Today's best fishing in Prince Rupert: 6 AM to 9 AM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Prince Rupert.
The next 14 days in Prince Rupert
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 Prince Rupert reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
8,736 scores behind it
26 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Stephens Island (Avery Island / Butler Cove)
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Stephens Island (Avery Island / Butler Cove), the most fished mark in Prince Rupert, 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 Prince Rupert, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in Prince Rupert
19 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 Prince Rupert 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.
- 64Stephens Island (Avery Island / Butler Cove)Known markBest 8 AM–11 AM · Low slack · Lumpy · Mixed bottom
- 71Holliday IslandKnown markBest 6 AM–9 AM · Mid ebb · Chop
- 71Dundas IslandBest 6 AM–9 AM · Mid ebb · Chop
- 84Portland Inlet MouthBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid ebb · Light ripple
- 84Wales IslandBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid ebb · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 83Skeena BarBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Flat · Sand flat
Every spot we score in Prince Rupert
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
25 of 26 marks scored
Every spot we cover around Prince Rupert, 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 Prince Rupert today
- Chinook SalmonKeep in places2 a day · min 45 cmOpen at 20 of 26 spots we cover
- HalibutKeep in places1 a dayOpen at 25 of 26 spots we cover
- Coho SalmonKeep in places4 a day · min 30 cmOpen at 24 of 25 spots we cover
- LingcodKeep in places3 a day · min 65 cmOpen at 24 of 25 spots we cover
- Rockfish (Aggregate)Keep in places3 a dayOpen at 14 of 15 spots we cover
Rules differ between PFMAs and change in season. Check DFO for the PFMA you are fishing before you keep anything.
What you can catch in Prince Rupert
Chinook Salmon
Open at 20 of 26- Peak season
- Peak Feb-Apr, Apr-Jul
- Methods described
- 3 methods
Halibut
Open at 25 of 26- Peak season
- Peak Apr-Aug
- Methods described
- 3 methods
Coho Salmon
Open at 24 of 25- Peak season
- Peak May-Sep
- Methods described
- 3 methods
Lingcod
Open at 24 of 25- Peak season
- Peak Feb-Jul
- Methods described
- 3 methods
Rockfish (Aggregate)
Open at 14 of 15- Peak season
- Peak Feb-Jul
- Methods described
- 2 methods
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 Prince Rupert
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 | ||||||||||||
| Rockfish (Aggregate) |
Chinook Salmon: January poor, February fair, March peak, April peak, May peak, June peak, July excellent, August poor, September poor, October poor, November poor, December poor. Halibut: January none, February poor, March good, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October fair, November poor, December none. Coho Salmon: January none, February none, March none, April fair, May excellent, June peak, July peak, August peak, September fair, October none, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February good, March good, April good, May good, June good, July good, August good, September fair, October fair, November fair, December fair. Rockfish (Aggregate): January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June good, July good, August good, September fair, October fair, November fair, December fair.
- Chinook Salmon. Prince Rupert sits on the migratory highway for Skeena and Nass Chinook plus Alaska-bound stocks, producing a strong summer peak from mid-June through July as fish stage before entering the rivers. A secondary shoulder of feeder (immature) Chinook holds through spring and again in fall/early winter around Work Channel and Chatham Sound, keeping the curve well above zero year-round with a soft late-winter low.
- Halibut. Pacific halibut migrate from deep offshore winter spawning grounds onto Hecate Strait and North Coast shelf feeding grounds in spring, with peak abundance in Prince Rupert waters from mid-May through July as fish concentrate on shallower banks. Numbers taper through fall as halibut move back to deeper edges, reaching a winter low from December through March when most fish are offshore spawning, though a residual population keeps abundance non-zero year-round.
- Coho Salmon. Coho abundance in Prince Rupert waters builds through summer as northern-migrating stocks stage off the North Coast, peaking mid-July through early August when Skeena and transboundary coho are thick in Chatham Sound and around Dundas/Stephens Islands. Numbers taper sharply through September as fish push into river systems, with only residual presence into October and near-absence during winter and spring (feeder/resident coho are minimal here compared to southern BC).
- Lingcod. Lingcod are resident groundfish in Prince Rupert waters year-round, so abundance never drops to zero. Peak biological presence is late winter through spring (Feb–May) when mature fish move onto shallow rocky reefs to spawn and guard nests, with a gradual decline through summer and a low in late fall as post-spawn fish disperse to deeper structure.
- Rockfish (Aggregate). Rockfish (yelloweye, quillback, black, copper) are non-migratory resident structure fish in Prince Rupert waters year-round, so abundance stays near baseline. The slight late-spring through early-summer peak reflects shallower post-spawn distribution and increased availability on nearshore reefs as water warms, while winter shows fish holding deeper and more dispersed but still present.
Before you go
Water around Prince Rupert falls into 11 areas, and the rules can differ between them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets them.
