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Cowichan Lake fishing regulations

Cowichan Lake is a lake in Region 1 (Vancouver Island), management unit 1-4. Here is what the 2025–2027 synopsis says about it, and the regional rules that apply on top.

Rules for Cowichan Lake

Including Bear Lake

• Cutthroat trout daily quota = 2 (none over 50 cm); bait ban and single barbless hook, Nov 15-Apr 15
• Speed restriction on parts (8 km/h), plus overall 10 km/h speed restriction within 60 m of shore

Synopsis page 15.

Region 1 quotas

Unless the rules above set a different quota for Cowichan Lake:

• Region 1 daily quotas (excluding Haida Gwaii): Trout: 4, but not more than 1 over 50 cm (2 hatchery steelhead over 50 cm allowed), 2 from streams (must be hatchery). You must release all wild steelhead, all wild trout from streams, all char (includes Dolly Varden).
• Bass: unlimited. Crayfish: 25. Kokanee: 5 (none from streams). White sturgeon: catch and release only. Yellow perch: unlimited. (Haida Gwaii kokanee: 10, none from streams.)

Know your fish

The rules here name these fish. Not sure what you caught?

From the BC Freshwater Fishing Regulations Synopsis 2025-2027, data of October 29, 2026. Province-wide rules (licences, one line, barbless hooks in streams, bait rules) also apply. This page is a guide; the official regulations govern.

More waters in the Vancouver Island

Cowichan River · Campbell River · Buttle Lake · Comox Lake · Stamp River · Sproat Lake · Great Central Lake · Nanaimo River