🎣 Fishing Conditions
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📅 7-Day Forecast
📊 Historical Data
Saltspring Island North fishing & marine conditions
Northern Saltspring faces Stuart Channel and Trincomali Channel, sitting in the more sheltered inner part of the Gulf Islands. The water here is generally calmer than the outer islands facing Boundary Pass, with less of the heavy tidal exchange, though the passes at the north end still run hard.
What runs here, and when
Chinook are present through much of the year in the surrounding channels, with resident winter fish and summer migrants both using the area. Coho move through later in the season. Crab and prawn are taken in the sheltered bays, subject to the seasonal openings that change through the year.
Saltspring Island North salmon fishing — runs, limits & season
Local hazards
Porlier Pass, at the north end of the island group between Galiano and Valdes, is the significant hazard nearby: currents run hard through a narrow, rock-strewn channel and it should be transited near slack. Ferry traffic crosses the channels. Reefs and drying rocks are common along the shoreline and not all are marked.
Tides, current and sea state
Trincomali and Stuart Channels carry more moderate currents than the outer passes, which makes this a more forgiving area to fish. That changes abruptly at the passes to the north, where the tidal stream concentrates. Check current tables specifically for the pass you intend to use rather than assuming the channel conditions continue through it.
Live data on this page
Conditions above are for 48.920°N, 123.520°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
Saltspring Island North 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 Saltspring Island North is timed by the current, not the tide height. The pass that governs it is Porlier Pass.
Porlier Pass floods to the north-northeast and ebbs to the south-southwest, running to 9.5 knots. Slack on November 1: 03:14, 10:54, 17:32, 21:57.
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
Saltspring Island North lies in DFO Pacific Area 18. Openings, closures and limits change in-season and differ between subareas, so check the DFO Area 18 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 November 1, 2026, five closure areas are in effect in DFO Pacific Area 18, among them Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) Recreational Salmon Fishing Closure, Pender Island Vessel Restricted Zone and Saturna Island Vessel Restricted Zone. Salmon limits for the area: chinook 2 per day; chum 4 per day; coho 2 per day; pink 4 per day; sockeye non retention.
Read from the DFO Area 18 page, last updated 2026-11-01. See the full Area 18 regulations for every closure and limits table, or the Fishery Notices for changes newer than that date.
Nearby locations
- Montague Harbour
- Saltspring Island South (Area 18)
- Sansum Narrows (Area 18)
- Fulford Harbour
- Mayne & Saturna Islands (Area 18)
- Cowichan Bay (Area 18)