Waterlands

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SablefishShoulder season

Bay · Washington

Canoe Pass

48.41°N · 122.65°W · Bay · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 1 PM · Sablefish

76/100Great
Now
3412 AM PDT
Best window
1-3 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding5.6 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 AM · now

Time12ANOW
Score34Fair
Tide5.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood3.0 kn · toward ESE
Wind2 kn SEgusts 3 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.7 ft · 3 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy83% cloud
Water55°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Marine Area 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island, and Skagit Bay)

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 Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)

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

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

Canoe Pass

Depth
15-150 ftDrop-off
Structure
Pass · Inner · ProtectedPass · 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 Canoe Pass

Canoe Pass is a bay in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is 15-150 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads pass, inner water and protected.

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, lingcod, surfperch and Pacific halibut. 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

  • Gun Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    60
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 60
    • Coho salmon 59
    • Kelp greenling 52

    2 kt SEH 1:06 AM · 5.8 ftL 8:24 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Macs Cove

    Bay · 0.3 mi

    57
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 57
    • Chinook salmon 56
    • Kelp greenling 51

    2 kt SEH 1:06 AM · 5.8 ftL 8:24 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Bowman Bay

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    57
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 57
    • Chinook salmon 56
    • Kelp greenling 51

    2 kt SEH 1:06 AM · 5.8 ftL 8:24 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Gull Rocks

    Bar · 0.8 mi

    53
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 53
    • Cabezon 51
    • Chinook salmon 51

    2 kt SEH 1:06 AM · 5.8 ftL 8:24 AM · 0.7 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.