Sayward Fishing Report & Forecast

Today's best window: 9 AM to 12 PM

Updated today

Chinook fishing at Race Passage Hump looks good today.

ReelCaster scores every hour at Race Passage Hump from 0 to 100, reading the tide, current, wind and weather for Chinook. The higher the score, the better your odds. Green means go.

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Every spot around Sayward, scored

Each number is today's best score out of 100 at that spot. The card walks the most-fished spots.

View Sayward fishing map

The next 14 days in Sayward

Data from: ECMWF + GFS + BlueCaster

Two 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 Sayward reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
13,104 scores behind it
39 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.

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Hour by hour today at Race Passage Hump

All times PDT

One real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Race Passage Hump, the most fished spot in Sayward, 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 Sayward, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.

Conditions · now

Time

9 AM

Now

Score

Good

Tide

10.0 ft ▼

Ebbing

Current

—

Ebb

Wind

2 kn

SE · steady

Sea state

Flat

est. from wind

Air temp

1°

Cold

Weather

Overcast

99% cloud

The spots people actually fish in Sayward

33 more on the map

A year of catch reports
The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Sayward 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 spot has a page
Its own chart, its own species and its own rules, worked out the same way as everything above.

Every spot we score in Sayward

Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCan

Real charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
39 spots, all scored
Every spot we cover around Sayward, 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 Sayward today

Chinook SalmonKeep2 a day · min 62 cmOpen at all 38 spots we cover
Coho SalmonKeep2 a day · min 30 cmOpen at all 38 spots we cover
HalibutKeep2 a dayOpen at all 35 spots we cover
SablefishKeep4 a dayOpen at all 11 spots we cover
SurfperchKeep8 a dayOpen at all 3 spots we cover
Flounder / Sole (Flatfish)Keep8 a dayOpen at all 2 spots we cover
HerringKeep20 a dayOpen at all 1 spot we cover
LingcodClosedShut at all 38 spots we cover
Canary RockfishClosedShut at all 25 spots we cover
Black RockfishClosedShut at all 7 spots we cover
Quillback RockfishClosedShut at all 6 spots we cover

Rules differ between PFMAs and change in season. Check DFO for the PFMA you are fishing before you keep anything.

All 38 spots in Sayward

Every spot we cover around Sayward has its own page, with the tide, the wind and the next 14 days.

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 Sayward

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.

Relative abundance by month for each species around Sayward
Species	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Chinook Salmon
Coho Salmon
Halibut
Lingcod
Canary Rockfish
Sablefish
Surfperch
Flounder / Sole (Flatfish)
Herring
Black Rockfish
Quillback Rockfish

