Waterlands

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CabezonShoulder season

Bay · Washington

Port Susan

48.15°N · 122.40°W · Bay · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

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Best score today · 7 AM · Cabezon

74/100Great
Now
6412 PM PDT
Best window
12-4 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding4.1 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
Score64Good
Tide4.1 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward N
Wind4 kn Sgusts 11 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.1 ft · 3 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherOvercast38% chance of rain
Water56°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Marine Area 8-2 (Ports Susan and Gardner)

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 Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)

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

Port Susan

Depth
80-250 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 Port Susan

Port Susan is a bay in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is 80-250 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, kelp greenling and Chinook salmon. It is peak season now for coho salmon and Chinook salmon, and shoulder season for kelp greenling, lingcod, cabezon and sablefish. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Kelp greenling peak from October through November. Chinook salmon peak from July through September.

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.
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

  • Lowell Point

    Cape · 4.7 mi

    75
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 75
    • Chinook salmon 74
    • Kelp greenling 72

    3 kt NWH 4:21 PM · 10.8 ftL 10:09 PM · 4.7 ft

  • Elger Bay

    Bay · 3.8 mi

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

    3 kt NWH 4:21 PM · 10.8 ftL 10:09 PM · 4.7 ft

  • Triangle Cove

    Bay · 4.5 mi

    67
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 67
    • Kelp greenling 67
    • Chinook salmon 66

    4 kt SH 4:51 PM · 6.6 ftL 12:43 AM · 1.4 ft

  • Livingston Bay

    Bay · 5.3 mi

    67
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 67
    • Kelp greenling 66
    • Chinook salmon 65

    4 kt SH 4:51 PM · 6.6 ftL 12:43 AM · 1.4 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.