Melville Island Reef
54.42°N · 130.62°W
Now 23 · 11 PM PDT
24-Hour Conditions
All times PDT
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Current regulations
In effect nowWhat you can keep at this spot today
- Daily limit
- 1 per day
- Possession
- 1 in possession
- Size
- Maximum 112 cm
- Gear
- angling, spear fishing while diving
- Annual quota
- 10 per year
- Other
- Possession limit equals daily limit (not twice). Annual limit of 10 from Apr 1 2026 to Mar 31 2027. Max size 112 cm head-on (85 cm pectoral/head-off). Must record retained halibut on licence/NRLS.
Source: DFO/MPO · PFMA 4-5 · synced today
Seasonality
52-week view · today highlightedWhen Halibut is best at this spot
Nearby Spots
View all on map →Other productive spots within easy run
Melville Island Reef sits offshore of Prince Rupert in British Columbia's north coast waters, a rocky reef complex spanning 30 to 180 feet that holds structure-oriented groundfish alongside migrating salmon. Lingcod and aggregate rockfish anchor the fishery from February through July, while Chinook salmon push through the area in two windows, February to April and again April to July. Anglers work the reef's edges and pinnacles with leadhead jigs and swimbaits, metal jigs, and bucktail jigs for lingcod, dropping the same profiles or bait rigs of herring, squid, and octopus to reach rockfish tight against the rock. Chinook fishing centers on downrigger trolling with whole herring, anchovy in teaser heads, spoons, and hootchies behind flashers along the reef margins, with mooching cut-plug herring effective on quieter tide stages. Current across the reef concentrates baitfish on the up-current faces, and dropping to the lower end of the depth range tends to sort out larger lingcod holding below the rockfish schools.
Melville Island Reef is one of the spots we track around Prince Rupert. See every scored spot in British Columbia.
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