Waterlands

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CabezonShoulder season

Bay · Washington

Griffin Bay

48.49°N · 122.99°W · Bay · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 11 AM · Cabezon

79/100Great
Now
5412 PM PDT
Best window
12-4 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding2.6 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 PM · now

Time12PNOW
Score54Good
Tide2.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood2.0 kn · toward NNE
Wind6 kn Sgusts 11 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.1 ft · 2 s
Air temp57°Mild
WeatherOvercast94% cloud
Water55°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands)

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Cabezon 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 Cabezon is best here

Shoulder season for Cabezon · 31 more weeks at shoulder

Cabezon season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cabezon · 31 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Cabezon in Washington

Spot profile

Griffin Bay

Depth
110-250 ftDrop-off
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · drop-off
Season
Shoulder seasonCabezon

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 Griffin Bay

Griffin Bay is a bay in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is 110-250 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Cabezon
Cabezon sit in rock crevices, kelp beds and jetty boulders from the intertidal zone to about 100 feet and feed mostly on crabs and small fish. Fish a fish-finder rig with sand shrimp, squid or crab right on the bottom in the rocks, or drag a lead-head grub slowly through the kelp. Expect snags, and do not eat the roe, which is toxic.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Mulno Cove

    Bay · 1.3 mi

    77
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 77
    • Chinook salmon 76
    • Surfperch 65

    6 kt SH 4:01 PM · 6.7 ftL 9:28 PM · 4.3 ft

  • Halftide Rocks

    Bar · 0.9 mi

    72
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 72
    • Chinook salmon 71
    • Kelp greenling 66

    6 kt SH 4:01 PM · 6.7 ftL 9:28 PM · 4.3 ft

  • Hope Reef

    Bar · 1.1 mi

    72
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 72
    • Chinook salmon 71
    • Kelp greenling 66

    6 kt SH 4:01 PM · 6.7 ftL 9:28 PM · 4.3 ft

  • Argyle Shoal

    Bar · 1.2 mi

    71
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 71
    • Chinook salmon 70
    • Lingcod 70

    6 kt SH 4:54 PM · 7.0 ftL 10:26 PM · 4.4 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.