the long and difficult battle with a fish bigger than I could picture in my head. Over 10 minutes later we have finally gotten to see this barn door of a halibut. As this humongous fish gets closer and closer to the boat, Ryan prepares the harpoon gun, which will ultimately secure the catch. And after firing a perfect shot into the halibut we drag it into the boat and the shock of pulling a fish this big really hits me. This fish is my biggest ever coming in at around 55lbs and 124cms long. A true Pacific Ocean giant! This, was truly an UNFORGETTABLE day of fishing on Vancouver Island.

This day could not have been made possible without the guiding and expertise of Ryan, from Starfish Charters. His business is based out of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and you ABSOLUTELY have to book a charter with him! He has an exceptional knowledge of fishing and is an allround amazing person to hangout with! Here is the link to his buisness: https://www.starfishcharters.com

I must also thank my incredible family for planning and bringing this awesome trip to life. You all work extremely hard to help me create a memory that will last and you have no idea how much this means to me!

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has watched the Vancouver Island Odyssey! I appreciate all the support and I hope you enjoyed this series!