Stephens Island (Avery Island / Butler Cove)

Stephens Island sits west of Prince Rupert, with Avery Island and Butler Cove forming a network of rocky shoreline, kelp edges, and shelf drops that hold structure-oriented fish across depths of 40 to 200 feet. Lingcod work the reef edges from February through July, while Pacific Halibut settle onto the deeper flats and gravel bottoms from April into August. Chinook Salmon move through in two windows, February to April and again from April to July, with Coho Salmon following from May through September along the tide lines. Downrigger trolling with whole herring, anchovies in teaser heads, or spoons behind flashers covers the salmon along current seams, while drift jigging with leadhead jigs and soft plastics or heavy metal jigs targets halibut over the deeper bottom. Lingcod respond to jigging along the shallower rock structure with leadhead jigs and swimbaits or metal jigs worked close to the bottom.