Waterlands

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SablefishShoulder season

Bar · Washington

Mouatt Reef

48.68°N · 123.04°W · Bar · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 6 PM · Sablefish

75/100Great
Now
415 PM PDT
Best window
5-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
High7.7 ft

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 PM · now

Time5PNOW
Score41Fair
Tide7.7 ftHigh
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind9 kn SSWgusts 14 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.3 ft · 2 s
Air temp59°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% 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

Mouatt Reef

Depth
35-100 ftDrop-off
Structure
Reef · Inner · Semi-exposedReef · 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 Mouatt Reef

Mouatt Reef is a bar in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is 35-100 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads reef, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Point Disney

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    75
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 75
    • Cabezon 64
    • Kelp greenling 64

    9 kt SSWL 10:36 PM · 4.5 ftH 3:22 AM · 6.1 ft

  • North Bay

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    72
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 72
    • Kelp greenling 71
    • Pacific halibut 64

    9 kt SSWL 10:36 PM · 4.5 ftH 3:22 AM · 6.1 ft

  • Cowlitz Bay

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    71
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 71
    • Kelp greenling 70
    • Cabezon 66

    9 kt SSWL 10:36 PM · 4.5 ftH 3:22 AM · 6.1 ft

  • President Channel

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    71
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 71
    • Pacific halibut 64
    • Kelp greenling 63

    9 kt SSWL 10:36 PM · 4.5 ftH 3:22 AM · 6.1 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.