UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
SablefishShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 AM · Sablefish
- Now
- 405 PM PDT
- Best window
- 6-10 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding4.8 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Riddle Spit 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 · 5 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
65Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.4 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
96Wind: 8 kt NNWPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
59Water temp: 63°F, hotLight: Late afternoonSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 2.5 ftSeason & habitat · Sablefish
Species seasonality
24Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Marine Area 2-1 (Willapa Bay)
No rule for Sablefish is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with WDFW before you keep a fish.
Species rules here
- Chinook salmon Retention open (6 salmon combined per day)
- Chum salmon Retention open (6 salmon combined per day)
- Coho salmon Retention open (6 salmon combined per day)
- Pink salmon Retention open (6 salmon combined per day)
- Sockeye salmon Retention open (6 salmon combined per day)
Source: WDFW · 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
Riddle Spit
- Depth
- 1-25 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · slope
- Season
- Shoulder seasonSablefish
NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 3.4 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 Riddle Spit
Riddle Spit is a bar in Columbia River Bar, Oregon. Depth is 1-25 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Chinook salmon, coho salmon and lingcod. It is peak season now for Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and shoulder season for lingcod, Pacific halibut, rockfish and kelp greenling. Chinook salmon peak from July through September. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Lingcod peak from April through June.
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.
- Chinook salmon
- Chinook hold near bait off points, kelp edges and tide rips, usually suspended 20 to 120 feet down and deeper as the sun gets higher. Troll slowly, under 2 mph, with a flasher and herring, hoochie or spoon on a downrigger, or mooch a plug-cut herring at the depth where the sounder shows bait. Winter blackmouth and feeder kings sit within 10 feet of the bottom in 60 to 200 feet.
- 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
- Nemah Spit68
Bar · 1.1 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 68
- Coho salmon 63
- Lingcod 59
8 kt NNWH 9:14 PM · 7.4 ftL 4:30 AM · 1.1 ft
- Willapa Bay65
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 65
- Coho salmon 60
- Pacific halibut 57
8 kt NNWH 9:14 PM · 7.4 ftL 4:30 AM · 1.1 ft
- Nemah River Channel63
Bay · 3.2 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 63
- Coho salmon 58
- Pacific halibut 58
8 kt NNWH 9:14 PM · 7.4 ftL 4:30 AM · 1.1 ft
- Long Island Shoal61
Bar · 1.8 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 61
- Pacific halibut 58
- Coho salmon 56
8 kt NNWH 9:18 PM · 8.0 ftL 4:27 AM · 1.2 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 WDFW before you keep a fish.