| Baits |
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Pile worms
are by far the best bait when fishing for any type of bottomfish around Victoria. They are
worth the effort in getting before going fishing. You can collect them at either
Fisherman's Warf or the docks infront of the Empress Hotel. I prefer the worms infront of
the Empress, they seem to be smaller and easier to get. Pile worms live in long tubes and
their feeding mouths look like a flower while under water. |
| Pile Worms |
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Squid is
decent bait to use for all bottomfish. Its tough enough that the fish can't suck it off
the hook. Squid is a great choice if your going fishing at night. Remember, the best way
to catch fish is to try to figure out what the fish are feeding on. Squid are active at
night. |
| Squid |
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Herring is
great whole for lingcod or cut into pieces for any other bottomfish. Starting at the end
of March, you can catch herring along the Gorge waterway. Craigflower Bridge, Tillicum
Bridge are the most popular spots. Buy the shark skin herring jigs. Don't buy the jigs
from Zellars, the hooks are too big and I have yet to catch one herring on those jigs. |
| Herring |
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When you
don't want the mess of pileworms Berkley Powerbaits work almost as well. I've caught
lingcod on the saltwater shrimp series and many, many rockcod on grubs and tubes. Berkley
has a new size - JUMBO Saltwater - their really big and would be great for lingcod. The
bigger bait the better for lingcod, we've caught lingcod on five pound rockcods and
greenlings. |
| Power Bait |
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Octopus is
another great bait to use at night. You can buy them at the supermarket or at fishing
departments in glass jars. I would recommend the supermarket octopus, its alot cheaper. I
once was walking along the inside of the Ogden Point Breakwater when the tide was out.
Stuck to the side of the wall was a rather big octopus with a Gibbs Minnow in it's head.
What a battle that must have been! I like octopus because its so hard for rockcod to suck
it off your hook. |
| Octopus |
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If you have
the time to go dig them, clams are a perfect bait for bottomfish. As a kid that's all I
used to catch my bottomfish. If your going to go digging for clams to eat, remember to
check with DFO for the areas that are not affected by RED TIDE! I still can't believe that
we dump our raw sewage into the Juan De Fuca Straits!!! It's really sick. It wasn't that
long ago that you could eat the shellfish in Mill Bay, but now you have to go passed Sooke
to eat clams. How long is it going to take for our government to get the important things
done? |
| Clams |
