Bon Chovy Fishing Charters

Whether you are heading out on a trip from Vancouver Mainland or Vancouver Island, Bon Chovy Fishing Charters is your best bet. We’ve chartered with Jason @BonChovy several times now and have loved every trip. The fact that I have 324 photos from our guided trips with Bon Chovy shows how much fun we’ve had together. And perhaps I take too many photos.

Our trips

February 2020
Departed: Vancouver, Granville Island

This was our first trip with Jason at Bon Chovy. As a birthday gift to my husband I surprised him with an 8 hour day of fishing for winter chinook. We landed some beauties and played an exhausting game of tug of war with a seal to land our last fish. We immediately connected with Jason and his amazing knowledge of the entire fish industry and laid back fishing style. We learned a lot that trip and knew we would be back as soon as we could.

September 2020
Departed: Galiano Island

For this trip we were fortunate enough to get a weekend away without the kids. We took the ferry from Vancouver and stayed 2 nights on Galiano Island. Thanks to a recommendation from Jason, we had a fantastic stay at Galiano Oceanfront Inn & Spa. Jason picked us up each morning at the dock just next to the resort and we would head out to fish the mouth of the Fraser. This was the trip where I realized how much knowledge and experience Jason truly has. We made tight circles around the mouth and Jason blew me away with his knowledge of the fish, the tides, the current, and how it all works together. I’m sure you can argue most guides would know all of that but I’ve never had that experience in the past nor any other guided trip to this day. My husband landed a nice fish and then all of a sudden we were bombarded by the Resident Orcas. No exaggeration on this one, 40+ orcas made their way through the fleet of fishing boats. We just sat in awe as they passed through. Obviously at this point we called it quits on the salmon fishing. Lingcod was a viable option so we headed to the South Gulf Islands and landed a few ling. As much as fishermen don’t love to see Orcas, it was a highlight for this whale lover. We finished each long day of fishing with a nice meal at the Oceanfront Inn and a glass of wine on our balcony.

Still living on the mainland at the time, we headed out to fish Gibsons and Vancouver Harbour. This trip for us was really about prawns and crab. We were really into prawning by this time and needed some expert tips. We had great weather but no salmon keepers this trip. A lot of what we know today about prawning came from Jason. Our entire family will always be grateful.

By this time we had moved to Nanaimo and needed some help learning our new territory. We met Jason at the new Boat Harbour Marina and went out to fish Thrasher, Entrance Island, Tent Island and Porlier Pass. We spent two days together on the water with Jason and our two boys. The first day my husband and I reeled in so many fish we literally lost count. Our arms were completely dead with all the undersize action. Fishing around Tent Island was great as we got to experience a beautiful Humpback show and some excited Sea Lions. We had two days of double headers and beautiful sunsets that we will never forget.

January 2022
Departed: Cowichan Bay Marina

This trip we fished the Saanich Inlet. Our weather luck ran out and we were surrounded by extremely thick fog — the kind of fog where you are really thankful your guide has radar. Despite the weather, we closed this trip with our largest prawn set to date! We went home with some great fishing memories with our boys plus 3 keeper salmon and 500 prawns. No complaints here.

Takeaways

Finding a fishing guide that you can spend 8-10 hours with and still wish the day was longer is hard to find. We’ve chartered with other companies before but every chance we get we go back to our ol’ faithful. Bon Chovy has never disappointed, even if we strike out on the fish count. From the Grady White fleet to the amazing team of guides, I honestly cannot say enough great things about this company.

Tips for planning a charter

When you hire a guide start your trip by explaining what you hope to get out of the experience. Every customer has a different idea of a great experience and it will benefit you and your guide if you are clear upfront. A great guide will explain the options and share their knowledge on how achievable those expectations may be. For example, if your biggest desire is to catch a halibut, your guide would explain that those chances are slim to none but salmon on the other hand would be likely. It’s then up to you to decide how you want your experience to go. Have an informed trip and you won’t be disappointed.