Marine Area 10 & 11 Blackmouth Season Begins April 2, 2025

Trolling and Mooching for Chinook to be a big deal this spring in Puget Sound!

We are really excited for the recently announced early Chinook season in Puget Sound! While this has traditionally been deemed Winter Blackmouth, but with the season pushed into April, we are going to have to change up the branding as this has become a true spring fishery. The dates were pushed back to give us the best shot at larger Chinook, and with the last few years showing some major improvements with the later dates, we are thrilled to be salmon fishing here in April!

Puget Sound’s Early Chinook Season for 2025

Marine Area 10 and 11 - April 2 opener – 4-days a week - Wednesdays to Saturdays only

This fishery is managed based on encounters. Each area has it’s own set of guidelines and we will get to fish our weekly schedule until those encounters are reached.

For Marine Area 10, we have an April Chinook guideline of 4,787 total encounters, including 735 unmarked encounters and 4,055 total sublegal encounters. It’s smart to review any Marine Area 10 emergency rule changes before the trip, in case we are getting close. As soon as we do, it will close down. WDFW MA10 News Release.

For Marine Area 11, we have an April Chinook guideline of 1,196 total encounters, including 209 unmarked and 840 sublegal encounters. Check out Marine Area 11 emergency rule changes before you go. WDFW MA11 News Release.

Both areas have a daily limit of 2 salmon, 1 can be a clipped Chinook over 22”. Release all Wild Chinook and Chum. Most of the action is going to be Chinook this time of year, but always verify species before bringing out the fish bonker.

Here’s the official WDFW news release.

Fishing for Puget Sound Blackmouth

Blackmouth are our resident Chinook Salmon that spend their entire saltwater lives in Puget Sound, so they are always around! The seasons are set in late winter and early spring to give us the best shot at catching the larger Blackmouth that we can keep.

Puget Sound’s currents will concentrate their main food, herring and candlefish, in certain areas where it meets an underwater landmass, like a bank or bar. Anywhere you fish, you’re going to find more success if your gear is very near the bottom, let’s say within 10 feet of the gravel.

Trollers will find the best salmon fishing action if they troll along a contour line, which can be anywhere from in 90 feet to 200 feet of water, and consistently so close to the bottom that they occasionally bounce their downrigger ball. Dragging a flasher and spoon setup, flasher and fly setup, or a Tomic Plug are all great for Chinook.

If you’re not fishing with a downrigger, either mooching or jigging can be effective tactics. Jigging is really easy to stay in the zone, but the salmon moochers need to adjust their standard summer techniques into a more bottom centric strategy.  

Next we break down where these spots are in each area.

Fishing in Seattle’s Marine Area 10

Marine Area 10 is the go to area for anyone hailing from Seattle, Bainbridge, Bremerton, Kingston and Edmonds. Main fishing spots are Jeff Head, of which you can fish the south side on an outgoing tide and the north side by President’s Point on an incoming tide.

Kingston can also be a great place to find some keeper Blackmouth! Fishing north of the ferry terminal inside the Kingston bowl is a good place during outgoing tides, and the outer bar can be a good producer during an incoming tide.

Fishing in Tacoma’s Marine Area 11

Marine Area 11 runs the entirety of Vashon from the northernmost end of the island all the way down to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and has long been a productive salmon fishing area.

On an outgoing tide, focus on the areas close to Point Defiance including the Slag Pile, Clay Banks and the actual point. If the tide is flooding in, cross over to the Vashon side and fish Dalco Point and the 90-150’ contour in front of Quartermaster Harbor.  

Seattle Fishing Co. can help you get geared up

For the most part, trolling with downriggers and mooching are the top techniques to catch Puget Sound Chinook, and during the winter season it’s important to make sure you have the right gear to target these feeding resident salmon where they are… near the bottom of the water column.

Puget Sound trolling gear

Downrigger trolling is by far the way to go for Puget Sound Chinook fishing. Using downriggers to keep your trolling gear near the bottom with pay off big time for resident Chinook. For the best salmon setups, we’d use a Pro-Troll Lighted Flasher with a Gibbs Skinny G Spoon or a Gold Star Hoochie. If you’re like us and are always searching for that big one, a Tomic Plug 4” Tubby or Tomic Plug 5” Classic is a great option, they mimic large herring and tend to catch fewer undersized fish (run ‘em without a flasher).

Puget Sound mooching gear

Moochers should be prepared to use as much weight as needed to get their baits down into the gravel, while they may follow your cut plugs up before they bite, you’re more likely to catch their attention when the baits are within 10 feet of the bottom. Plan on having a variety of coated mooching sinkers in 3 ounce to 5 ounce. For your leaders, we use 3/0, 4/0 hooks for green label herring and 2/0, 3/0 for red label. Our pre-tied mooching leaders can save you a bunch of time if you don’t like tying! If you are looking to have durable baits, grab a container of Pro-Cure Brine N Bite to cure your baits prior to your trip.

Salmon jigging gear

Dropping metal into the depths of Puget Sound can often pay off for us salmon anglers. Metal jigs like a Puget Pounder, P-Line Laser Minnow or Mustad Moonriser Jig are effective salmon lures. Send it down to the bottom, wind up a couple feet, and pop that rod to give that jig an erratic up-down-up-down motion. 

Have a great spring fishing season everyone!

With our Blackmouth seasons continually pushed back to focus on catching quality fish, this year we should see some good fishing complimented by warmer days and earlier sunrises. We hope you all get a chance to spend a day on Puget Sound during this great kickoff to our annual saltwater fishing season! If you need anything, please give us a call!