About Eel Reef

Eel Reef is a rocky pinnacle rising from depths of 0 to 45 feet in the outer exposed waters off Port McNeill, British Columbia, where current sweeps structure that concentrates fish. Chinook Salmon peak from May through August and Coho Salmon from May through September, both worked by trolling whole herring, spoons, or flashers with hootchies across the reef's edges. The rock holds a strong groundfish community, with Lingcod strongest in late winter and again through summer into fall, alongside Black Rockfish from March through September and Copper Rockfish from June through September. Lingcod and rockfish respond to metal jigs, leadhead jigs, and soft plastic swimbaits dropped tight to the pinnacle, while Pacific Halibut through the May-to-August window come to drift jigging with leadhead jigs and swimbaits or salmon belly along the bottom. The vertical relief and swift water make the shallowest crown of the reef productive on moving tide, when baitfish stack against the rock.