Washington Fishing Blog
From local lakes to coastal tides, explore where to fish, what’s biting, and what’s new. Our blog is always up to date with the latest guides and stories.
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Washington Fishing
Washington Fishing
Puget Sound Crabbing Season Fall & Winter 2025 - Exciting Seasons Announced!
Like in years past, a late crabbing season was announced, and the areas that will be open will have a generous season. No doubt, the air will be crisp, additional clothing layers needed, and more attention to the weather report before heading out, but the bounty is there!
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Hiking and Fishing at Whistle Lake near Anacortes
If you find yourself in the Anacortes area and are looking for a fun outdoor activity, hiking and fishing around Whistle Lake is one of the hidden treasures of the area. While most people head straight to nearby Deception Pass State Park for the scenery, or nearby stocked lakes like Lake Campbell, Lake Erie and Heart Lake for fishing, this is a unique opportunity to get deep into the woods and away from the crowds.
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Fishing at Glendale Beach on Whidbey Island
A hidden gem on the southeast side of Whidbey Island offers a quiet stretch of beach at Glendale Beach Park Whidbey Island has well over a dozen well known public beaches that offer great access and easy casting to migrating salmon. While Glendale Beach has everything you’d want in a salmon fishing beach, it is somewhat off the beaten path and not widely known. Coho and Pink Salmon are taken from the beach during the summer season by the few visitors that know about it. I’d say it’s a great place to check out if you’re already fishing at Possession Point Bait Co’s Bait Box, Possession Point State Park or Possession Beach Waterfront Park. To get to the park at Glendale Beach, take Humphrey Road south out of Clinton. Just beyond it’s intersection with Glendale Road will be a small gravel parking lot for the park. Fishing at Glendale Beach is a seasonal affair for salmon, although flounder can also be caught here year round. Coho Salmon and Pink Salmon (these only on odd-numbered years) can be found along the eastern shore of Whidbey Island during late summer and early fall. Check fishing regulations before you go. This area fishes best from a few hours before high tide to a few hours after. The beach has a medium gradient, so casting metal jigs is a top choice. Fishing with a bobber and herring can also be a good bet when salmon are migrating through. We recommend a Buzz Bomb 2”, 2.5” or P-Line Laser Minnow 1 ounce. Upgrade your hooks to a single point barbless to stay legal for salmon, the Gamakatsu Big River Open Eye 1/0 is a good option. Buzz Bombs One of the most popular beach fishing lures of all time. You'll see Buzz Bombs used on every beach of Puget Sound. SHOP NOW
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Seattle's Marine Area 10 reopens for Chinook July 24-26
It looks like there is additional quota to reopen Marine Area 10 for Chinook retention this weekend! Thursday July 24 to Saturday July 26.
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Summer Chinook Season Kicks off July 17th in Puget Sound & San Juan Islands
Puget Sound’s biggest salmon opener kicks off on July 17th with Hatchery Chinook retention happening all over. The Sound will be buzzing with fishing boats all on the search for one of our most prized catches of the year. Here’s a quick post to get you up to speed and geared up for the 2025 Puget Sound Summer Chinook Season.
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The Puget Sound 2025 Summer Crabbing Season kicks off on July 3rd
The 2025 crabbing season has been announced, and it's time to start preparing for a full summer of Puget Sound crabbing. The ever-so-popular Dungeness Crab season kicks off this July, we can’t wait to soak some crab pots and have those epic summer seafood feasts with our friends and family! We've published this as a quick guide for Puget Sound, Hood Canal, San Juan Islands and Strait of Juan de Fuca season information, including links to each area's official rules & regulations.
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Seattle’s Marine Area 10 opens to salmon fishing on June 1st
The 2025 salmon season is looking great, with some amazing options for Coho, Chinook and Pink Salmon fishing. While the area opens to salmon fishing on June 1, different salmon rules occur at different times, so let’s break that down!
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Our Guide to Possession Bar Fishing
Possession Bar is one of the famed fishing spots of Puget Sound. Annually, it hosts thousands of boaters, all working the vast area in search of Salmon, Lingcod, Flounder, Dungeness Crab and Shrimp. Sealife is abundant here.
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Our Guide to Point No Point Salmon Fishing
The scene at Point No Point is one of the most diverse, busy, chaotic and fun salmon fishing places in Puget Sound. Uniquely, the Point offers something for everyone, from trollers to moochers, jiggers to shore anglers.
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Our Guide to Point Wilson Salmon Fishing
Point Wilson is a popular salmon fishing spot where Puget Sound ends and the Strait of Juan de Fuca begins. Strong currents at the lighthouse on this sandy point of land push incoming Chinook Salmon into a tight area for a few hours each day, giving the locals at Porth Townsend a chance to catch them from their small boats.
