July 23 Fishing Update

July 23 2021 Fishing Update

Fishing has been excellent in both inside and outside waters for the last two weeks. Our local spots including Camel Rock are all productive right now, and we are still waiting for the even bigger mid-summer push of local Chinook to show up inside.  Anglers can fish the local inside spots with confidence now.

Other great news for Nootka Sound anglers this month – as of July 15th our offshore retention restrictions have been lifted and anglers can retain 2 Chinook salmon up to 80cm each! We’re seeing lots of fish landed in offshore waters. Be sure to read the regulations closely before heading offshore for closed sub-areas and Chinook size restrictions.

Given the recent calm weather, bottom fishing has been fantastic with plenty of halibut hitting the docks. We’re also seeing a fair amount of keeper ling cod in and around our salmon spots. Jigging offshore has resulted in lots of larger-than-average sized ling cod. We’ve definitely got a healthy population out there right now.

Our guided guests have had the pleasure of excellent fishing with the added bonus of plenty of whale and sea otter viewing. It’s a lively ocean!

Our local rivers are fairly low right now with current warm weather and low rainfall, so best freshwater opportunities are very early mornings and late evenings for Rainbows and Cutthroat.

We had the pleasure of hosting BC Outdoors’ Mike Mitchell and his two daughters Marleigh and Madeline at Moutcha Bay Resort last week as they filmed an episode for BC Outdoors Sportfishing TV. To make things even more exciting, the young ladies caught their first-ever chinook salmon! Both girls persevered and hung in through a day of fishing, and one evening the bite took off, getting them each a 20lb salmon which they fought and landed on their own. We love seeing the kids develop a love for fishing out here!

In other news, the tuna water is getting close. Reports are coming in showing decent numbers of Albacore Tuna appearing around the southern parts of Vancouver Island and getting closer to us daily. We are following the satellite images daily now; tuna fishing may be sooner than expected this year! Stay tuned for more updates.

Pro Tip: In inside waters try using very small spoons and/or anchovies for best success. In outside water, flashers, spoons, and coho killers are working well right now. Use green within inside waters and blue spoons and flashers in outside water.

Tight Lines!

Photo credit: @bcoutdoorssportsfishingtv