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Puget Sound Fishing Report: Targeting Blackmouth, Coho, and Dungeness Crab
Published 4 months, 1 week ago
Description
This is Artificial Lure with your Puget Sound fishing report.
We’re on a classic dark, short winter day around the Sound. Local forecasts from the National Weather Service are calling for mid‑40s to low‑50s, scattered showers, and light south to southwest wind, easing a bit in the afternoon. Cloud cover is heavy, so first light and last light mean more than the clock; expect usable gray light roughly 30 minutes before sunrise and after sunset.
According to tideschart dot com’s Puget Sound table, we’re on big winter swings: a deep pre‑dawn low followed by a strong morning flood, a chunky midday ebb, then another solid evening high. That morning flood and the first half of the afternoon ebb are your best windows to fish structure edges and current seams.
Fish activity’s been typical late‑December. Most salmon seasons inside are wrapped or tight, but blackmouth reports from local charters and radio chatter are steady, not hot: a few legal Chinook per boat when folks grind it out. The Outdoor Line on 710 Seattle Sports has been talking winter blackmouth around Jefferson Head, Kingston, and Possession with bait showing and enough shakers to keep rods bouncing.
In the central and north Sound, resident coho and sea‑run cutts are picking along the beaches. Anglers from Edmonds pier down to Lincoln Park and over on Whidbey have been into small coho, sculpin, and the odd flounder. Crabbing is the real producer right now; Northwest Sportsman Magazine notes solid Dungeness catches out in the eastern Straits, San Juans, and Admiralty Inlet when seasons are open, and local crabbers in the marinas are still dropping pots in 80–120 feet with good results.
Best producers for blackmouth:
- Trolled **silvery 3–3.5" spoons** behind an 11" flasher, or Pro‑Troll style flashers like those Puget Sound salmon setups sold locally.
- **Cut‑plug herring** in a slow mooching roll; Folbe’s “Puget Sound mooching” guides still swear by a tight spin just off bottom.
- Run gear 5–15 feet off bottom in 90–140 feet, working the contour lines on that morning flood.
For beach coho and cutts:
- **1/2–1 oz metal jigs** in herring or candlefish colors.
- Small **sand‑lance pattern flies** on an intermediate line.
- Retrieve fast with pauses; most bites are on the drop.
Crabbing:
- Best bait remains **salmon carcasses, oily fish trimmings, or chicken** in a bait jar.
- Drop pots on the edge of drop‑offs and eelgrass in 80–120 feet; check frequently with these big tidal swings to avoid walking pots.
Couple of local hot spots to put on the list:
- **Possession Bar**: classic winter blackmouth haunt. Work the west side on the flood, sliding up and down the break until you mark bait.
- **Jefferson Head / Kingston area**: good bait concentrations and blackmouth; a bit more protected in a south wind.
- For shore anglers, **Edmonds Pier and the Point No Point beach** are still worth a tide change for resident coho, shakers, and a shot at a legal Chinook if the season allows.
Overall, treat it as a “grind with windows” day: fish hard through the prime tide changes, keep gear near bottom for salmon, and don’t forget to drop a couple crab pots while you troll.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
We’re on a classic dark, short winter day around the Sound. Local forecasts from the National Weather Service are calling for mid‑40s to low‑50s, scattered showers, and light south to southwest wind, easing a bit in the afternoon. Cloud cover is heavy, so first light and last light mean more than the clock; expect usable gray light roughly 30 minutes before sunrise and after sunset.
According to tideschart dot com’s Puget Sound table, we’re on big winter swings: a deep pre‑dawn low followed by a strong morning flood, a chunky midday ebb, then another solid evening high. That morning flood and the first half of the afternoon ebb are your best windows to fish structure edges and current seams.
Fish activity’s been typical late‑December. Most salmon seasons inside are wrapped or tight, but blackmouth reports from local charters and radio chatter are steady, not hot: a few legal Chinook per boat when folks grind it out. The Outdoor Line on 710 Seattle Sports has been talking winter blackmouth around Jefferson Head, Kingston, and Possession with bait showing and enough shakers to keep rods bouncing.
In the central and north Sound, resident coho and sea‑run cutts are picking along the beaches. Anglers from Edmonds pier down to Lincoln Park and over on Whidbey have been into small coho, sculpin, and the odd flounder. Crabbing is the real producer right now; Northwest Sportsman Magazine notes solid Dungeness catches out in the eastern Straits, San Juans, and Admiralty Inlet when seasons are open, and local crabbers in the marinas are still dropping pots in 80–120 feet with good results.
Best producers for blackmouth:
- Trolled **silvery 3–3.5" spoons** behind an 11" flasher, or Pro‑Troll style flashers like those Puget Sound salmon setups sold locally.
- **Cut‑plug herring** in a slow mooching roll; Folbe’s “Puget Sound mooching” guides still swear by a tight spin just off bottom.
- Run gear 5–15 feet off bottom in 90–140 feet, working the contour lines on that morning flood.
For beach coho and cutts:
- **1/2–1 oz metal jigs** in herring or candlefish colors.
- Small **sand‑lance pattern flies** on an intermediate line.
- Retrieve fast with pauses; most bites are on the drop.
Crabbing:
- Best bait remains **salmon carcasses, oily fish trimmings, or chicken** in a bait jar.
- Drop pots on the edge of drop‑offs and eelgrass in 80–120 feet; check frequently with these big tidal swings to avoid walking pots.
Couple of local hot spots to put on the list:
- **Possession Bar**: classic winter blackmouth haunt. Work the west side on the flood, sliding up and down the break until you mark bait.
- **Jefferson Head / Kingston area**: good bait concentrations and blackmouth; a bit more protected in a south wind.
- For shore anglers, **Edmonds Pier and the Point No Point beach** are still worth a tide change for resident coho, shakers, and a shot at a legal Chinook if the season allows.
Overall, treat it as a “grind with windows” day: fish hard through the prime tide changes, keep gear near bottom for salmon, and don’t forget to drop a couple crab pots while you troll.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI