UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
SablefishShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 PM · Sablefish
- Now
- 266 AM AKDT
- Best window
- 5-9 PMDusk
- Tide now
- Flooding6.0 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Seal Bay scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
53Tide: FloodingWind & pressure
ECMWF
23Gusts over the limit · capped at 35Wind: 13 kt SSEPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
48Light: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Sablefish
Species seasonality
23Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Sablefish is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with ADF&G before you keep a fish.
Source: ADF&G · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Sablefish is best here
Shoulder season for Sablefish · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Seal Bay
- Depth
- About 2 ftNearest water
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Protected
- Season
- Shoulder seasonSablefish
NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 11132000 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 Seal Bay
Seal Bay is a bay in Northern Chatham Strait, Alaska. Depth in the nearest water is about 2 ft. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 9 species here; the best right now are chum salmon, coho salmon and lingcod. It is peak season now for coho salmon and lingcod, and shoulder season for rockfish, Pacific halibut, Pacific cod and sablefish. Chum salmon peak from July through August. Coho salmon peak from August through September. Lingcod peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- Sablefish
- Sablefish live on soft bottoms along the continental slope, and sport anglers find adults in 700 to 2,000 feet. Fish a multi-hook deep-drop rig with glow squid skirts and squid or herring on circle hooks, using several pounds of weight and an electric reel. It takes a long run offshore and a calm day to keep the line near vertical, so most trips happen in summer.
- Chum salmon
- Chum stage off stream mouths and hatchery beaches in late fall in Puget Sound and Hood Canal and in midsummer in Southeast Alaska. Fish from the beach or a skiff in 5 to 30 feet with a green or cerise jig under a float, a large fly or a spoon. They fight hard, so step up to 12 to 20 pound line.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Salt Chuck53
Bay · 8.7 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 53
- Lingcod 48
- Rockfish 37
9 kt SSEH 9:58 AM · 9.8 ftL 2:57 PM · 7.0 ft
- Long Bay35
Bay · 2.9 mi
Top: Chum salmonOff season- Chum salmon 35
- Coho salmon 35
- Lingcod 35
13 kt SSEH 10:18 AM · 9.8 ftL 3:08 PM · 7.3 ft
- Tenakee Inlet35
Bay · 3.7 mi
Top: Chinook salmonOff season- Chinook salmon 35
- Coho salmon 35
- Lingcod 35
13 kt SSEH 10:18 AM · 9.8 ftL 3:08 PM · 7.3 ft
- Saltery Bay35
Bay · 7.2 mi
Top: Chum salmonOff season- Chum salmon 35
- Coho salmon 35
- Lingcod 35
13 kt SSEH 10:18 AM · 9.8 ftL 3:08 PM · 7.3 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.