Halibut Fishing in Prince Rupert, BC

Pacific halibut spend the winter deep offshore on the spawning grounds, then push onto the Hecate Strait and North Coast shelf feeding grounds as spring builds. That movement is what makes Prince Rupert an April through August fishery, with fish stacking on the shallower banks from mid-May through July and holding through August. Numbers taper in fall as halibut slide back to the deeper edges, and December through March is the low point, when most mature fish are offshore and you are working over a residual population. We cover 26 spots that hold halibut here, including Baron Island (North End), Bell Passage, Chatham Sound, Digby Island Kelp Beds, Dundas Island, Edye Passage, Green Island and Holliday Island.

Tide runs your day. Fish the slack. From dead slack up to about 0.5 knots you can hold bottom and your gear hangs where you put it. Push past roughly 2.5 knots and the water is unfishable, so plan your moves around the window either side of high or low water.

Drift jigging is the main game. Work leadhead jigs with soft plastic, heavy metal jigs or swimbaits vertically over the gravel and sand flats in 150 to 400 feet. When you want scent in one place, anchor up and soak whole herring, salmon heads, octopus or squid on a spreader bar. Spreader bar drifting with herring, salmon bellies or octopus covers the banks around Dundas and Stephens Islands.