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Early March Puget Sound: Sea-Run Cutthroat Heat Up, Tides Are Prime
Published 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Puget Sound fishing report.
We’re on a classic early‑March pattern: chilly mornings in the mid‑30s to low‑40s, topping out mid‑40s to low‑50s with light showers and patchy sun across the central Sound, according to the National Weather Service. Winds are mostly southerly 5–15 knots, with a bit more breeze funneling up Admiralty Inlet this afternoon. Dress for cold, damp, and changing skies.
NOAA tide predictions for Seattle show a solid morning high, dropping into an early‑afternoon low and rebounding toward evening. That gives you two good windows: the last couple hours of the morning flood and the first half of the afternoon flood as that current starts to roll again.
Sunrise is right around 6:40 a.m. and sunset about 6:00 p.m. this time of year on the Seattle waterfront, so you’ve got real fishable light at both ends of the day.
Fish activity is picking up with the longer days. Pacific Fly Fishers’ March outlook notes improving sea‑run cutthroat action in Puget Sound, and that lines up with what local beach anglers have been seeing: more consistent grabs on the softer tide swings. Recent beach and small‑boat reports around South Sound and the central Kitsap shorelines have produced small numbers of resident coho and plenty of “smolt bangers” mixed with legit cutts up to 16–18 inches.
Best lures right now:
- For sea‑run cutthroat from the beach or a skiff: small **epoxy minnows**, **white/olive Clousers**, 2–3" **metal spoons** in herring or sand‑lance patterns, and downsized **soft plastics** on light jig heads.
- For blackmouth and resident coho from the boat: **3–3.5" spoons** in green/white or cop‑car, **Ace Hi‑Fly** or hoochie behind an 11" flasher in glow/green, and small **spoons or hoochies** fished 80–140 feet depending on where the bait is marking.
Best bait:
- For mooched or drifted presentations: **herring** in green‑ or red‑label, gently cut‑plugged.
- For bottomfish in the areas that are open later in spring: **clam necks, squid strips, and sand shrimp**.
- Fly folks: stick with **sand‑lance and chum fry imitations**; those fry are starting to show and the cutts know it.
Recent catches:
- Small boats working mid‑depth rips off the Kitsap side have found pockets of **resident coho** and a few legal **blackmouth**, mostly early and late on the tide changes.
- South Sound beaches have produced decent numbers of **sea‑run cutthroat**, with anglers reporting “handful‑of‑fish” sessions rather than big numbers, typical for March.
Couple of hot spots to consider:
- **Point No Point / Hansville area**: Fish the edges of the rips on the outgoing; troll small spoons behind a flasher 80–120 feet down, or cast metals and flies from the point when the current softens.
- **Narrows / Fox Island area**: Work slack to first push of current along the shoreline drop‑offs for cutthroat with small streamers or 1/4‑oz jigs, and watch your boat speed carefully if you’re trolling; that tide rips through there.
Fish the structure, watch the birds, and let your sounder tell you where the bait is. Early‑season fish are around, but you’ve got to move to find them.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe.
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 early‑March pattern: chilly mornings in the mid‑30s to low‑40s, topping out mid‑40s to low‑50s with light showers and patchy sun across the central Sound, according to the National Weather Service. Winds are mostly southerly 5–15 knots, with a bit more breeze funneling up Admiralty Inlet this afternoon. Dress for cold, damp, and changing skies.
NOAA tide predictions for Seattle show a solid morning high, dropping into an early‑afternoon low and rebounding toward evening. That gives you two good windows: the last couple hours of the morning flood and the first half of the afternoon flood as that current starts to roll again.
Sunrise is right around 6:40 a.m. and sunset about 6:00 p.m. this time of year on the Seattle waterfront, so you’ve got real fishable light at both ends of the day.
Fish activity is picking up with the longer days. Pacific Fly Fishers’ March outlook notes improving sea‑run cutthroat action in Puget Sound, and that lines up with what local beach anglers have been seeing: more consistent grabs on the softer tide swings. Recent beach and small‑boat reports around South Sound and the central Kitsap shorelines have produced small numbers of resident coho and plenty of “smolt bangers” mixed with legit cutts up to 16–18 inches.
Best lures right now:
- For sea‑run cutthroat from the beach or a skiff: small **epoxy minnows**, **white/olive Clousers**, 2–3" **metal spoons** in herring or sand‑lance patterns, and downsized **soft plastics** on light jig heads.
- For blackmouth and resident coho from the boat: **3–3.5" spoons** in green/white or cop‑car, **Ace Hi‑Fly** or hoochie behind an 11" flasher in glow/green, and small **spoons or hoochies** fished 80–140 feet depending on where the bait is marking.
Best bait:
- For mooched or drifted presentations: **herring** in green‑ or red‑label, gently cut‑plugged.
- For bottomfish in the areas that are open later in spring: **clam necks, squid strips, and sand shrimp**.
- Fly folks: stick with **sand‑lance and chum fry imitations**; those fry are starting to show and the cutts know it.
Recent catches:
- Small boats working mid‑depth rips off the Kitsap side have found pockets of **resident coho** and a few legal **blackmouth**, mostly early and late on the tide changes.
- South Sound beaches have produced decent numbers of **sea‑run cutthroat**, with anglers reporting “handful‑of‑fish” sessions rather than big numbers, typical for March.
Couple of hot spots to consider:
- **Point No Point / Hansville area**: Fish the edges of the rips on the outgoing; troll small spoons behind a flasher 80–120 feet down, or cast metals and flies from the point when the current softens.
- **Narrows / Fox Island area**: Work slack to first push of current along the shoreline drop‑offs for cutthroat with small streamers or 1/4‑oz jigs, and watch your boat speed carefully if you’re trolling; that tide rips through there.
Fish the structure, watch the birds, and let your sounder tell you where the bait is. Early‑season fish are around, but you’ve got to move to find them.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe.
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