Seattle’s Marine Area 10 opens to salmon fishing on June 1st
Great fishing abounds close to Seattle’s marinas and boat launches
The portion of Puget Sound surrounding Seattle and Bainbridge Island is one of the most popular salmon fishing regions of Washington. Large numbers of salmon make their way into this area to feed and grow through the summer. There are ample boat launches and marinas servicing the metropolitan area, Marine Area 10 is a happening place during summer months!
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!
Salmon fishing at dawn near Richmond Beach
Puget Sound Marine Area 10’s 2025 Salmon Season
We write this in late May, when the salmon season setting process is still going on. We know what the fishing season for June looks like, but expect some updates to the later part of the season by the end of June when the official 2025 rules are published. Check out Marine Area 10 rules as well as the Emergency Rules.
Early Season Resident Coho – June 1st to July 16th
Marine Area 10 holds a resilient population of Resident Coho, that start small but grow fast in the waters around Seattle. You can find them near Jeff Head, Meadow Point, Richmond Beach, Kingston, and in the open waters of the shipping lanes. There is a daily limit of 2 each and no minimum size. Chinook and Chum need to be released.
Full boat limit of Resident Coho caught with Best Seattle Fishing
Summer Peak Season – July 17th to August 31st
This year we should see a good Resident Coho fishery to be joined by returning Chinook and Pink Salmon during the middle of summer. We are still waiting to hear about the set season for Chinook retention, but it will most likely be sometime in mid-July for a couple days a week. Pink Salmon will flood into the Puget Sound by the millions starting in July and make fishing a frenzy in Central Puget Sound. More to come on exact dates and limits during the peak summer months.
Late Summer Coho and Pink Salmon Peak Season – September 1 to 30th
Chinook season will be in the rear view mirror at this point, Pink Salmon in the millions will have filled up the Puget Sound by early September, and the larger Ocean Coho will be peaking by mid-month. A fun month for fishing Puget Sound!
Late Coho Season – October 1st to November 15th
A small contingent of salmon anglers will fish right up to the end of the season. I’ve found that early October can have some consistency in the Coho catch, the season will fizzle out to the point where an occasional Coho makes for an exciting day. October is the month that Coho Salmon usually have all migrated to their spawning rivers and fishing on the Sound draws to a close. But those crisp sunny October days make for a great day on Puget Sound!
Salmon Fishing in Marine Area 10
Resident Coho Fishing
Resident Coho fishing in the early season is best around Jeff Head and the nearby shipping lanes. Regardless of water depth, most will troll with downriggers and set their gear from the surface down to 100 feet.
Chinook Salmon Fishing
Chinook tend to be more structure oriented than Coho, and fishing is better around Jeff Head, President’s Point, Kingston, Richmond Beach & Oil Docks, Meadow Point. Sometimes bait is concentrated only near the bottom, and downrigger trolling close to the deck is best. Other times, Chinook will suspend in 50’-100’ of water and are caught way up off the bottom. The most effective strategies are trolling with downriggers and mooching.
Captain Curtis with All Star Charters and a beautiful Seattle Chinook Salmon.
Pink Salmon Fishing
Pink Salmon are forecast to return in such big numbers (counted in the millions), that they will have a big presence in most fishing areas around Marine Area 10. We tend to catch them in the top 100 feet of the water column, and if we are specifically targeting them, we usually deploy gear down to the 25’-75’ zone and troll slower. I’d fish around East Jeff Head, Richmond Beach, Oil Docks, Meadow Point and West Point for the best Pink Salmon fishing near Seattle.
Ocean Coho Salmon Fishing
By mid-August, Puget Sound’s migratory Coho will start returning to all of our favorite fishing spots. In Marine Area 10, that includes places like the Richmond Beach & Oil Docks area, Meadow Point, West Point, Jeff Head and Apple Cove Point. Those crisp early mornings in September mark the peak of the Ocean Coho migration, and great fishing can be had throughout the area. Trolling in the upper 100’ of the water column is best, and even those that are running a mooching sinker and a cut plug herring in the propwash can find easy fishing most of the time.
Salmon fishing at an uncrowded area of Jeff Head in Marine Area 10
Seattle Fishing Co. has all the gear you need to fish for salmon!
Four specific salmon fisheries are going to be happening this summer, so we will drill down on a few of our favorite setups for each. You can also visit the Seattle Fishing Co. Saltwater Salmon Page to see all the fishing rods, reels, tackle and gear for salmon fishing in Puget Sound.
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 “
Puget Sound Resident Coho Trolling Setups
Gibbs Highliner Flasher & Yamashita Octopus Trolling Rig (leader length 30” to 36”) with a salted herring strip.
Pro-Troll Lighted Flasher, 30” to 36” P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader, Gibbs Skinny G Spoon
Puget Sound Chinook Trolling Setups
Oki Big Shooter Flasher, 36” to 42” P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader, Silver Horde Kingfisher Spoon
Tomic Plug (choose your favorite size) with a 48” P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader to a bead chain swivel.
Puget Sound Ocean Coho Trolling Setups
Pro-Troll Lighted Flasher & Yamashita Octopus Trolling Rig (leader length 30” to 36”) with a salted herring strip.
Gibbs Highliner Flasher, 30” to 36” P-Line CFX Fluorocarbon Leader, Ace Hi Fly or Stacking Bodies Trolling Fly
One of our favorite new salmon lures are Stacking Bodies Trolling Flies
Learning to fish Marine Area 10
Puget Sound’s Marine Area 10 is a large area, that covers everything from North Vashon, all the waters encompassing Bainbridge Island, Bremerton and Seattle. While most of the locations we covered here in our 2025 season synopsis are in the northern half of the area, there are plenty of lesser known spots that offer great fishing at times. Fishing can be great along the eastern shoreline of Bainbridge Island. Salmon fishing from the beach is exceptional off Lincoln Park in West Seattle. You’ll see small groups of salmon fishing boats at places like Allen Bank near Blake Island, Yeomalt Point and Tyee Shoals off Bainbridge. There is a lot of water to explore out there, and finding the best place to target salmon at the right time is half of the puzzle.
One of my favorite things about fishing out of the Seattle Area, is how the unique salmon fisheries that we get to experience kind of blend together to create over 4 months of continuous salmon fishing, most of the action happening within sight of our city skyline.
Resident Coho Salmon setup, a Gibbs Highliner Flasher & Salmon Trolling Rig