Capelin is an important forage fish species in the Northwest Atlantic and the primary prey species of many top predators. Capelin undergo extensive inshore migrations (> 350 km) to coastal spawning grounds in the spring where the timing of inshore arrival is highly variable. I investigated the influence of intrinsic factors and proxies for extrinsic factors on the timing of arrival of capelin at spawning sites on the northeast coast of Newfoundland (2012 and 2013). Despite high inter-annual variation in almost all factors examined, intrinsic factors, specifically length and age, consistently varied with timing of arrival at spawning sites for both males and females, unlike proxies for extrinsic factors. These results are important for the management of this critical fish species, as selective harvesting by the capelin fishery of early-arriving fish may impact the age/size structure of the population, recruitment, and result in increased variability in the timing of spawning.