Today's best fishing in Winter Harbour: 7 AM to 10 AM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Winter Harbour.
The next 14 days in Winter Harbour
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 Winter Harbour 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 Akre Rocks
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Akre Rocks, the most fished mark in Winter Harbour, 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 Winter Harbour, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in Winter Harbour
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 Winter Harbour 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.
- 90Akre RocksKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 90Monday RocksKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Low slack · Chop · Rock reef
- 90Leeson RockKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Flat · Rock reef
- 90McNiffe RockKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Flat · Rock reef
- 90Hump 0.6 km N of Mabbott IslandKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Chop · Rock reef
- 90Percy LedgeKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Late ebb · Chop · Rock reef
Every spot we score in Winter Harbour
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 Winter Harbour, 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 Winter Harbour today
- Chinook SalmonKeep2 a day · min 45 cmOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- HalibutKeep2 a dayOpen at all 39 spots we cover
- Coho SalmonKeep2 a day · min 30 cmOpen at all 37 spots we cover
- LingcodKeep3 a day · min 65 cmOpen at all 40 spots we cover
- Black RockfishClosedShut at all 11 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 Winter Harbour
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 | ||||||||||||
| Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Coho Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Lingcod | ||||||||||||
| Black Rockfish |
Chinook Salmon: January poor, February poor, March good, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September poor, October poor, November poor, December poor. Halibut: January none, February poor, March good, April excellent, May excellent, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October fair, November poor, December none. Coho Salmon: January none, February none, March none, April poor, May good, June peak, July peak, August peak, September peak, October poor, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February good, March good, April good, May fair, June good, July good, August good, September fair, October fair, November fair, December fair. Black Rockfish: January poor, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December poor.
- Chinook Salmon. Winter Harbour, at the entrance to Quatsino Sound on NW Vancouver Island, holds a resident winter/feeder Chinook fishery (Feb–Apr) plus a strong offshore migratory summer run peaking mid-July through early August as coastal-migrating stocks pass by. The array shows a modest late-winter shoulder and a pronounced summer peak, with abundance declining after August as fish move into terminal river systems.
- Halibut. Pacific halibut off Winter Harbour on northwest Vancouver Island are most abundant late spring through early fall as they migrate from deep winter spawning grounds to shallower summer feeding banks, with a strong May–September presence peaking around June and again in late August as fish stack on the offshore banks. Winter weeks show reduced but non-zero abundance since many fish move to deeper offshore water (600–1500 ft) to spawn, thinning the accessible nearshore stock without truly leaving the region.
- Coho Salmon. Winter Harbour coho build through summer as feeder/ocean fish stage off northern Vancouver Island, peaking sharply late August through mid-September during the fall run staging near the harbour mouth before migration. Abundance drops steeply in October as fish leave for spawning rivers, with a low resident/immature baseline through winter and spring.
- Lingcod. Lingcod are resident year-round on the rocky reefs and pinnacles off Winter Harbour, so abundance never drops to zero. The strongest concentration occurs late winter through spring (roughly Feb–May) when males guard nests in shallower water and fish stack on structure, with a secondary summer bump as post-spawn fish feed heavily; late fall is the quietest as fish disperse to deeper water.
- Black Rockfish. Black rockfish are resident, non-migratory bottom-dwellers around Winter Harbour's rocky reefs and kelp, so they're present year-round with only gentle seasonal shifts. Abundance rises through late spring and peaks in summer/early fall (roughly weeks 30–35) when warmer nearshore water and abundant baitfish concentrate active fish in shallow structure, then declines modestly through winter as fish move deeper and become less active.
Before you go
Water around Winter Harbour falls into 4 areas, and the rules can differ between them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets them.
- 27-2
- 27-3
- 27-7
- 127-1
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 Winter Harbour
Winter Harbour sits at the northwest tip of Vancouver Island, where the sheltered waters of Quatsino Sound open onto the exposed Pacific coast. The area holds Chinook Salmon at their peak from April through August, Pacific Halibut from May through August, and Lingcod that fish strongest in late winter and again from June through August. The 40 spots here range from rocky reefs and submerged humps to exposed headlands and outer capes that take the full swell of the open ocean. Chinook are worked primarily by trolling across these grounds, while the bottom structure holds Lingcod and Pacific Cod through much of the year. The fishery carries steadily from spring into early fall, with Coho Salmon extending the season from May into September.