Waterlands

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Pacific codShoulder season

Bay · Alaska

Windbound Bay

55.66°N · 160.17°W · Bay · Castle Cape to Cape Tolstoi out to 15 NM

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 9 PM · Pacific cod

66/100Great
Now
538 AM AKDT
Best window
8 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.8 ft ▲

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score53Good
Tide1.8 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.3 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind11 kn NNWgusts 30 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 3 s
Air temp40°Cold
WeatherPartly cloudy75% chance of rain
Water50°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Pacific cod is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with ADF&G before you keep a fish.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Pacific cod is best here

Shoulder season for Pacific cod · 1 more week at shoulder

Pacific cod season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Pacific cod · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Pacific cod in Alaska

Spot profile

Windbound Bay

Depth
25-45 ftNearest water
Structure
Bay · Outer · Semi-exposed
Season
Shoulder seasonPacific cod

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 742 m grid. Depths are feet below the DEM vertical datum, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Windbound Bay

Windbound Bay is a bay in Castle Cape to Cape Tolstoi out to 15 NM, Alaska. Depth in the nearest water is 25-45 ft. Its profile reads bay, outer water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 9 species here; the best right now are coho salmon, lingcod and Pacific halibut. It is peak season now for coho salmon and lingcod, and shoulder season for Pacific halibut, Pacific cod, rockfish and sablefish. Coho salmon peak from August through September. Lingcod peak from July through September. Pacific halibut peak from June through August.

Tackle & technique

Pacific cod
Pacific cod school over mud, sand and gravel bottoms and shelf edges, moving shallower than 300 feet in summer and deeper to spawn in winter. Drop a heavy metal jig or a lead-head with a herring or squid strip to the bottom in 100 to 300 feet and work it a few feet up. They often come up on the same drifts as halibut, and a school can mean fast fishing once you find it.
Coho salmon
Coho feed in the top 30 to 50 feet along tide rips, kelp edges and bait schools, and often hit within a few feet of the surface. Troll faster than for Chinook, 2 to 4 mph, with a small flasher and hoochie, bucktail fly or herring, or cast spinners and flies from beaches near stream mouths as fish stage in late summer. The hour around a tide change is often the best window.
Lingcod
Lingcod ambush prey from rock outcrops, reef edges and kelp where current runs, most often in 30 to 300 feet, and males move shallow to guard nests in winter. Drift over the reef bouncing a lead-head swimbait or metal jig on the bottom, or fish herring or squid on a heavy leader, since their teeth cut light line. From jetties and rocky shore, work bait or jigs along the rocks on the incoming tide.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • American Bay

    Bay · 3.2 mi

    74
    Top: LingcodPeak season
    • Lingcod 74
    • Coho salmon 68
    • Pacific cod 66

    7 kt WNWH 1:06 PM · 5.5 ftL 6:39 PM · 3.9 ft

  • Orzinski Bay

    Bay · 5.5 mi

    74
    Top: LingcodPeak season
    • Lingcod 74
    • Pacific cod 67
    • Pacific halibut 66

    7 kt WNWH 1:06 PM · 5.5 ftL 6:39 PM · 3.9 ft

  • Chichagof Bay

    Bay · 2.7 mi

    60
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 60
    • Lingcod 60
    • Pacific halibut 54

    11 kt NNWH 1:23 PM · 6.0 ftL 6:48 PM · 3.4 ft

  • West Cove

    Bay · 4.1 mi

    60
    Top: LingcodPeak season
    • Lingcod 60
    • Coho salmon 59
    • Pacific halibut 54

    11 kt NNWH 1:23 PM · 6.0 ftL 6:48 PM · 3.4 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with ADF&G before you keep a fish.