Waterlands

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SurfperchShoulder season

Cape · Washington

Neck Point

48.59°N · 123.01°W · Cape · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 7 AM · Surfperch

82/100Great
Now
466 AM PDT
Best window
11 AM-1 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.7 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 AM · now

Time6ANOW
Score46Good
Tide2.7 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.3 kn · toward ENE
Wind4 kn SEgusts 7 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.1 ft · 2 s
Air temp56°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 Surfperch 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)

Source: WDFW · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Surfperch is best here

Shoulder season for Surfperch · 1 more week at shoulder

Surfperch season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Surfperch · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Surfperch in Washington

Spot profile

Neck Point

Depth
8-70 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · drop-off
Season
Shoulder seasonSurfperch

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 Neck Point

Neck Point is a cape in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth in the nearest water is 8-70 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

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

Tackle & technique

Surfperch
Surfperch feed in the troughs and holes within about 30 feet of the waterline, just outside the first set of breakers. Cast a two-hook high-low or Carolina rig with size 4 to 2 hooks and a 1 to 6 ounce pyramid sinker and let the surge work it through the trough. Fish the incoming tide on beaches with a steep drop, and switch to jetties, pilings and bays when the surf is too big.
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

  • Wasp Passage

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    74
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 74
    • Coho salmon 74
    • Lingcod 65

    4 kt SEL 9:23 AM · 0.8 ftH 4:42 PM · 7.2 ft

  • San Juan Channel

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    74
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 74
    • Chinook salmon 71
    • Lingcod 61

    4 kt SEL 9:09 AM · 0.8 ftH 4:54 PM · 7.0 ft

  • North Pass

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    74
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 74
    • Coho salmon 74
    • Lingcod 67

    4 kt SEL 9:23 AM · 0.8 ftH 4:42 PM · 7.2 ft

  • Shirt Tail Reef

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    69
    Top: LingcodShoulder season
    • Lingcod 69
    • Chinook salmon 68
    • Coho salmon 68

    4 kt SEL 9:09 AM · 0.8 ftH 4:54 PM · 7.0 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.