Spot Prawning in Sidney, BC
1 spot · peak Nov-May, Jun-Aug
Spot prawns in Sidney come down to one thing: putting baited traps on the right ground and pulling them when the water stands still. Patrician Bay is the spot we cover here, sitting on the Saanich Inlet side, with steep rocky drop-offs close enough to the launch that you can set gear and be back on it without burning half a day. You are working depths of 200 to 350 feet, right along the break where the bottom falls away, so read the slope carefully before you drop.
Current runs the show. Fish the slack. From dead slack up to about 2 knots you are in business, because your traps hang where you put them and your line stays close to vertical. Push past that and the gear starts sliding and standing off the bottom, and by roughly 4.5 knots the set is unfishable. Plan your soak around the window either side of high or low water and you will spend less time chasing floats down the inlet.
Bait is the other half of it. Fish meal pellets hold scent longest and are the backbone of most sets. Cured fish scraps, canned cat food punched with holes, and commercial prawn bait all pull well, and mixing two of them in the same trap covers you when the prawns are picky. Rebait every set and keep your bait jars sealed until they hit the water.
When to go
Spot prawns are resident year-round in the deep waters off Sidney, so abundance never drops to zero, but adult biomass peaks in early-to-mid summer (late June–July) before the traditional May fishery pulse recruits and berried females release larvae. The dip in late summer/fall reflects post-spawn mortality and reduced legal-size adults following larval release, with the population gradually rebuilding through winter as juveniles mature.
Relative abundance by month: Jan 98 percent of peak, Feb 98 percent of peak, Mar 98 percent of peak, Apr 93 percent of peak, May 89 percent of peak, Jun 96 percent of peak, Jul 98 percent of peak, Aug 91 percent of peak, Sep 85 percent of peak, Oct 84 percent of peak, Nov 89 percent of peak, Dec 95 percent of peak.
Relative abundance through the year around Sidney. Peak: Nov-May, Jun-Aug
How to prawn around Sidney
prawn trapping
Most used hereBaited traps are dropped to depths of 200 to 350 feet along steep rocky drop-offs in Saanich Inlet and the surrounding channels.
- fish meal pellets
- cured fish scraps
- canned cat food
- commercial prawn bait
Tide, current and light
These are the conditions ReelCaster weights when it scores spot prawn at Sidney spots, and they are the ones worth planning a trip around.
Fish the slack
Best from dead slack up to about 2 knots of tidal current, and unfishable by roughly 4.5 knots. In practice that is the window either side of high or low water, when gear hangs where you put it.
Tides here read off Sidney
Where to prawn
Every spot we cover around Sidney that holds spot prawn, with today's score for this species. Open the spot for the tide, wind and the next 14 days.
SEE THEM ON THE SIDNEY MAP →Other Sidney guides
Guide last reviewed August 2026. Seasons, limits and closures change: confirm the current DFO notice before you fish.