Your preferred place to live on Van Isle for sport fishing?

A similar thread just came up with someone looking to move to British Columbia, so I thought I would revive this as there are some great suggestions in here from fellow enthusiasts.
 
just skimmed the first page…you started this thread, aquaholic, and (I don’t think anyway) you haven’t sacked up and made the move yet? What gives?

I’ll throw my hat in the ring for Nanaimo, as we are in the middle of moving here. Good year round fishing (for the most part) for multiple species, all the amenities, access to health care and most specialists, quick rip to the west coast, and quick access (in numerous ways) to get off the island.
 
just skimmed the first page…you started this thread, aquaholic, and (I don’t think anyway) you haven’t sacked up and made the move yet? What gives?

I’ll throw my hat in the ring for Nanaimo, as we are in the middle of moving here. Good year round fishing (for the most part) for multiple species, all the amenities, access to health care and most specialists, quick rip to the west coast, and quick access (in numerous ways) to get off the island.
Not yet, still enjoying my career and the access to a much bigger population base to augment it. When I see Vancouver guide boats going across to Thrasher and area most of the year, Nanaimo does have its merits.
 
I've been told I can't have a bigger boat unless we move to the island. 3 trips is plenty for my freezer at present, but would be nice to access prawns and crabs more regularly.
Then again I'd miss the gardening weather and spring trout around here. Following (again).
 
just skimmed the first page…you started this thread, aquaholic, and (I don’t think anyway) you haven’t sacked up and made the move yet? What gives?

I’ll throw my hat in the ring for Nanaimo, as we are in the middle of moving here. Good year round fishing (for the most part) for multiple species, all the amenities, access to health care and most specialists, quick rip to the west coast, and quick access (in numerous ways) to get off the island.
I don’t agree about the health care here. I read something like 15,000 people don’t have a GP. 6-8 hr waiting times in Emergency at the hospital
 
I think a good water supply should be very high on your list, what is the source of your tap water, quality etc., it will be huge in the future as populations grow and infrastructure ages, it would be #1 on my list of places to move to. look and see what's happening to people just north of penticton, looks like it's going to cost them 1-1.2k/month just for their water supply.
 
I think a good water supply should be very high on your list, what is the source of your tap water, quality etc., it will be huge in the future as populations grow and infrastructure ages, it would be #1 on my list of places to move to. look and see what's happening to people just north of penticton, looks like it's going to cost them 1-1.2k/month just for their water supply.
Good point. Further to that, waste water treatment might also cost you and an arm and leg moving forward if Metro Van has anything to say about it. I can't imagine being on a fixed income and then getting hit with an additional $600 per month bill to pay for corruption.
 
I think a good water supply should be very high on your list, what is the source of your tap water, quality etc., it will be huge in the future as populations grow and infrastructure ages, it would be #1 on my list of places to move to. look and see what's happening to people just north of penticton, looks like it's going to cost them 1-1.2k/month just for their water supply.
In general, yes, anyone looking at a home to buy should check local water supply as part of general due diligence. But the Sage Mesa mess is an old developer problem that homeowners in the area have tried to wish away for years. Now that the pipeline up from the lake is truly failing, they want help. Regional district will take it on, but the cost is severe due to >100 m vertical rise, and less than 200 homes to split the cost. The nearby West Bench area went through something similar (and expensive) about 15 years ago. In both cases, population growth wasn't a factor.
 
in the past 15 years, I’ve lived in Powell River, Sechelt, Campbell River and finally Qualicum. All great places to live and fish. I grew up here in Qualicum as a kid, we had to move to the lower mainland when I was a teener for my parents to work. Qualicum has always been were I wanted to end up, as everyone moved back eventually. I love it, central, I hit all the spots I fished when in Sechelt, Little Q is unreal this time of year. Don’t have to deal with the current and tides of Campbell River. Easy to get anywhere when trailering the boat.
 
The traffic in Nanaimo would be enough for me not to move there again. Lived about 7 years ago it was managable then.

Now a days, it's insane.
 
Compared to what? You can get pretty much anywhere in 15-20 minutes even when a ferry lets out.
Agreed. I try and avoid certain areas at certain times especially the north Parkway 12:30-1 pm with traffic from both terminals heading north
 
I always wanted to live in Campbell River, but when we moved back to the coast my wife didn't want to live there. We ended up rural in the Comox Valley and only a couple minutes from the highway. It's easy and fast to get anywhere from Big Q to Campbell R. or to North or West Island from here.

There's no way I'd live South of the roughly Bowser area.
 
in the past 15 years, I’ve lived in Powell River, Sechelt, Campbell River and finally Qualicum. All great places to live and fish. I grew up here in Qualicum as a kid, we had to move to the lower mainland when I was a teener for my parents to work. Qualicum has always been were I wanted to end up, as everyone moved back eventually. I love it, central, I hit all the spots I fished when in Sechelt, Little Q is unreal this time of year. Don’t have to deal with the current and tides of Campbell River. Easy to get anywhere when trailering the boat.
qualicum is my 1st choice at this point ( being a retired senior) if I move to the island , comox is also on my list, but I like the boundaries the op picks for his move, for me I would nix sooke and victoria and start from around Mill Bay up to Campbell river and include port alberni . Sproat Lake is up there close to qualicum for me
 
Sooke, hands down. Consistently good salmon fishing all year, same restrictions as the island inside though but not really worse. But the big advantage over all other places on the inside is that there is great halibut fishing in the JDF. And more fishable weather days as Nanaimo to Campbell R.
 
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