UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
SablefishShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 PM · Sablefish
- Now
- 331 PM AKDT
- Best window
- 6-9 PMMoving water
- Tide now
- Ebbing9.5 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Windfall Harbor 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
Wednesday, Sep 30 · 5 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
82Tide: EbbingWind & pressure
ECMWF
83Wind: 3 kt SSEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
59Water temp: 53°F, hotLight: DuskSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Sablefish
Species seasonality
38Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of range
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
Windfall Harbor
- Depth
- 15-70 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · drop-off
- 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 Windfall Harbor
Windfall Harbor is a bay in Stephens Passage, Alaska. Depth is 15-70 ft, with a drop-off. 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 Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, rockfish 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
- Fool Inlet55
Bay · 11 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 55
- Lingcod 51
- Rockfish 41
13 kt SEL 3:32 PM · 7.7 ftH 9:12 PM · 12.1 ft
- Staunch Point35
Cape · 1.5 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 35
- Lingcod 35
- Rockfish 35
10 kt SSEL 3:54 PM · 7.7 ftH 9:29 PM · 12.3 ft
- Winning Cove35
Bay · 6.9 mi
Top: Chum salmonOff season- Chum salmon 35
- Coho salmon 35
- Lingcod 35
15 kt SSEL 3:54 PM · 7.7 ftH 9:29 PM · 12.3 ft
- Seymour Canal35
Channel · 9.5 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 35
- Lingcod 35
- Pacific cod 35
15 kt SSEL 3:41 PM · 7.8 ftH 9:21 PM · 11.8 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.