Jeff Head is a great place to fish for salmon if you're close to Seattle. It consistently ranks as one of the favorite fishing spots in all of Puget Sound and for good reason. This huge underwater shelf stretches more than halfway across Puget Sound, and creates a massive current break, collecting schools of herring, which ultimately draws in feeding salmon.
Fishing seasons stretch from spring to fall and offer up some great fishing for Coho, Chum, Pink and Chinook Salmon. Whether you're launching in Seattle, Bainbridge, Kingston or Edmonds, this is an easy place to get to and a top producing salmon spot.
Where is Jeff Head?
Jeff Head is a huge underwater bank just off Point Jefferson near Indianola. It is essentially an underwater extension of the landmass there, and acts as a huge current break on Puget Sound. Nearly every salmon swimming south of Kingston needs to cross it. Spanning several miles across, the fishing area on top is generally 100-150' deep and drops off precipitously into 500' to 800' depending on which side you're looking at.
Jeff Head Fishing Seasons
Jeff Head is in Puget Sound's Marine Area 10 and follows that area's rules and regulations. The seasons fluctuate from year to year, so the best thing to do is sign up for our monthly newsletter to get all the latest season updates (bottom of the page).
Resident Chinook Salmon, also known as Blackmouth, concentrate here to feed all year long. We usually get a brief fishing season here in late winter or early spring, depending on the numbers. If you're fishing for Blackmouth, you'll almost certainly find more of the action close to the bottom. They find ample bait in the gravel and we rarely target them mid-water.
Resident Coho Salmon are the main target during the beginning of the season. They will be small when the area opens in June, but grow fast and are around through the entire summer and fall season. They can be found all over the area, and off the edge of the shelf in open water on all sides.
Summer Chinook Salmon are extremely popular here, and are usually available for harvest sometime in mid-July. Fishing is best along the drop offs. Fish the south side on an outgoing tide, east side at the end of the outgoing into the incoming, and the north side closer to President's Point on an incoming tide. You'll pick up resident fish during the summer as well mainly along the bottom. The migratory Summer Chinook that are returning from the ocean can be suspended in the water column anywhere.
Pink Salmon migrate into the Puget Sound every other year, on the odd numbered years (2027, 2029), and will flood over Jeff Head and the entire area surrounding it. The migration peaks in August. They'll be caught incidentally when fishing for other salmon species, but targeting them is fun in its own right! Fish the top 70' of the water column with standard salmon gear, but hot pink lures work really well. They are schooling, so if you find one, you should find a bunch.
Ocean Coho Salmon enter the area by mid-August and the peak is early September. You can catch Coho through October, making it the last big effort most anglers take before putting their boats away for the season. You'll catch them on top of Jeff Head all the way out to the shipping lanes. We mostly fish for them from the surface to 75', but occasionally 90'-110' will be the ticket to limits.
Chum Salmon are the last migratory species to enter Puget Sound, and will usually be caught in late September through October. They aren't as easy to catch as the other salmon species, so most people will call them a bonus if they're Coho fishing later in the season. If you want to target them, use smaller green or purple hoochies behind a flasher, or an anchovy in a helmet behind a flasher.
Jeff Head Fishing Map
Fishing at Jeff Head
Jeff Head is located in Puget Sound's Marine Area 10 and follows that area's rules and regulations.
This is the largest salmon fishing zone in Puget Sound's Marine Area 10 and has a number of great spots that fish well depending on the tide. Chances are good that there will be a number of charter boats working the area, it's one of their favorites. On weekends it can seem like there are boats evenly spread out across the entire area, but there are definitely zones that fish better on an incoming tide or outgoing tide.
President Point is located halfway between Kingston and Jeff Head, and this section of shoreline is well worth exploring when Chinook is open. I like it on an incoming tide, and we will pick up some Coho here as well.
North Jeff Head is a steep contour that is a personal favorite during an incoming tide. You can work from President's Point all the way down to East Jeff. Can be great for Chinook and Coho.
East Jeff Head can be a great place to fish during the tide change. When you start to see alot of birds working the area and tide rips forming, you'll know it's the spot. Great for Chinook, Coho and Pinks.
South Jeff Head's ledge is a great place to fish on the outgoing tide. If you're Chinook fishing, try working between 120' and 180'. Stick close to the bottom for Resident Chinook, and when we're in the peak of summer, you'll find alot of migratory Chinook will suspend in the water column as well. Coho can be caught anywhere from the top of Jeff out into really deep water off the ledge to the south.
The Horseshoe is located on the southwest corner of the area. This is a huge bowl that collects bait on an outgoing tide. It can be weedy in here at the beginning of the tide, but well worth waiting it out. Great for Chinook and Coho.
Seattle Fishing Co. Salmon Gear
Trolling is the most popular salmon fishing technique, but there are some people that find really good success mooching and jigging as well. Check out our recommendations below, or if you want to see our full selection, visit our Saltwater Salmon Page.
Jeff Head Trolling Gear
- Pro-Troll Lighted 11" Flasher,
- P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader
- Gibbs Skinny G Spoon
- Gibbs Highliner Flasher,
- P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader
- Silver Horde Ace Hi Fly
- Oki Tackle Big Shooter Flasher,
- Silver Horde Coho Killer Spoon
Mooching Setup for Puget Sound
- Fisherman’s Gold Coated Mooching Sinker
- Gamakatsu Herring Leader
- Green Label Herring
- Brine N Bite
- bait knife
- bait cutting guide
