Waterlands

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SablefishShoulder season

Cape · Washington

Biz Point

48.44°N · 122.68°W · Cape · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 11 AM · Sablefish

80/100Great
Now
5912 PM PDT
Best window
12-4 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding3.7 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 12 PM · now

Time12PNOW
Score59Good
Tide3.7 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.9 kn · toward NNE
Wind5 kn SSWgusts 12 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.3 ft · 7 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water55°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands)

IN EFFECT NOW

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)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Sablefish is best here

Shoulder season for Sablefish · 1 more week at shoulder

Sablefish season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Sablefish · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Sablefish in Washington

Spot profile

Biz Point

Depth
5-200 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · drop-off
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 Biz Point

Biz Point is a cape in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth in the nearest water is 5-200 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Chinook salmon, coho salmon and kelp greenling. It is peak season now for Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and shoulder season for kelp greenling, cabezon, lingcod and surfperch. Chinook salmon peak from July through September. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Kelp greenling peak from October through November.

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

  • Edith Point

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    80
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 80
    • Coho salmon 80
    • Kelp greenling 73

    5 kt SSWH 4:18 PM · 7.6 ftL 9:32 PM · 4.0 ft

  • Langley Bay

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    77
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 77
    • Chinook salmon 76
    • Kelp greenling 72

    5 kt SSWH 4:18 PM · 7.6 ftL 9:32 PM · 4.0 ft

  • Burrows Bay

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    77
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 77
    • Chinook salmon 76
    • Kelp greenling 72

    5 kt SSWH 4:18 PM · 7.6 ftL 9:32 PM · 4.0 ft

  • Dennis Shoal

    Bar · 2.0 mi

    72
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 72
    • Chinook salmon 71
    • Lingcod 63

    5 kt SSWH 4:18 PM · 7.6 ftL 9:32 PM · 4.0 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.