Portland Island

Portland Island sits in a mixed-bottom bay near Sidney, British Columbia, within DFO subarea 18-6, holding water from 15 to 80 feet across mid-exposure ground. The bay draws Chinook Salmon from June through August and Coho Salmon from May into September, with Pacific Halibut moving through March to August and Lingcod holding over structure from November into March. Chinook fishing centers on downrigger trolling with anchovy in a teaser head, spoons, or flashers, while Coho respond to trolling spoons, hootchies, and cut-plug herring along the same drift. Over the mixed bottom, drift jigging with metal jigs or leadhead jigs and soft plastics targets Halibut, and the same broken ground gives Lingcod cover for jigging with swimbaits and soft plastics. The 15-to-80-foot range and mixed structure let anglers work salmon in the upper column and bottom species over the same bay through a single session.