Waterlands

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SablefishShoulder season

Bar · Washington

Blakely Island Shoal

48.57°N · 122.84°W · Bar · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 11 AM · Sablefish

74/100Great
Now
435 PM PDT
Best window
5-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing7.2 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 PM · now

Time5PNOW
Score43Fair
Tide7.2 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.4 kn · toward SW
Wind5 kn SWgusts 11 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.1 ft · 2 s
Air temp62°Mild
WeatherOvercast98% cloud
Water54°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

Last week of shoulder season for Sablefish · the off season next

Sablefish season by week of the year. Last week of shoulder season for Sablefish · the off season next.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Sablefish in Washington

Spot profile

Blakely Island Shoal

Depth
60-170 ftDrop-off
Structure
Shoal · Inner · Semi-exposedShoal · 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 Blakely Island Shoal

Blakely Island Shoal is a bar in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is 60-170 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads shoal, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Chinook salmon, kelp greenling and cabezon. It is peak season now for Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and shoulder season for kelp greenling, cabezon, Pacific halibut and lingcod. Chinook salmon peak from July through September. Kelp greenling peak from October through November. 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.
Kelp greenling
Kelp greenling are solitary bottom fish of rocky shores, jetties and kelp beds, usually in water shallower than 60 feet. Use a small number 4 to 6 hook with sand shrimp or marine worms, or a small lead-head grub, dropped to the bottom and reeled up slightly. Larger fish show in October and November when they spawn close to shore, and mornings tend to fish best.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Shoal Bay

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    78
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 78
    • Kelp greenling 73
    • Coho salmon 66

    9 kt SSWL 10:13 PM · 4.4 ftH 2:44 AM · 5.8 ft

  • Peavine Pass

    Bay · 1.8 mi

    78
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 78
    • Kelp greenling 69
    • Coho salmon 66

    5 kt SWL 9:47 PM · 4.2 ftH 3:14 AM · 6.6 ft

  • Leo Reef

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    73
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 73
    • Cabezon 71
    • Chinook salmon 67

    5 kt SWL 10:13 PM · 4.4 ftH 2:44 AM · 5.8 ft

  • Thatcher Bay

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    72
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 72
    • Kelp greenling 72
    • Pacific halibut 64

    5 kt SWL 10:09 PM · 4.4 ftH 2:44 AM · 6.0 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.