2022 Nootka Sound/Esperanza Inlet Reports

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Hello everyone,

I have a 18ft Sliver Streak Carmanah. A friend and I was thinking of coming up on a 2-3 day trip and sleeping on the boat or at a campsite sometime in July.

We'd like to fish for salmon and halibut and maybe ling.

I was told critter cove allows sleep aboard and is a good location for fishing. Are there any other places we should look at? Sleeping onboard my boat will not be an issue for us but access to ice, maye a shower would be nice.

For fishing for hali would I need an anchor system or can we get them on the drift?

I'd prefer to stick in shore or near shore for our first time out. Any advice would be welcome.
 
Hello everyone,

I have a 18ft Sliver Streak Carmanah. A friend and I was thinking of coming up on a 2-3 day trip and sleeping on the boat or at a campsite sometime in July.

We'd like to fish for salmon and halibut and maybe ling.

I was told critter cove allows sleep aboard and is a good location for fishing. Are there any other places we should look at? Sleeping onboard my boat will not be an issue for us but access to ice, maye a shower would be nice.

For fishing for hali would I need an anchor system or can we get them on the drift?

I'd prefer to stick in shore or near shore for our first time out. Any advice would be welcome.
Critter is hard to beat although there are other options like Cougar Creek (for camping) which might be busy depending on timing. Critter normally has good sleep aboard moorage available with the added bonus of fuel, ice, bait, food and showers. To fish Hali you don’t need an anchor. Lots of places to back troll on moderate wind days with a nice slow drift. You can fish for Hali a km or 2 offshore although further yields better results normally.
 
Just got back from the Halibut Hustle at Critter Cove. Absolutely tremendous time there again. The fishing was great and we were able to get offshore for bottom fish a couple of days. Ended up with our 3 Hali’s all over 90 cm, and released a couple of unders. Lots of lings. Salmon fishing was very good for us, with good numbers and decent sized fish to 20 lbs. Released a lot of them. They were found in most of the normal spots on the outside, in tight to the rocks. Also found a bunch of them off Maquinna in the 90 - 100 foot shelf slightly offshore, right down in the mud. Only a few sporadic Coho . Gas at Critter was $2.34.9, which in today’s day and age was a real pleasant surprise as compared some stories out there. Credit card machine was working fine, no problems.
As always, another special few days out at Critter.
I should add that most of the salmon action came on Skinny G spoons, and needle fish hoochies along with white "Casper" hoochies. The 2 under 90 cm hali's were both caught and released while trolling for salmon incidentally.
Hey pacemaker......sounds like you had a good trip....We are heading over Thursday for the J&J.
 
Put in the other day at gold river and went to Flynn’s cove to stay, which is a 5 minute boat ride to some great fishing grounds. Port Eliza is another good option. Our group limited for possession in 3 days for chinook. Caught 8 today. Most 15- 20+ lbs. Bigger that the fish that were there yesterday even. Great hits towards pin rock. White hooch was the best performer for sure with a molar inset and a flasher with no glow tape. Lots of flash. We’ll worth the trip up here.
 
Put in the other day at gold river and went to Flynn’s cove to stay, which is a 5 minute boat ride to some great fishing grounds. Port Eliza is another good option. Our group limited for possession in 3 days for chinook. Caught 8 today. Most 15- 20+ lbs. Bigger that the fish that were there yesterday even. Great hits towards pin rock. White hooch was the best performer for sure with a molar inset and a flasher with no glow tape. Lots of flash. We’ll worth the trip up here.
We are seeing some good results at Pin as well. There are fish all over though . We had a cancellation on the 26th of June so have some space for either Bring your own boat packages or fully guided fishing at Port Eliza Lodge if you are looking for a last minute trip!
 
We are seeing some good results at Pin as well. There are fish all over though . We had a cancellation on the 26th of June so have some space for either Bring your own boat packages or fully guided fishing at Port Eliza Lodge if you are looking for a last minute trip!
Where is Pin Rock? I can't seem to find it on any charts. We are heading out that way in July and would like to get to know the areas. Thanks.
 
Where is Pin Rock? I can't seem to find it on any charts. We are heading out that way in July and would like to get to know the areas. Thanks.
Pin is on the port side going out of Esperanza-lots of structure make sure you watch your gps-lots of rocks-plan your tacks carefully before going
 
Pin is on the port side going out of Esperanza-lots of structure make sure you watch your gps-lots of rocks-plan your tacks carefully before going
So blind reef area I guess? The other area I heard was Jurassic Park. Is this the area on the inside of grassy island? I did see Jurassic point but the spot I heard was definitely Jurassic park.
 
So blind reef area I guess? The other area I heard was Jurassic Park. Is this the area on the inside of grassy island? I did see Jurassic point but the spot I heard was definitely Jurassic park.
Blind Reef can be productive too, but Pin Rocks are between Blind Reef and Nootka Island. You will likely see other boats there when you reach the mouth of the inlet between Catala Island and Nootka Island. The kelp can be thick in that area. Going north, you can fish from Sandstone up to Clear Passage and further.
 
Thanks for all this info on Esperanza I know zero about this fishery. I am mean zero....

Never ever fished in Nootka or Esperanza. I will be up there 2nd week of August with our group of boats out of Port Eliza Lodge so should be an experience. I was also wondering where pin rocks was....

I might be limited how much offshore stuff (hopefully not) I can do as I have my kid with me and he is not a fan of large swells etc.
 
Thanks for all this info on Esperanza I know zero about this fishery. I am mean zero....

Never ever fished in Nootka or Esperanza. I will be up there 2nd week of August with our group of boats out of Port Eliza Lodge so should be an experience. I was also wondering where pin rocks was....

I might be limited how much offshore stuff (hopefully not) I can do as I have my kid with me and he is not a fan of large swells etc.
Port Eliza is a great spot to be in especially when you are going-the fishing will be good at pin 'inner black, blind reef etc. The beauty of it is they are very close to PE and you get to have some epic evening fishing-something I was never able to do while guiding out of Westview (too far for an evening fish) Good Luck!!
 
Thanks for all this info on Esperanza I know zero about this fishery. I am mean zero....

Never ever fished in Nootka or Esperanza. I will be up there 2nd week of August with our group of boats out of Port Eliza Lodge so should be an experience. I was also wondering where pin rocks was....

I might be limited how much offshore stuff (hopefully not) I can do as I have my kid with me and he is not a fan of large swells etc.
Somebody last year said there was an error on this map, but, for the most part it seems accurate.
Hopefully this will give you a general lay of the land, or sea in this case.
 

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Somebody last year said there was an error on this map, but, for the most part it seems accurate.
Hopefully this will give you a general lay of the land, or sea in this case.
I am only familiar with Esperanza and the North end of Nootka (Ferrer Pt) but the error I see is the Whale’s Tail (8). The Whale’s Tail we were taken to is about 13 miles offshore out by the Pinnacles (2) and what is referred to as the Highway because of all the runs that pass by.
I believe Jurassic Park is the area inside Grassy Island and down to Jurassic Pt.
You can avoid the swells by fishing Rosa or further inside at the Gardens, same side of Esperanza. One summer I was there the Gardens was better than offshore for Chinook. (And a lot nicer and shorter boat ride).
 
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