Chinook Salmon. Sayward sits near Johnstone Strait on the migration corridor for Fraser and mainland-bound Chinook, so abundance builds through spring feeders and peaks late June through July as maturing 'summer' Chinook stage and stream past on their way to natal rivers. Numbers taper through August into fall after the main run passes, with a low winter baseline of resident/feeder Chinook holding in the strait.
Coho Salmon. Sayward/Johnstone Strait coho peak sharply late August through September as returning adults stage before the Salmon River and mainland inlet runs, with weeks 34–36 the strongest. A low-level 'blueback' (immature feeder coho) presence builds through spring and summer, and abundance collapses to near-zero in winter once spawners have entered rivers.
Halibut. Pacific halibut in the Johnstone Strait/Sayward area move onto shallower feeding grounds as water warms in spring, peaking late May through summer when they feed heavily on returning baitfish and salmon; abundance drops in fall as fish migrate to deeper offshore wintering and spawning grounds, staying low but present through winter.
Lingcod. Lingcod are resident, non-migratory reef/rocky-bottom fish in the Sayward area (Johnstone Strait), so they're present year-round with no true absence. A late-winter/early-spring peak (Mar-Apr) reflects males aggregating on nesting rocks to guard egg masses in shallower, accessible structure, and a secondary early-fall bump reflects active feeding as bait concentrates before winter.
Canary Rockfish. Canary Rockfish are resident, non-migratory bottomfish holding on rocky reefs and pinnacles year-round near Sayward, so abundance stays broad and flat with no true absence. A modest summer plateau (roughly June–September) reflects warmer, stable water pulling fish slightly shallower and more concentrated onto structure, with a small winter dip as fish spread deeper.
Sablefish. Sablefish are deepwater (400m+) residents in the fjord channels near Sayward and are present year-round, so the curve stays near baseline. A modest late-summer to early-fall peak (Aug–Sep) reflects seasonal aggregation and warmer surface-driven feeding activity, while juveniles occasionally move shallower after summer spawning cycles.
Surfperch. Shiner and pile perch remain resident in Sayward's nearshore waters year-round, so abundance stays near baseline. The strongest peak is late winter into spring (Feb–Apr) when perch aggregate in shallows to give birth to live young, with a secondary bump in fall as fish stack up before winter.
Flounder / Sole (Flatfish). Flatfish are resident year-round in Sayward's Johnstone Strait area sandy/muddy bottoms, so abundance stays broad and never drops to zero. A pronounced spring-into-summer peak (late March–July) reflects post-spawn fish moving onto shallower feeding flats as water warms, with a gradual decline into winter as they retreat to deeper, cooler water.
Herring. Pacific Herring in the Sayward/Johnstone Strait area peak sharply in late February through April during the spring spawning run, when dense schools move into nearshore waters to spawn on kelp and eelgrass. After spawning, adults disperse offshore and abundance drops to a low summer baseline, with a modest rebuild through fall as juveniles and pre-spawn schools aggregate before the next spring cycle.
Black Rockfish. Black Rockfish are resident, non-migratory residents of Sayward's rocky nearshore reefs and are present year-round, so the curve stays broad and flat. Slight summer peak (July–August) reflects warmer water pushing fish shallower and more active near structure and bait aggregations, while winter shows modest lows as fish hold deeper and feed less in colder temperatures.
Quillback Rockfish. Quillback rockfish are extremely sedentary, long-lived resident reef fish in Sayward's inside waters, occupying the same rocky structure year-round with essentially no seasonal migration, so biological abundance stays flat at baseline across all 52 weeks.

Before you go

Management areas

Water around Sayward falls into 6 areas, and the rules can differ between them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets them.

12-1
13-31
13-32
13-33
13-34
13-35

Licence you need

Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence

Fisheries and Oceans Canada · 2026-27

Annual, Canadian resident aged 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.

Do I need a licence in Sayward?Buy from Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fishing Sayward

Sayward sits on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, fronting the tidal channels and passages of Johnstone Strait where inside waters give way to more exposed rock and ledge structure offshore. The area holds 40 fishing spots spread across sheltered island margins, submerged boulders, and current-swept points that break the flow. Chinook Salmon run strongest from May through August, Pacific Halibut hold from April into August, and Coho Salmon fill in from June through October, with Lingcod active in the late winter and again in late summer. Anglers work Chinook here primarily by trolling along the tide lines and drop-offs, while the bottom structure near the islets and ledges supports halibut and lingcod. The core of the fishery carries through spring and summer, with the salmon seasons overlapping to keep the water productive into fall.

Common questions about Sayward

›Do I need a fishing licence in Sayward?

Yes. Fishing around Sayward needs the Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. $25.86 a year for a Canadian resident aged 16 to 64 in 2026-27. The Salmon Conservation Stamp ($7.39) is 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.

The next 14 days in Sayward

Two weeks ahead

One number, out of 100

13,104 scores behind it

Hour by hour today at Race Passage Hump

One real spot

Six readings, one clock

Currents, not just tides

The spots people actually fish in Sayward

A year of catch reports

Today's number too

Every spot has a page

Every spot we score in Sayward

Real charted seabed

39 spots, all scored

Point at any of them