2017 Nootka Sound/Esperanza Inlet Reports

Might be heading up second week of August. Is there a salmon forecast for 2017. Also is mid August a bit late?
And should I expect fog
And is my trailer and truck safe at gold river launch. Is there a locked compound
 
Might be heading up second week of August. Is there a salmon forecast for 2017. Also is mid August a bit late?
And should I expect fog
And is my trailer and truck safe at gold river launch. Is there a locked compound

Mid august is just a slight bit late imo but there should still be some fish around to catch. Should also be slightly less crowded.
Truck and trailer should be OK, but don't leave any valuable contents out in the open. I've never had any problems there and haven't heard of anyone losing anything there... There is a compound there but it's almost always unlocked that I've seen. Pay the natives for use of the compound for parking and you should be OK... You'll see lots of people using the compound but on your mid august dates you should have lots of room to find parking...
 
Thanks for the info. When's the best time.
Hate to be up there with the run already ran
I've done well usually last week of July, first week of august. others may have different opinions on that question... I've fished second week of august a couple times but fishing had definitely slowed down by then for me... I've found the fishing can sometimes be better than nootka, down near esperanza second week of august and later.
 
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Good to great fishing through Aug. Some fish will start showing color, Coho just coming in. Crowds.... Still summer time so...
 
Went to Nootka last weekend looking for some prawns and crabs. while the crabbing was pretty good, the prawning was terrible. Our prawn traps were filling with hake which i have not seen before in the sound. worst prawning i have ever seen as well, we ended up with 100 in 2 days. at least they were Jumbos. too windy to get offshore and look for any Halis.
I'm real curious to know where abouts you were finding good crabbing? That's fantastic!
 
Might be heading up second week of August. Is there a salmon forecast for 2017. Also is mid August a bit late?
And should I expect fog
And is my trailer and truck safe at gold river launch. Is there a locked compound
Check when the gill netters will be setting their nets because it is usually around mid-August. Never been there when the gill nets are out, but I suspect it's not much fun for fishermen.....
 
Greetings, new to the forum. Thanks for all of your tips so far.

Last year I made my first trip to Esperanza in the second week of July. Salmon catching was nonexistent on the inside of Nootka and Esperanza but pretty good offshore once we finally made it out. This year I am wanting to go back but it doesn't look like I can make it until around August 22nd, potentially a week or so earlier.

Worth it? Will there still be good salmon fishing opportunities at that time? My understanding is the Chinooks will be pretty much moved through and the coho I have heard mixed reviews ranging from there's insane amounts of them to no coho (especially on the inside) due to Conuma and Nootka hatcheries mainly focusing on Chinooks??

Thanks for any advice!
 
There are large spawning Chinooks offshore WCVI well into September & Coho over 20#. As for numbers & consistency; not like it used to be but whadya gonna do?
 
Just got back from a few days in Nootka. It was a work party/prawning trip but no fishing offshore as the wind blew from 20 to 50 Km/hr the whole trip.

We worked hard prawning and ended up getting our limit by the last day. Most of them were Jumbo's as I use big netting and only two female prawns.

If I had to rate the prawning compared to the past I would give it a 5/10. At times we would have 6 traps with 2 prawns, then 4 traps with 100. The best depth for us was 340 feet or so. Last year 260 was the number and the year before was 380 feet.

The picture is of our best pull on the last day. Out of all those I only sorted out 13 prawns that were not Jumbo's.
IMG_6754.JPG

Codfather
 
Thanks for the report. I`m headed up this weekend for the first trip of the year, hoping to get off shore for lings, hali etc...prawning maybe?
 
Rumor was that there were a few already at ferrer, haven't heard about the highway but I'm sure its better than surfline
 
Heard the commercial guys were doing ok of Esperanza but not much for size.
 
Not sure if right spot for this
Is it frowned upon to launch and Park truck and trailer at cougar Creek campsite mid August to go to Critter Cove for a few days.
We're leaving from Victoria and trying to avoid the 4 a.m. wake-up call to get there at a reasonable hour hoping to get there the day before and sleep in the boat. Then go from there...Saturday Aug 12
 
"Any recent reports for chinook around Ferrer or the west side of Nootka?"

I can`t tell you about the salmon fishing, we didn't do any,but heard a few guys on the radio doing ok. I can tell you that the new floats at the ramp are a great improvement! they actually float and are secure.
I can say that if you can get off shore that the halibut and bottom fishing is as good as it gets right now. Have fun.
 

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