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Our Guide to Midchannel Bank Salmon Fishing
Midchannel Bank located near the entrance to Puget Sound in Admiralty Inlet and one of the better places to catch salmon near Port Townsend, WA. It’s best known as one of the first places in Puget Sound where anglers catch Summer Chinook as they migrate home. Fishing is best when the currents are strongest, making this a challenging yet rewarding salmon fishing spot. Where is Midchannel Bank? Admiralty Inlet is the waterway that connects Central Puget Sound to the Strait of Juan De Fuca, it is narrow and has some of the strongest tidal currents in the region. On the western side of the Inlet, between Port Townsend and Marrowstone Island is a shallow bar called MidChannel Bank. It’s coarse gravel makeup is perfect habitat for Candlefish, one of the top food sources for Chinook Salmon. It holds resident Chinook year round, and is a major feeding area for migratory Chinook as they make their way back to Puget Sound in the summer. For quick reference, here is the Marine Area 9 Regulations Page and Marine Area 9 Emergency Regulations Midchannel Bank Fishing Map Midchannel Bank Fishing Seasons Mid Channel Bank is one of the northernmost fishing areas in Puget Sound’s Marine Area 9. Lately we have had some really great fishing here during the first few weeks of the Puget Sound summer salmon fishing season, but with a quota based season and typically high catch rates, it won’t last all summer. Coho and Pink salmon fishing occurs during late summer and early fall and can be really good in the area as well. Check out Marine Area 9 Regulations and Emergency Rules Seattle Fishing Co. has the gear you need for Midchannel Bank Most people catch their salmon at Mid Channel Bank with downriggers and trolling gear. There is a small contingent of people mooching and jigging on the top of the bar that do really well. Check out our recommendations below, or if you want to see our full selection, visit our Saltwater Salmon Page. Our favorite Midchannel Trolling setups Pro-Troll Lighted 11" Flasher, P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader 30 pound - 40", Gibbs Skinny G Spoon Gibbs Highliner Flasher, Gamakatsu Herring Leader 2/0 3/0 - 25 pound - 42", small herring in a Krippled Anchovy Helmet Oki Tackle Big Shooter Flasher, P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader 30 pound - 40", Silver Horde Coho Killer Spoon. Mooching setup for Puget Sound Sinker: Fisherman’s Gold Coated Mooching Sinker 3 ounce to 5 ounce Bait: Green Label or Red Label Cut-plug Herring cured with Brine N Bite, make sure you have a good bait knife and a bait cutting guide. Leader: Gamakatsu Herring Leader with 2/0 3/0 hooks or 3/0 4/0 hooks and 20 pound to 30 pound fluorocarbon with a length of 48” to 60 “ Jigging on Midchannel Bank Puget Pounder Jig 2 ounce to 3-1/2 ounce and P-Line Laser Minnow 2 ounce to 3 ounce Replacement Hooks: Gamakatsu Big River Bait Open Eye Hooks size 2/0 to 4/0, split ring size 5, barrel swivel size 7 Leader: P-Line SS Fluorocarbon 20 pound to 30 pound with a length of 33” to 40” Exploring and learning to fish Midchannel Bank Mid Channel Bank runs parallel to the main channel of Admiralty Inlet, and gently slopes from 30’ to a steep dropoff around 120’. It’s typically in the 70’ to 110’ depth zone where most of the fishing occurs, on the eastern drop off of the bank. Moochers, jiggers and some trollers will work shallower areas in 45’ to 70’ and find success. The best tides to fish Mid Channel Bank are an extreme outgoing tide, the larger the tide change the better. Plan on getting there just after high tide and fish all the current through the low tide. Once the tide slacks out and begins to flood, most of the Chinook will scatter and the bite will die. Most of the trollers will start just north of the tide rips at Marrowstone Island Lighthouse and troll northwest towards Port Townsend along the bank, cross currents will push your boat outward, so slightly angle the bow to the west to maintain a good trackline along the contour. It’s amazing how fast the current moves here so concentration and teamwork are a must! Because the primary forage is Sand Lance (Candlefish), all the Chinook will be found within 10’ of the bottom, scouring the gravel looking for food. Regardless of the technique, most people won’t catch salmon unless their gear is close to the bottom.
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Halibut Fishing in Washington
Halibut fishing is one of the most popular saltwater fisheries in Washington State, and for good reason. The state has a popular fishery that usually begins early in the spring in much of its saltwater areas. So whether your experience and boat are capable of running out 40 miles into the Pacific Ocean, or you feel most comfortable in the protected waters of Puget Sound, there is a good chance that you’ll pick up a Halibut this season. With a little knowledge and the right gear of course!
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