Puget Sound fishing conditions and tides
Washington · Pacific coast · 11.4 ft mean tide range · 29 ppt
Deep glacial fjord with 11 ft tides, resident coho, blackmouth and year-round shore access
Current conditions
Excellent
Fishing score 95/100
How this score is calculated
53°F against a 50–58°F band for coho salmon.
Outgoing (ebb) at 8.3 ft, moving 1.9 ft/hr. Strong water movement is positioning bait on structure.
7 mph out of the NE. Workable wind with useful chop.
1.6 ft at 15 seconds. Good working surf for beaches and inlets.
Good working clarity with some colour for cover.
30.19 inHg and falling.
56% illumination — neap tides with a smaller exchange.
Fall pattern is fully established for this zone.
What should I do today?
The highest-percentage pattern for this tide and this wind.
Backup pattern
Chinook Salmon (Blackmouth) — downrigger trolling a flasher and spoon, or jigging in 60–180 ft. Resident feeder Chinook hold on the 90–150 ft shelves and along the underwater points in winter.
Right now
Current conditions
Tide
Outgoing (ebb)
8.3 ft, -1.9 ft/hr
Next high
—
Tomorrow
Next low
—
Tomorrow
Mean range
11.4 ft
Typical high-to-low swing
Water temp
53°F
-0.2°F / 3 days
Water clarity
Lightly stained
Salinity about 29 ppt
Swell
1.6 ft
15 second period
Wind
7 mph
Out of the NE
Pressure
30.19"
Falling pressure — a change is moving in
Air temp
46°F
40% cloud cover
Moon
56%
First Quarter · solunar 12/100
Daylight
6:44 AM
Sunset 5:05 PM
Timing
Today's tides and fishing windows
- Low tide (1.7 ft) — tide change window1:42 AM – 3:42 AM
- Solunar major 25:50 AM – 7:50 AM
- Morning prime window6:19 AM – 9:04 AM
- Sunrise6:44 AM
- High tide (10.3 ft) — tide change window7:54 AM – 9:54 AM
- Low tide (1.1 ft) — tide change window2:07 PM – 4:07 PM
- Evening window3:05 PM – 5:40 PM
- Sunset5:05 PM
- Solunar major 15:50 PM – 7:50 PM
- High tide (9.7 ft) — tide change window8:20 PM – 10:20 PM
Targets
Target species in this zone
| Species | Activity | Depth | Best tide | Technique | Bait | Active temp | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinook Salmon (Blackmouth) | ★★★★☆ | 60–180 ft | The strongest two hours of the exchange | Downrigger trolling a flasher and spoon, or jigging | Herring, candlefish | 45–55°F | October through April |
| Coho Salmon | ★★★★★ | 5–60 ft | Moving water at dawn | Trolling shallow or casting buzz bombs from the beach | Herring | 50–58°F | August through October |
| Sea-run Cutthroat Trout | ★★★★☆ | 1–15 ft | Incoming over a gravel beach | Fly fishing or small spoons from the beach | Small baitfish patterns | 45–58°F | Year-round |
| Dungeness Crab | ★★★★★ | 20–90 ft | Slack for pulling pots | Crab pots | Chicken, fish frames | 45–58°F | Summer season set annually |
- Chinook Salmon (Blackmouth): Resident feeder Chinook hold on the 90–150 ft shelves and along the underwater points in winter.
- Coho Salmon: Run through in late summer and feed in the top 40 ft, often visible chasing bait on the surface.
- Sea-run Cutthroat Trout: Patrol gravel beaches and eelgrass edges year-round, usually within 30 ft of shore.
- Dungeness Crab: Sandy and eelgrass bottom in 30–80 ft; open seasons are short and heavily attended.
Structure
Habitat and structure that holds fish
- Deep fjord
- Underwater point
- Eelgrass shelf
- Gravel beach
- Kelp line
- Point No Point
- Jefferson Head
- Possession Bar
- Restoration Point
- Blake Island shelf
Surf and beach notes
Protected inland water — wind waves rather than swell. A 15-knot southerly makes the beaches unfishable but the lee shores stay clean.
Bait in the zone
Herring and candlefish drive everything; match the bait size on spoons and jigs.
Patterns
Season-by-season patterns
Spring
48–52°FBlackmouth season winds down; sea-run cutthroat fishing on the beaches is at its best.
Summer
54–58°FPink salmon in odd years, coho building through August, and the crab season opens.
