I've spent a fare amount of time in the Victoria area over the years fishing and hanging out and I can't say as I've seen a hole lot of shore fishing going on. There's a few of them out there here and there but it's not a huge thing. Where I fish out in the Sooke area, it's about 30 min out of Vic there is a lighthouse point that people fish off of frequently. I can't say as I know how they make out, I don't think I've ever seen them tackling a fish but who knows. In all honesty if it were me i would look at booking a charter for the day and getting out there and giving it a go. If you've never been saltwater fishing it's really something you should try, it's a pretty unique fishery. Someone like yourself being an avid fishermen would find it emensly interesting, so much to learn and take in.

I can never stress it enough to people that timing is everything when out on the west coast. Different times for different species and different times for different areas. For the Victoria area Late July, Aug is your prime time, if it's big Chinook you are after then mid Aug is prime. I have my cabin and boat slip booked for 10 days starting Aug 10th this year. I book mine according to the big flood tides. That's a topic for another day. This year is a Pink year ( Pink Salmon ) they run every second year or odd year. They will be in thick as thieves, they are the pike of the salmon world, aggresive feeders and easy to catch. A lot of people don't care for them, we like them. They are small but tasty little fish, darn fine on the bar b. Charters out there are really not all that bad especially if you have a place to stay it's not something that will break the bank. I can give you a couple charter operators names that I know and trust are some of the top rods out there. If you can get in touch with them early enough and book a trip I'm sure you will not regret it. But just remember, they are business men and may have openings to fill in non prime time time slots so be carful when you book.

A couple top charter boys from the area. Between these two guys if they can't get you out they will line you up with someone who can.

Roy is a friend of mine and one of the top rods in the area bar none.
http://www.bluewolfcharters.com

This fellow has been plying those waters for years
http://www.foghorncharters.com

As far as whales go I don't think there's any special time but I do know there's usually a whack of them around in Aug when we are there. We have had some unreal whale shows going on around us over the years while fishing. Orcas are like Lynx they prefer one food source, for Orcas it's Chinook salmon so when they are in the pods are in. Unforerunetly for us fishing when a big pod comes through you may as well spool it up for the day and head in because they push everything out when they are in. Sometimes the fishing will be good and a pod will come through during the night and the fishing will suck the next day or two. Not always, if there are enough runs coming through every day it will balance out but on some tough years I've seen it shut down for a couple days after a big pod has went through.