Just got back from a 7-day trip to Nootka Sound. Stayed at a place called Tuta Marina and had a great time. The catching was awesome. So good we had to slow down to avoid filling our limits within a few days. Ended up keeping 12 fish amongst 3 of us with the largest being 34lbs and the smallest at 21lbs. Most fish were in the mid to upper 20s. My girlfriend and I both got our personal bests with 32lb and 34lb fish, respectively. My son also landed his first big king - a bright 26 pounder.



Based on reports it didn’t seem like there was any one hot setup, depth or location. Although the best catching shifted a bit from day to day, I would say it was generally good to excellent everywhere we went. Our most production setup was an anchovy in a green glow hood approximately 60” behind a hotspot early in the morning. After the sun hit the water I would switch to a white glow hootchy approximately 42” behind a hotspot. In my opinion, anything that glowed was the key.

The icing on the cake was a run in with Luna the killer whale. On our way back to Gold River from Nootka Sound I spotted what appeared top be a porpoise on the surface so slowed the boat to take a few pictures. After slowing I didn’t see him until I looked back and found him swimming in my wake, inches from the back of the boat. We didn’t stop (they are trying their best to limit his interaction with humans), but I snapped this pic as he came up for a breather after swimming along with me for awhile.



I did some testing of the salmon scenter, but have yet to come to a firm conclusion about its effectiveness. I tested it with identical setups on each side of the boat the first couple days of our trip and will say the side with the salmon scenter got more hits although those hits didn’t necessarily translate to more hookups.