Fall
50–56°FCoho peak and stage off the river mouths; chum salmon follow in November.
Winter
46–48°FBlackmouth fishery on the deep shelves, area by area as seasons open and close.
Outlook
7-day fishing forecast
| Day | Score | Water | Wind | Swell | First high tide | Best species | Morning window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 82Excellent | 53°F | 7 mph NE | 1.6 ft | 8:54 AM (10.3 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:19 AM – 9:04 AM |
| Tue | 91Excellent | 54°F | 12 mph NW | 2 ft | 9:45 AM (10.9 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:20 AM – 9:05 AM |
| Wed | 93Excellent | 50°F | 14 mph W | 2.1 ft | 10:35 AM (11.5 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:22 AM – 9:07 AM |
| Thu | 86Excellent | 51°F | 19 mph SW | 4.7 ft | 11:26 AM (11.9 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:23 AM – 9:08 AM |
| Fri | 96Excellent | 53°F | 4 mph SE | 0.3 ft | 12:16 PM (12.3 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:25 AM – 9:10 AM |
| Sat | 85Excellent | 50°F | 21 mph NE | 3.2 ft | 12:41 AM (12.6 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:26 AM – 9:11 AM |
| Sun | 91Excellent | 53°F | 15 mph E | 2.2 ft | 1:32 AM (12.8 ft) | Coho Salmon | 6:28 AM – 9:13 AM |
Trends
Last 7 days
Water temperature
52°F → 53°F
Wind
4 mph → 7 mph
Swell
1.5 ft → 1.6 ft
Daily score
96 → 82
Water temperature has been stable within 1°F all week, so the established fall pattern should hold.
The water
About Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a glacially carved fjord system reaching over 900 ft deep, with a tide range that can exceed 11 ft on a big exchange. That exchange forces water over underwater points and shelves, creating rips that concentrate candlefish and herring. Resident 'blackmouth' Chinook, coho and sea-run cutthroat make it one of the few genuinely year-round saltwater fisheries in the country.
Local knowledge
Expert notes
- Fish the tide exchange, not the hour. A big 11 ft exchange over Point No Point pushes bait against the point and creates a rip that holds salmon for the two hours it runs.
- For beach coho, cast into the rip line where the current seam is visible, then retrieve fast. Slow retrieves get refused by fish in clear, cold water.
- Blackmouth relate to the bottom contour. Keep the downrigger ball within 10 ft of bottom on the 120 ft shelf and adjust constantly with the contour.
Logistics
Access, ramps and launches
boat ramp
Shilshole Bay Marina ramp
Seattle-side access to the central sound and Jefferson Head.
shore
Point No Point beach
One of the best shore salmon spots in the country on an incoming tide.
pier
Edmonds Fishing Pier
Year-round, lit at night, open to the public with no license needed for some species.
kayak launch
Blake Island kayak launch
State park access with shelves close to shore.
Rules
Regulations
- Washington fishing license with a Puget Sound catch record card required for salmon.
- Marine areas open and close individually and change every season — check the current emergency rules.
- Selective gear rules and hatchery-only retention apply in many areas.
Always verify current regulations with the relevant state wildlife agency before fishing. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Transparency
Data sources
Where this data comes from
Conditions are modelled from each water's documented climate, structure and seasonal patterns. Modules marked “Live data integration pending” are not yet pulling from their API, so those values are clearly labelled as sample data rather than presented as real-time readings.
Weather API
PendingNOAA / National Weather Service — Air temperature, wind, cloud cover, rainfall and barometric pressure with a 7-day forecast.
Water Level & Flow API
PendingUSGS Water Services — Reservoir stage, discharge and 7-day level trend from the nearest gauge.
Water Temperature
PendingUSGS / NOAA buoys — Surface water temperature and its multi-day trend.
Tide & Current API
PendingNOAA CO-OPS — Tide predictions, current direction and speed for coastal zones.
Moon & Solunar
LiveComputed on-site — Moon phase, illumination and solunar major/minor periods are calculated from date and coordinates.
Water Clarity
PendingSatellite imagery + angler reports — Visibility estimates by lake arm, refined by submitted fishing reports.
Fishing Regulations
PendingState wildlife agencies — License, size and creel rules, linked to the official agency page for verification.
Map Data
PendingBathymetry + access point database — Depth zones, structure locations and boat ramps for the lake infographic.
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