If you are not taking fish and other boats are and you are fishing anchovy, lengthen your leader to 8 to 10 feet from the flasher. Anchovy or cut plug herring is the first choice for bait, followed by Lazer skirts, hootchies and spoons. Be careful!!! Watch the other boats and study your charts and sounder -there are a few spots that can be hard on tackle. The water along this shore, close to the rocks and kelp, is about 70 ft deep and should be fished from 25 to 45 ft on your downrigger. It signals the start of a “river of fish” which will flow into the Sound on each successive flood tide. The first big Spring or King will be taken here in the last days of June to the first days in July. This is the first place that you can be sure you are into a “true Nootka Sound Spring”. – One of the premier places to fish for the really big Springs. This area is often calmer than Area 1 and always more comfortable to fish than Area 2-South, however, if there is no bait showing, give it a short try and if unsuccessful, move. If the bait is in, there is often very good fishing for Springs and Coho and the occasional large ling. In the late weeks of June and early July fish fairly tight to the kelp follow the shoreline with 25 to 45 feet on down riggers. This area, usually called Beano Creek, is extremely picturesque with features such as huge tidal caves and large bait holding kelp beds. The Reefs remain excellent places to fish throughout the summer and fall but make sure you have a chart #3675 and GPS as this area is prone to sudden fog. Big Springs, Coho and Halibut frequent the deeper water known to commercial fishermen as the 50 Fathom line (300 ft).Īnchovy on a 60 to 72 inch tie behind your favorite flasher (hot spot, Ok’i etc) cut plug herring, Dymara Lazer skirt (new) 40 inch tie for silvers, 42 to 48 inches for Kings, various colored hootchies and of course spoons either Coyote or Dymara in green and chrome or cop car type colors. From this point fish directly seaward and incorporate some of the deep trolling techniques listed on this web site and found so effective at Winter Harbour. There is a large Red Navigation buoy, which marks the outside edge of Bajo reef. This area is great fun to fish fish too close to the bottom and you will certainly get Ling Cod or Black Bass, as they are here in great abundance. The Reef always holds fish no matter what tide, but try and put the reef between you and the tide flow thus aligning yourself and the bait in a back eddy. The water around the Reef is from 35 to 90 feet deep and the best tactic is to contour the Reef at various depths. These are not always Nootka Sound fish and are often very aggressive feeding Springs and Coho bound for other areas. The big Springs will show up on the Reef sometime in the last weeks of June. Outer Bajo Reef- This is a vast area of kelp and shallow water, frequented by lots of bait and Grey whales. It is the Conuma River Hatchery, which enables anglers in the Nootka Sound area to enjoy the most generous Coho limits of marked or unmarked fish on the West Coast. In addition, Nootka fish are also homeward bound to the Gold, Burman, and most importantly the Conuma River and it’s hatchery. Halibut are available, and while not as numerous as Quatsino Sound they tend to average quite a bit larger in size.įishing at Nootka Sound intercepts most of the Salmon runs bound for mainland B.C., Vancouver Island, Washington and Oregon State Rivers. Off-shore there is good to excellent, Ling cod, Snapper and Black bass fishing plus the Salmon can be down-right spectacular. Coho (Silvers) are present in large numbers and are often in the 18 to 20 lb range. Springs of 30 to 40 Lbs are quite common and there is always a fish or two over 50 pounds each season. Located mid-way up the West coast of Vancouver Island it is renowned for its large and abundant runs of Springs (King), Coho (Silvers), and Chum Salmon. It is accessed through and sometimes mistakenly called Gold River. Nootka Sound is one of the largest and most protected of the 5 Sounds on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Contributed by Mike Cummings – Courtenay, B.C.
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