Washington Fishing Reports
Washington Fishing Reports
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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Puget Sound Lingcod season starts May 1st, 2025
The 2025 Puget Sound Lingcod season opens on May 1st! As the spring season comes around, anglers across the Puget Sound region start to get really excited about one of our first substantial fishing seasons of the year. Whether you’re located in South Puget Sound, or on the northern edges of the San Juan Islands near the Canadian border, this is a fishery you absolutely need to experience.
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Our Guide to Washington's 2025 Halibut Season
One of our most popular fisheries in Washington’s marine waters is Halibut. The 2025 season is looking good, with generous open ocean opportunities on the Washington Coast and an early season kickoff in Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands and Sekiu. We’ve broken down the seasons by area, and hope it helps you break down the dates to plan your Halibut fishing trips.
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9 More Days of Razor Clamming Starts March 26th, 2025
A full nine days of razor clam digging on Washington's Pacific beaches begins March 26! The first three days of this stretch will include evening digs, just before sunset, followed by our first morning low tides of spring! This is a great time of year to get out to the coast and work the beach!
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Coastal Washington Lingcod and Rockfish starts March 8, 2025
Large sections of Washington’s saltwater fishing areas open up for the season on Saturday March 8th. Marine area’s 1-4 make up the entirety of the Pacific Coastline of Washington State, as well as the far western portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and hold some amazing fishing opportunities for Lingcod, Rockfish, Greenling and other bottomfish.
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More Razor Clamming starts March 8 on the Washington Coast
Another round of Razor Clam digging on Washington's coastal beaches to begin this Saturday March 8. These digs are all before sunset, which makes for some incredible fun on the beach!
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Sekiu Blackmouth Season Begins April 14, 2025
Early season Chinook always draw a crowd to Sekiu, and if you’re interested in fishing for salmon along the rugged coastline of the Olympic Peninsula, you’ve got your first chance of the year starting on April 14!
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