Esperanza Inlet Season overview:
The 2020 season was dominated by Covid, having to rebook American guests for 2021, and scramble to be Covid compliant for the guests we had. The weather was more windy than usual in 2020, particularly early in the season where we seemed to constantly have winds from the South bringing rough seas. Ferrer is the main place to fish in that weather, and it was producing this year.
CHINOOK: There was excellent chinook fishing at Ferrer through June right up to the closure on July 15th (we got 6 in an evening fish the last night). Overall 2020 for Chinook was an on-shore fishery. The fish were travelling along the beaches and Ferrer, Pin rocks, Rolling Roadstead, Sandstone, Mushroom and Grassy all produced fish throughout the season. Unlike 2019 we had a good fishery in the inlet as well, with good fishing at Rosa in late July thru August, and we were still getting fresh fish out of there into mid September until it rained. The offshore for Chinook was hit and miss, most Chinook fishing was close in, 40 to 60 feet or water. The biggest fish at the Lodge was 30.5 lbs (caught by me at mushroom) so there weren't a lot of really big ones.
COHO: Coho fishing was a bust this year. They stayed offshore all summer, way offshore. The biggest we had was 15lbs, and they were rare, unlike 2019 which had good coho all summer. There were some in the inlet in September. Hopefully 2021 reverts back to normal with lots of coho around as we can retain hatchery or wild fish in the inshore areas (area 25)
TUNA: With warm water coming North there was some Albacore Tuna fishing. We had one group get 19, and other groups go out with moderate success. anywhere from 25 to 50 miles out!
HALIBUT: With less pressure the halibut fishing was good, and known spots were less busy. It was nice to have the regulations change mid season to allow two under 90cm per day to get your possession limit on smaller ones in one day.
We are booking for 2021, we offer fully guided fishing and Bring your own boat packages. If you wnat to come up early season (May through mid june) we offer bring your own boat and food options. You can use the BBQs and the full commercial kitchen to make cook for yourself and just rent a room from us. We are looking forward to the 2021 season already!