Today's best fishing in Sayward: 7 AM to 10 AM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Sayward.
The next 14 days in Sayward
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 Sayward reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
13,440 scores behind it
40 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Hump 1.2 km SE of Poyntz Island
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Hump 1.2 km SE of Poyntz Island, the most fished mark 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.
The spots people actually fish in Sayward
34 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 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 mark has a page
Its own chart, its own species and its own rules, worked out the same way as everything above.
- 88Hump 1.2 km SE of Poyntz IslandKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Early ebb · Flat · Rock reef
- 88Hump 1.6 km SE of Poyntz IslandKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Early ebb · Flat · Rock reef
- 87Gunner PointKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late flood · Flat · Rock reef
- 87Blink RockKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid ebb · Flat · Rock reef
- 87Shaw PointKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late flood · Flat · Rock reef
- 87Yorke IslandKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Flat · Rock reef
Every spot we score in Sayward
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
40 marks, 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 40 spots we cover
- Coho SalmonKeep2 a day · min 30 cmOpen at all 39 spots we cover
- HalibutKeep2 a dayOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- LingcodKeep1 a day · min 65 cmOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- Black RockfishClosedShut at all 7 spots we cover
- Quillback RockfishClosedShut at all 7 spots we cover
Rules differ between PFMAs and change in season. Check DFO for the PFMA you are fishing before you keep anything.
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.
| Species | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinook Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Coho Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Lingcod | ||||||||||||
| Black Rockfish | ||||||||||||
| Quillback Rockfish |
Chinook Salmon: January none, February poor, March poor, April good, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September fair, October poor, November none, December none. Coho Salmon: January none, February none, March none, April none, May poor, June excellent, July peak, August peak, September peak, October excellent, November none, December none. Halibut: January none, February poor, March good, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October poor, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May fair, June fair, July fair, August good, September good, October good, November fair, December fair. Black Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Quillback Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair.
- 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.
- 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
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
- 13-35
- 13-36
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 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.