2021 Nootka Sound/Esperanza Inlet Reports

Up at Moutcha bay and fished the 7th to the 9th. Averaged about 3-4 hits a day and landed one on each day, except on Monday we got a tiny Spring and a White Fraser Chinook out at the red can.

Would have to say that it was hit and miss, and unfortunately we were more in the miss camp than others posting reports. Sounds like we just missed a fire day at Hoisse Point which I've have before in previous years.

All Nootka Guides went up to Esperanza on Monday and they radio'ed n the fish processing plant 5 totes incoming. So must have been great up there.

2 dozen Commercial guys were anchored up near the Bluff waiting for an opening on the 12th, so the place will be cleaned out by then

Back again next year, faster, better, stronger and wiser
 
The line is from Argnonout Point across to the island on the other side.
So there is still lots of good spots inside Nootka but outside the gillnet boundary. We're fishing Sun -Tues.
Hoping there are some bright fish still. We're willing to run, but to where?
 
tubber said:
The line is from Argnonout Point across to the island on the other side.
So there is still lots of good spots inside Nootka but outside the gillnet boundary. We're fishing Sun -Tues.
Hoping there are some bright fish still. We're willing to run, but to where?
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If you don't find them -go up to Esperanza-not that far!!
 
Drewski Canuck said:
Does anyone know how many fish that the Gill Netters took last night? I understood it was a 4 hour drop for this opening.

Drewski
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The gill net opening announced in FN0768 was extended 5 additional hours and closed at 06:00 hours August 13, 2021. This extension was announced on the fishing grounds via VHF radio on August 13 at 00:30. The preliminary catch estimate for this opening is 770 Chinook.

The TAC was not achieved (5,100 pieces) so there will be an additional opening this week.

Gill nets open for 9 hours, commencing 21:00 hours August 13, 2021, until 06:00 hours August 14, 2021, in the following areas: area 25-4
 
Fishing is steady, not spectacular as it has been much of the summer in Esperanza. Sandstone area a bit north has been producing both Chinook and Coho. Pin Rocks, Low rock has its moments too. After some red hot fishing in the inlet at Rosa it has cooled off. They don't seem to bite much in the bright sun in the shallow water there, so early morning or Later evening has been better.

We start our late summer season on August 22nd. We offer the option of bringing your own boat and food, and just renting a room(s) from us. We have BBQs and the kitchen available for gust use. Pots pans, plates cutlery etc. is all here. Give us a call if you are interested in some late season chinook or northern coho fishing. This is s good spot for heading out for Tuna if you are so inclined!
 
Just back from a quick trip to Nootka. Fished for an hour at camel and got a 26 lb boot( released)Friday night, Fished offshore today. 6 ling, few black cod , 2 halibut and 2 bright springs.
cleaning table at critter had lots of silver fish being cleaned Friday night. Well worth the trip
 

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I brought a group of my Managers to Nootka this past week (Monday - Wednesday) for a guided fish to Nootka Resort. Most were complete fishing rookies. I also brought my own boat and attempted to match the production of the guide boats. Well, it wasn't even close. The Nootka boats unsurprisingly did very well and many days were back to the dock early. They fished Esperanza and Nootka both inside and out. I had to put in long hours and many long spells with no bites but me and my boat mate eventually ground out 3 Chinook and 3 Coho each (largest was 19 pounds) and a few bottom fish.

What was interesting was the range of gear used amongst the guides. One used just very small spoons, another ran mostly white hootchies. I threw the entire tackle box at the fish running AP herring spoons, small Coho Killers, hootchies, and anchovies with no real consensus winner. One fish I caught was full of tiny stickleback (explains the success of small spoons), another was full of anchovies and herring. I guess the bottom line is that fish will eat anything that looks like food when they are biting.

Things seem to really slow down as the temperature rose mid-week. Lots of boats returning to the dock without any keeper fish. Pretty strange fishing the west side of Vancouver Island in 35 - 37 degree temps.

It was tough to get offshore for halibut due to some pretty strong winds.

Overall, great trip. Absolutely stunningly beautiful area and my team of rookie fisherman had an epic time. Great job by the Nootka guides getting my guys on fish and the resort and staff were great.
 

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Spent Monday - Saturday morning in Nootka staying out of Moutcha. Was a little worried about the commercial opening but it didn’t have an affect on our results. In short our trip was fantastic. Weather super hot. Sneaky Weasels super cold. Monday night was out for the evening tide. Word on the street was chovies so made the decision to run meat for the week. Went 1 for 2 at Camel. Nice bright fish. Had a netting snafu on one but c’est la vie. Tuesday made the decision to fish Hoiss. Was the wrong decision. Nothing but shakers. Camel was the spot so fished the evening tide at Camel. Monster hit and long line release in 3 bay. Wednesday morning worked Camel again with one hit and broke it off. Wednesday night went 3 for 4. Another break off. Thinking the chovie is deep and the line gets raked over the teeth. Live and learn. Thursday was solid for hook ups but went 2 for 8. Several short bites. A few long line releases and another broken line. Terrible results. Friday morning went 3 for 4. The remainder of the trip was a bust as the bite never really materialized. Saturday had a quick morning fish before leaving and went 0 for 2. Again the treble hook seems to slip out easily when the hooked fish head shakes. 100 pounds dressed to St Jeans so happy with the results but some work to do when using bait and chovie rigs. 40% catch results to hook ups so some learning to do. Advice on chovie rigs appreciated.
 
