🎣 Fishing Conditions
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📅 7-Day Forecast
📊 Historical Data
Campbell River fishing & marine conditions
Campbell River sits at the southern entrance to Discovery Passage, the narrow channel between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island that funnels the tidal exchange between the Strait of Georgia and Johnstone Strait. The current here dominates everything, and the town has a long history as a salmon fishing centre because of it.
What runs here, and when
This is one of the best-known chinook areas on the coast, with large fish present through the summer and the Tyee Pool at the mouth of the Campbell River supporting a traditional rowboat fishery for the biggest chinook in late summer. Pink salmon return in enormous numbers in odd-numbered years. Coho move through in autumn, and the local river systems draw returns late in the season.
Campbell River salmon fishing — runs, limits & season
Local hazards
Seymour Narrows, a short distance north, carries some of the fastest tidal currents in the world - well into the double digits in knots on a large exchange, with whirlpools and overfalls that are lethal to small craft away from slack. It must be transited at slack water, without exception. Cape Mudge at the southern entrance is the other serious hazard: a strong southerly wind against an ebb pouring out of Discovery Passage produces steep, breaking seas over the shallower ground off the cape.
Tides, current and sea state
Discovery Passage is a tidal river more than a channel, and current dictates when and where you can fish or travel. Plan everything from current tables rather than tide heights. The back-eddies along the shores are where fish hold and where boats work, but they can set unexpectedly hard. Conditions at Cape Mudge are frequently far worse than in the passage behind it.
Live data on this page
Conditions above are for 50.020°N, 125.250°W. Wind, wave and pressure data come from Open-Meteo and refresh every three hours; tide predictions come from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. The fishing score combines wind, wave height, barometric trend, moon phase, tide movement and time of day.
Marine forecast & warnings
Campbell River lies in Environment and Climate Change Canada's Strait of Georgia marine forecast zone.
No marine warnings are in effect for this zone.
ECCC reissues the forecast through the day and can post a warning at any hour, so the Marine Forecast panel above carries the current wind, visibility and multi-day outlook word for word. It describes the open water of the zone, not a particular bay inside it, and is no substitute for the VHF or weatheradio broadcast.
Tidal currents
Fishing Campbell River is timed by the current, not the tide height. The pass that governs it is Seymour Narrows.
Seymour Narrows floods to the south and ebbs to the north, running to 13.5 knots. Slack on September 17: 03:46, 10:46, 16:57, 21:47.
Predictions for the pass itself, not the water around it. Slack shifts about 50 minutes later each day, so these times are wrong for any other date. The Tidal Currents panel above gives every turn with its maximum-flow speed; CHS is the source.
Regulations
Campbell River lies in DFO Pacific Area 13. Openings, closures and limits change in-season and differ between subareas, so check the DFO Area 13 recreational fishing page before you go. Nothing on this page is a substitute for the current regulations, official charts, or the marine forecast.
As of September 17, 2026, nine closure areas are in effect in DFO Pacific Area 13, among them Discovery Passage/Campbell River, Mitlenatch Island and Proposed Homayno Marine Refuge - Northern Portion. Salmon limits for the area: chinook 2 per day; chum 2 per day; coho 2 per day; pink 4 per day; sockeye non retention.
Read from the DFO Area 13 page, last updated 2026-09-15. See the full Area 13 regulations for every closure and limits table, or the Fishery Notices for changes newer than that date.
Nearby locations
- Campbell River
- Quadra & Cortes Islands (Area 13)
- Comox
- Powell River
- Texada Island (Area 15)
- Pender Harbour