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SablefishShoulder seasonBay · Washington
Bellingham Bay
48.69°N · 122.56°W · Bay · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Sablefish
- Now
- 404 AM PDT
- Best window
- 6-9 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing5.7 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Bellingham 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 · 4 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
89Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.4 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
80Wind: 1 kt SEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
Open-Meteo Marine
45Water temp: 60°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.2 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 7 (San Juan Islands)
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 Catch & release (No retention)
- Chum salmon Catch & release (No retention)
- Coho salmon Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)
- Lingcod Check regulations
- Pacific halibut Retention open (1 per day)
- Pink salmon Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)
- Rockfish Closed (No retention)
- Sockeye salmon Catch & release (No retention)
Source: WDFW · synced yesterday
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
Bellingham Bay
- Depth
- About 90 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonSablefish
NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.
About this spot
Fishing Bellingham Bay
Bellingham Bay is a bay in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is about 90 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Chinook salmon, coho salmon and cabezon. It is peak season now for Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and shoulder season for cabezon, kelp greenling, Pacific halibut and lingcod. Chinook salmon peak from July through September. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Cabezon peak from May through August.
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
- Governors Point62
Cape · 2.6 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 62
- Coho salmon 61
- Cabezon 58
1 kt SEL 9:38 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:52 PM · 7.9 ft
- Point Francis62
Cape · 2.6 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 62
- Coho salmon 62
- Cabezon 58
1 kt SEL 9:37 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:50 PM · 8.3 ft
- Chuckanut Rock60
Bar · 2.7 mi
Top: CabezonShoulder season- Cabezon 60
- Kelp greenling 59
- Lingcod 58
1 kt SEL 9:38 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:52 PM · 7.9 ft
- Chuckanut Bay59
Bay · 2.8 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 59
- Coho salmon 59
- Kelp greenling 57
1 kt SEL 9:38 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:52 PM · 7.9 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.