Today's best fishing in Port Hardy: 7 AM to 10 AM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Port Hardy.
The next 14 days in Port Hardy
Data from: ECMWF + GFS + BlueCasterTwo weeks ahead
Most forecasts stop at the weekend. This one runs a full 14 days, so you can pick the day before you book the time off.
One number, out of 100
The best score anything in Port Hardy reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
13,440 scores behind it
40 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Keogh Shoals
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Keogh Shoals, the most fished mark in Port Hardy, scored for Chinook Salmon.
Six readings, one clock
Tide, current, wind, sea, air and sky, all lined up on the same hour, so you can see what is actually driving the score.
Currents, not just tides
Modelled flow for the water off Port Hardy, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in Port Hardy
34 more on the mapA year of catch reports
The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Port Hardy comes first.
Today's number too
Beside each name is the best score that spot reaches today, so you can weigh a proven mark against a good forecast.
Every mark has a page
Its own chart, its own species and its own rules, worked out the same way as everything above.
- 89Keogh ShoalsKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 89Morgan ShoalKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 89Hump 1.9 km NE of Morgan ShoalKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 89Daphne PointKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Low slack · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 88Eagle IslandKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Early flood · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 88Masterman IslandsKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Early flood · Light ripple · Rock reef
Every spot we score in Port Hardy
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
40 marks, all scored
Every spot we cover around Port Hardy, each one carrying its own number for today.
Point at any of them
The name, how busy a mark it is, and the tide, sea and seabed at its best hour.
Create custom spots
Our full model on your custom private spots.
- Drop a pinAnywhere on the water. The ledge you found, the bay nobody talks about.
- Name itYour name for it, not ours. It stays private to your account.
- Choose speciesPick what you fish there, and it starts scoring from the next run.
What you can keep in Port Hardy today
- Chinook SalmonKeep2 a day · min 62 cmOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- HalibutKeep2 a dayOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- Coho SalmonKeep in places2 a day · min 30 cmOpen at 20 of 36 spots we cover
- LingcodKeep1 a day · min 65 cmOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- Black RockfishClosedShut at all 10 spots we cover
Rules differ between PFMAs and change in season. Check DFO for the PFMA you are fishing before you keep anything.
That was one day. Pro opens the next fourteen.
Every spot on this map, hour by hour, two weeks out, with alerts when your water crosses the score you set.
$0 today, then $33 CAD a year, which is $2.75 a month. Card required, cancel any time.
When to fish Port Hardy
Each row is shaded against that species' own best month here, so a dark cell means a good month for that fish rather than a comparison between them.
| Species | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinook Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Coho Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Lingcod | ||||||||||||
| Black Rockfish |
Chinook Salmon: January poor, February poor, March fair, April fair, May excellent, June peak, July peak, August peak, September poor, October poor, November poor, December poor. Halibut: January none, February poor, March good, April peak, May peak, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September fair, October poor, November none, December none. Coho Salmon: January none, February none, March none, April poor, May fair, June peak, July peak, August peak, September peak, October poor, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Black Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June good, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair.
- Chinook Salmon. Port Hardy sees resident (feeder) Chinook year-round giving a steady winter baseline, but the dominant peak is the summer migratory run of northern-bound and Fraser/Vancouver Island-bound Chinook passing through Queen Charlotte Strait in late June through July, tapering through August. A modest spring build reflects arriving feeders and early migrants.
- Halibut. Pacific halibut migrate from deep offshore winter spawning grounds onto Port Hardy's shallower banks as waters warm from spring through summer, peaking roughly May–September when they feed heavily on abundant baitfish. Abundance tapers through fall as fish return to deeper offshore water, leaving reduced but not fully absent numbers in winter.
- Coho Salmon. Port Hardy coho abundance peaks in late August through September (weeks 33-36) as mature fish stage off the northern Vancouver Island coast en route to natal rivers, with the sharp August build reflecting feeder coho fattening on herring and needlefish. A minor spring/early-summer presence reflects immature feeder coho, while winter shows near-absence as adults have spawned and juveniles are still rearing in freshwater.
- Lingcod. Lingcod are resident, non-migratory reef and pinnacle dwellers around Port Hardy so they're present year-round with only moderate seasonal swing. Late winter/early spring shows a slight dip as post-spawn males (guarding nests Dec–Mar) and spent females recover, while summer (Jul–Aug) marks peak abundance as fish feed heavily in warmer, prey-rich water and pre-spawn aggregations build.
- Black Rockfish. Black rockfish are non-migratory resident structure-dwellers around Port Hardy's rocky reefs and kelp, so they're present year-round with only modest seasonal variation. Abundance peaks in mid-to-late summer (July–August) when warmer water boosts activity and juveniles recruit inshore, while cold winter months push fish slightly deeper and less concentrated but never absent.
Before you go
Water around Port Hardy falls into 5 areas, and the rules can differ between them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets them.
- 12-9
- 12-10
- 12-11
- 12-13
- 12-16
Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence
Fisheries and Oceans Canada · 2026-27
Annual, Canadian resident, 16 to 64: $25.86
Salmon Conservation Stamp $7.39, required to keep any salmon. Releasing does not need it.
This is the federal tidal licence. Fishing fresh water in BC needs a separate provincial licence, and one does not cover the other.
Fishing Port Hardy
Port Hardy sits at the northern end of Vancouver Island, opening onto Queen Charlotte Strait and the exposed waters where the strait meets the open Pacific. The area holds Chinook Salmon and Lingcod through the May to August stretch, while Pacific Halibut runs from March into late summer and Coho Salmon builds from June into September. Its 40 spots range across rocky reefs, kelp-fringed islets, and current-swept headlands, with structure scattered from sheltered island passages out to more open rock piles. Chinook fishing here centers on trolling, working the tide lines and drop-offs where feed concentrates. The core of the fishery falls between spring and early fall, when salmon, halibut, and bottomfish overlap across the same grounds.