Salmonface said:
Spent Monday - Saturday morning in Nootka staying out of Moutcha. Was a little worried about the commercial opening but it didn’t have an affect on our results. In short our trip was fantastic. Weather super hot. Sneaky Weasels super cold. Monday night was out for the evening tide. Word on the street was chovies so made the decision to run meat for the week. Went 1 for 2 at Camel. Nice bright fish. Had a netting snafu on one but c’est la vie. Tuesday made the decision to fish Hoiss. Was the wrong decision. Nothing but shakers. Camel was the spot so fished the evening tide at Camel. Monster hit and long line release in 3 bay. Wednesday morning worked Camel again with one hit and broke it off. Wednesday night went 3 for 4. Another break off. Thinking the chovie is deep and the line gets raked over the teeth. Live and learn. Thursday was solid for hook ups but went 2 for 8. Several short bites. A few long line releases and another broken line. Terrible results. Friday morning went 3 for 4. The remainder of the trip was a bust as the bite never really materialized. Saturday had a quick morning fish before leaving and went 0 for 2. Again the treble hook seems to slip out easily when the hooked fish head shakes. 100 pounds dressed to St Jeans so happy with the results but some work to do when using bait and chovie rigs. 40% catch results to hook ups so some learning to do. Advice on chovie rigs appreciated.
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i’m by no means an anchovy expert but i run a treble with a single stinger. eye of the stinger is about half an inch behind the tail and stinger is responsible for most of the hookups. nootka fish are incredibly fickle especially inside and i find they are light biters
 
Salmonface said:
Spent Monday - Saturday morning in Nootka staying out of Moutcha. Was a little worried about the commercial opening but it didn’t have an affect on our results. In short our trip was fantastic. Weather super hot. Sneaky Weasels super cold. Monday night was out for the evening tide. Word on the street was chovies so made the decision to run meat for the week. Went 1 for 2 at Camel. Nice bright fish. Had a netting snafu on one but c’est la vie. Tuesday made the decision to fish Hoiss. Was the wrong decision. Nothing but shakers. Camel was the spot so fished the evening tide at Camel. Monster hit and long line release in 3 bay. Wednesday morning worked Camel again with one hit and broke it off. Wednesday night went 3 for 4. Another break off. Thinking the chovie is deep and the line gets raked over the teeth. Live and learn. Thursday was solid for hook ups but went 2 for 8. Several short bites. A few long line releases and another broken line. Terrible results. Friday morning went 3 for 4. The remainder of the trip was a bust as the bite never really materialized. Saturday had a quick morning fish before leaving and went 0 for 2. Again the treble hook seems to slip out easily when the hooked fish head shakes. 100 pounds dressed to St Jeans so happy with the results but some work to do when using bait and chovie rigs. 40% catch results to hook ups so some learning to do. Advice on chovie rigs appreciated.
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With guests on board I need 3 bites for every fish in the boat, and need to hook 2 to land 1 on average over the course of the summer. That’s chovy fishin for spawners imo. The single stinger absolutely helps most of the time, but lately I’ve been running firecrackers with a #2 treble on one side for just as many hookups as the tandem #2 treble with 1/0 single trailer. The single treble does seem to be taken deeper on average and teeth are an issue one fish per leader sometimes. The tandems hooked by only the trailer are only good for one fish also imo.
long story short, your 40% isn’t all that bad in my experience. I’ve had much better for sure, but I’ve had much worse as well.
If anyone has the answer in all ears HA.
I’ve just accepted after 25 years out here with people that don’t fish everyday and we need 8 mature chinooks I need 24 bites and 16 hook-ups. That’s the average over the course of a season. Personally I usually go 2 for 3, same with my wife but we spend a lot of time on the water.
 
Fished Nootka Wednesday to Sunday. Fishing was fairly slow overall for us. Came home with six spring and two coho. Camel Rock and Hoiss Point we're the better inside spots while the lighthouse produced for coho action. Best gear was white hootches and anchovies 35 to 55 feet. The gillnetters had an opening on Friday night and we heard the average was 5 - 9 fish per boat. They had another opening on Saturday night and apparently did better. Another great trip to Nootka nonetheless with good weather and lots of wildlife.
 
Anyone have an inshore Esperanza report for today?
We' be been scratching hard and getting some. Red can area.
Inshore seems slow from limited conversations.
 
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