Catchable

Learn / Lesson 6 of 6

Is salmon fishing open in BC today? How to read the answer

It depends on the place, the fish and the day. Tap the water, pick the fish, read the word, then check its date.

The official source wins. This page explains. The official pages at the bottom decide.

Why

  • There is no single answer for all of BC. Salmon rules are set water by water and fish by fish, and a notice can change them from one day to the next.
  • So the useful question is narrower: this water, this fish, today. That is the question Catchable answers, and it shows how old its answer is.

What to do

  1. Tap the water you will fish, not the town nearby.

    Because the rule belongs to the water, and the water next to a town can have its own rule.

  2. Pick the fish you expect. On the coast, pick the salmon by name, such as Chinook or coho.

    Because each one has its own rule, and one can be open while another is closed.

  3. Read the word at the top of the card.

    Because on most cards it is DFO's own word for that fish: OPEN, NON-RETENTION or CLOSED. NON-RETENTION means let it go. Some cards show a plain word instead, such as Keep, or Ask first when we could not confirm the rule.

  4. Read the tiles under the word.

    Because they give the limit and the size for that fish. Gear on the same card gives the gear rule.

  5. Look at the source and its date at the bottom of the card.

    Because a notice can change a rule, and the date tells you how fresh the reading is.

  6. If the word is Ask first, open the official notice before you fish.

    Because Ask first means a condition or a rule we could not confirm. It is not a soft yes.

    DFO fishery notices

The five parts of a Catchable card, from the place at the top to the source at the bottom. A B C D E
  • A The place: the water the card read.
  • B The fish.
  • C The word: DFO's own word, or Ask first.
  • D The tiles: the limit and the size. The gear rule sits under Gear.
  • E The source, and how old it is.
The parts of a card, from the place at the top to the source at the bottom.

The official words

In short, in our words

DFO sets the salmon rules in salt water and for salmon in fresh water, and changes them by fishery notice. The Province sets the other rules for lakes and rivers in the Freshwater Fishing Synopsis.

Last checked against the pages above on . The fishery notices page says it was last modified on , the salmon page on and the before you go page on . The Province of BC page says it was last updated on .

Try it in Catchable

Two real cards, captured on the same day. Each one names its subarea, its fish and its word.

Catchable card for subarea 29-10 showing Chinook salmon with the word CLOSED and a daily limit of 0.

Subarea 29-10

Chinook salmon No fishing

No fishing for Chinook salmon in this subarea on the day of the capture.

Captured in Catchable on . Map: Esri, USGS, NOAA, and OpenStreetMap contributors.

Catchable card for subarea 28-11 showing coho salmon with the word NON-RETENTION and a daily limit of 0.

Subarea 28-11

Coho salmon Catch and release

NON-RETENTION means catch and release: you may fish, but every coho here goes back.

Captured in Catchable on . Map: Esri, USGS, NOAA, and OpenStreetMap contributors.

Open the map