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Puget Sound Fishing Report: Chilly Conditions, Blackmouth Bites, and Perch Prowling the Flats
Published 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Description
This is Artificial Lure with your Puget Sound fishing report.
We’ve got a classic winter pattern on the Sound: cool, gray, and fishable if you pick your windows. The National Weather Service marine forecast for Puget Sound and Hood Canal calls for southwesterlies 15 to 20 knots early, easing to 10–15 later, with wind waves dropping from about 3 feet to 2 feet or less and on‑and‑off showers. Plan on a chilly, damp ride and keep an eye on those squalls.
According to NOAA’s Seattle tide predictions, we’re on a strong morning flood. Low hits around 1:40 a.m., then a solid high around 8:45 a.m. just over 12 feet, followed by an afternoon ebb into mid‑afternoon low. That big morning push sets up classic winter bait funnels on points and ledges. Tides4Fishing lists the prime solunar bite window right around first light through the end of that morning flood, with a secondary push near dusk.
Sunrise in Seattle this time of year is just after 8 a.m., sunset just before 4:30 p.m., so you get a nice overlap: first light lining up with that late‑stage morning flood. That’s when the better fish are chewing.
On to the catching. Local crews have been quietly picking at resident blackmouth chinook in Marine Areas 10 and 11—nothing wide open, but enough 4–8‑pound fish to keep it interesting. Most of the action has been 80–140 feet down over 120–200 feet of water, working classic humps and edges. Shaker ratio is still high, so be ready to release a bunch.
Best producers have been:
- Small glow or UV **3–3.5" spoons** in herring or cop‑car patterns behind an 11" flasher.
- **Hoochie–spoon combos** and slim profile spoons when the bait is tiny.
- Trolled cut‑plug herring still works when you can keep it spinning slow and tight near bottom.
According to several Puget Sound charter reports, Resident coho are popping up in open water from Jefferson Head down toward Kingston and Mid‑Channel Bank, mostly smaller fish but great for action. Run 2–2.5" spoons or mini hoochies 25–60 feet down, 3.0–3.5 knots, staying on the bait balls.
In the salt chuck, winter perch and flounder are steady for folks bouncing small bait‑tipped jigs on soft flats near Everett, Des Moines, and around Vashon. Bits of shrimp, squid strips, or sandworms on drop‑shot or Carolina rigs will keep rods bending.
For those working the piers, squid reports have tapered from peak, but you can still scratch out a meal in the dark at Edmonds, Des Moines, and Seattle waterfront piers. Go with 2.5–3.0 glow jigs under a light, slow lifts and drops, focus on the top half of the water early in the evening and deeper later.
A couple of hot spots to keep on your short list:
- **Jefferson Head / Kingston line (Area 10):** Good blackmouth structure on that morning flood; drag gear just off bottom on the up‑current side of the hump.
- **Point Defiance / Dalco Pass (Area 11):** Classic winter blackmouth water—work the slag pile and outer edges on the last of the flood and first of the ebb.
Baitwise, frozen herring in green or blue label is still king if you can find quality; otherwise run artificials with lots of glow and UV. Scent helps in this cold, off‑color water—anise, herring, or shrimp gels on spoons and hoochies can make the difference.
That’s the word from around the Sound. Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure, 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’ve got a classic winter pattern on the Sound: cool, gray, and fishable if you pick your windows. The National Weather Service marine forecast for Puget Sound and Hood Canal calls for southwesterlies 15 to 20 knots early, easing to 10–15 later, with wind waves dropping from about 3 feet to 2 feet or less and on‑and‑off showers. Plan on a chilly, damp ride and keep an eye on those squalls.
According to NOAA’s Seattle tide predictions, we’re on a strong morning flood. Low hits around 1:40 a.m., then a solid high around 8:45 a.m. just over 12 feet, followed by an afternoon ebb into mid‑afternoon low. That big morning push sets up classic winter bait funnels on points and ledges. Tides4Fishing lists the prime solunar bite window right around first light through the end of that morning flood, with a secondary push near dusk.
Sunrise in Seattle this time of year is just after 8 a.m., sunset just before 4:30 p.m., so you get a nice overlap: first light lining up with that late‑stage morning flood. That’s when the better fish are chewing.
On to the catching. Local crews have been quietly picking at resident blackmouth chinook in Marine Areas 10 and 11—nothing wide open, but enough 4–8‑pound fish to keep it interesting. Most of the action has been 80–140 feet down over 120–200 feet of water, working classic humps and edges. Shaker ratio is still high, so be ready to release a bunch.
Best producers have been:
- Small glow or UV **3–3.5" spoons** in herring or cop‑car patterns behind an 11" flasher.
- **Hoochie–spoon combos** and slim profile spoons when the bait is tiny.
- Trolled cut‑plug herring still works when you can keep it spinning slow and tight near bottom.
According to several Puget Sound charter reports, Resident coho are popping up in open water from Jefferson Head down toward Kingston and Mid‑Channel Bank, mostly smaller fish but great for action. Run 2–2.5" spoons or mini hoochies 25–60 feet down, 3.0–3.5 knots, staying on the bait balls.
In the salt chuck, winter perch and flounder are steady for folks bouncing small bait‑tipped jigs on soft flats near Everett, Des Moines, and around Vashon. Bits of shrimp, squid strips, or sandworms on drop‑shot or Carolina rigs will keep rods bending.
For those working the piers, squid reports have tapered from peak, but you can still scratch out a meal in the dark at Edmonds, Des Moines, and Seattle waterfront piers. Go with 2.5–3.0 glow jigs under a light, slow lifts and drops, focus on the top half of the water early in the evening and deeper later.
A couple of hot spots to keep on your short list:
- **Jefferson Head / Kingston line (Area 10):** Good blackmouth structure on that morning flood; drag gear just off bottom on the up‑current side of the hump.
- **Point Defiance / Dalco Pass (Area 11):** Classic winter blackmouth water—work the slag pile and outer edges on the last of the flood and first of the ebb.
Baitwise, frozen herring in green or blue label is still king if you can find quality; otherwise run artificials with lots of glow and UV. Scent helps in this cold, off‑color water—anise, herring, or shrimp gels on spoons and hoochies can make the difference.
That’s the word from around the Sound. Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure, 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