- 3-1
- 3-2
- 3-3
- 4-1
- 4-2
- 4-4
- 4-5
- 4-9
- 4-12
- 4-13
- 4-15
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 Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert sits where the Skeena and Nass outflows meet the open Pacific, and that junction is what shapes the fishing. Chatham Sound is the broad, island-scattered basin at the centre of it, sheltered enough to fish on most days but fed by tidal exchange moving through the passages around Dundas and Stephens Islands. Work Channel and the other long inlets hold feeder Chinook that never leave. West of the islands the bottom drops onto the Hecate Strait shelf, where halibut spread out over gravel and sand banks. The whole area is a migratory corridor rather than a terminal fishery, so much of what swims past is bound for rivers well to the north or south of here.
Chinook are the anchor. Immature feeders hold through the cooler months and the big migratory fish stack up through spring and early summer as Skeena, Nass and Alaska-bound stocks stage before turning into fresh water. Coho follow, thin in spring and thick in the sound by mid summer before they push into the rivers and the marine fishery goes quiet. Halibut move in from deep water as spring progresses, feed on the shallower banks through the warm months, then slide back toward the edges in fall. Lingcod and rockfish are resident on the reefs and pinnacles year round and rarely give a bad day.
Most salmon fishing is downrigger trolling, with mooching and bucktailing productive when fish are shallow, while bottom work is jigging or bait on anchor over structure. Plan around weather rather than the calendar. Chatham Sound is workable in wind that shuts down the outside grounds, and Hecate Strait can turn steep and short quickly.
Launch at Rushbrook and get north into Chatham Sound early. The westerly usually fills in by early afternoon out past Dundas and Stephens, so the ugly water comes on the run home, not the run out. Work the tide lines off Metlakatla Pass and the kelp edges on the last of the flood, riggers at 40 to 70 feet, deeper once the bait sinks with the sun. Halibut come off the gravel edges in 150 to 250 feet, best fished near slack. Lingcod hold tight to the pinnacles, so jig heavy and stay on structure.
Common questions about Prince Rupert
›What is the best time of year to fish Prince Rupert?
Late spring through midsummer is the strongest window overall. Chinook build from March and hit their high point in July as Skeena, Nass and Alaska bound fish stage before entering the rivers, halibut peak from mid May through August on the shallower shelf banks, and coho are thick in Chatham Sound from mid July into August. Lingcod and rockfish are resident and hold near their baseline all year, so even outside the salmon window there is bottom fishing to be had.
›What fish can you catch in Prince Rupert and where do they hold?
The headline species are Chinook salmon, Pacific halibut, coho salmon, lingcod and rockfish. Chinook and coho travel the migratory highway through Chatham Sound and around Dundas and Stephens Islands, with feeder Chinook holding in Work Channel and Chatham Sound outside the main run. Halibut move onto Hecate Strait and North Coast shelf feeding grounds in spring, while lingcod, rockfish, kelp greenling and cabezon sit tight to rocky reefs, pinnacles and nearshore structure. Chum, pink and sockeye salmon, Pacific cod, sablefish and Dungeness crab also turn up in the mix.
›What techniques work best for salmon around Prince Rupert?
Downrigger trolling is the workhorse for Chinook and coho, letting you cover migratory lanes and hold bait or plugs at the depth fish are running. Mooching and live bait drifting are effective when fish are stacked and holding, and bucktailing is a classic surface tactic for aggressive coho in the summer. When salmon are feeding shallow, casting and retrieving can also produce.
›How do you fish for halibut and bottom fish in Prince Rupert?
Halibut are usually taken with bait fishing on anchor or spreader bar drifting over the shelf banks and gravel and sand edges where they feed. Drift jigging and jigging are the go to methods for lingcod, rockfish and Pacific cod on rocky reefs and pinnacles, where fish hold tight to structure. Lingcod push onto shallow rocky reefs to spawn and guard nests from late winter into spring, then move onto nearshore reefs in summer to feed on herring and salmon.
›Can you fish from shore in Prince Rupert or do you need a boat?
Most of the fishery here is boat based. The Chinook and coho runs are intercepted along migratory lanes in Chatham Sound and out around the islands, and halibut require getting out onto shelf banks that are well beyond casting range. Shore anglers working rocky headlands and kelp edges can find nearshore structure species such as black rockfish, kelp greenling and the occasional lingcod, but a boat opens up nearly all of the productive water.
›What conditions and safety issues should anglers plan for in Prince Rupert?
This is exposed North Coast water and conditions can change fast, particularly out toward Hecate Strait and around Dundas and Stephens Islands where wind against tide builds steep seas quickly. Smaller boats are better off staying inside the more sheltered parts of Chatham Sound and Work Channel and watching the forecast closely before running offshore. Waters off Prince Rupert also span several Fisheries and Oceans Canada subareas across Areas 3 and 4, so know which subarea you are fishing in before you drop a line.