Westview Marina & Lodge
Westview Marina & Lodge
Chinook/Winter Springs/Black Mouths - If numbers are any indication of what we have in store for the 2016 season we are going to have one of the best fishing/catching seasons in recent history. On a non-stormy day it is impossible not to catch these feisty early-season fish. These Chinook are gorging on needle fish and shiners on inside waters and gaining weight weekly. They are deep on edges that drop from 100ft to 120-150ft. At this mid-February date 9-14 lb fish are plentiful. By mid-March the range will increase to 12-19 lb.
Coho/Silvers - per normal we will have the two distinct runs. The early spring/summer run, which are, in the majority, Columbia River and it's tributaries fish. These fish are usually smaller than our late summer/fall Coho run that often get up to 20 lb.These fish are great fun to catch on light tackle inside the inlet
Halibut - The International Halibut Commission meeting took place recently. No changes to existing regulations are expected for 2016. This year we are expecting a decent mid-April/mid-May herring spawn in Nuchatlitz and Rolling Roadstead areas. When this occurs the Halibut move in to clean up on the spawned out fish. White Rock, Entrance Reef and all the seaward contours around Nuchatlitz will produce Hali during this early season spawn, in relatively shallow water 40-90ft.
Ling Cod & other ground fish - These fish remain in good abundance in most of the waters off Nootka and Esperanza. Fish the mouths of the many inlets, channels and islands like the Spanish Pilot Group Is., Hanna and Hecate Channels, and Zeballos, Tahsis, Espinosa & inner Esperanza Inlets. You will find fish at these locations because there is lots of bait in these hot spots. Pay attention to the tides - always fish the lee side of the structure. 3 Ling per day/6 in possession, 3 other ground fish per day/6 in possession. That’s lots of fish per person.
Prawns - The jury is still out on this one. Nearly all of Nootka Sound & Tahsis Inlets are closed until April 1st so there is only a limited amount of prawning going on right now. The commercial harvesters have hit the local inlet stocks very hard over the past two seasons. All indicators from the fall of 2015 and this early season Esperanza prawn fishing is that the stocks are very thin, requiring trap sets to be moved around more than normal. Our recommendation is that if you choose to fish prawns this season do it immediately after the opening on April 1st until the second week in May, which is when the commercial fleet usually arrives. That is a 5 week window of opportunity.
Westview Marina & Lodge - John & Cathy Falavolito, 250-934-7672. info@westviewmarina.com