British Columbia has a lot of great rivers and streams to catch Pink Salmon.

These rivers are often filled with other Pacific Salmon including chum, coho, sockeye, chinook and other spawning fish species.

While the Pacific Salmon are essentially found in the ocean, they migrate into mountain rives and streams to spawn. It is believed that they do this because there are fewer predators in the rivers than in the ocean.

For those in the Vancouver and Seattle area, Vancouver Island offers many great rivers and streams to catch Pink Salmon that are inclose proximity to Vancouver and Seattle. The Oyster River and the Campbell River are two of the most well know of the rivers.

British Columbia is not the only great place to catch Pink Salmon, Washington and Oregon also offer a multitude of rivers to catch Pink Salmon as does Russia, China and Japan. However, when fishing in Washington, be sure to check state regulations as some rivers are classified as endangered habitats with quotas and restrictions in effect.

Ocean Winter Fishing

Fishing just off shore in the early winter can be successful in the bays and estuaries along the coast of the north-west of North America.

As schools of bait fish enter the bays, so do schools of Pink Salmon along with other Pacific Salmon species. Due to the large distribution of Pink Salmon in the ocean, your best bet to find them when ocean fishing is chasing bait fish into bays and estuaries.

When feeding on schools of bait fish, Pink Salmon can be seen leaping out of the water with the surface being disturbed by thousands of bait fish trying to get away.

Fishing from the Shore

It is not uncommon to see schools of Pink Salmon swimming by piers or docks that stick out into the bay. If you are lucky enough to encounter them, try casting using herring and squid. Jig them in the water and you will land many Pink Salmon immediately.

Pink Salmon Table Fare

Pink Salmon’s flesh has a great taste and are served in many high quality restaurants. However, this does not apply to spawning Pink Salmon, especially the male Pink salmon. The best quality flesh comes from those that are caught in the ocean.

Once caught, be sure to bleed out the salmon and gut and clean. Once cleaned, place on ice. Failure to do so will lead to rapid deterioration of the flesh and lead to poor table fare.

If you happen to be catching spawning salmon, the females are the best, while the males make poor table fare unless they have yet to develop any signs of spawning.