Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

CabezonShoulder season

Bar · Washington

Undertakers Reef

48.52°N · 122.83°W · Bar · Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 11 AM · Cabezon

75/100Great
Now
576 AM PDT
Best window
10 AM-6 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.6 ft ▼

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

Notify me when Undertakers Reef scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 AM · now

Time6ANOW
Score57Good
Tide2.6 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.9 kn · toward SE
Wind5 kn SEgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.2 ft · 2 s
Air temp53°Cool
WeatherPartly cloudy44% 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)

Source: WDFW · synced yesterday

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

Undertakers Reef

Depth
20-140 ftDrop-off
Structure
Reef · Inner · ProtectedReef · 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 Undertakers Reef

Undertakers Reef is a bar in Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands, Washington. Depth is 20-140 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads reef, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are coho salmon, lingcod and Chinook salmon. It is peak season now for coho salmon and Chinook salmon, and shoulder season for lingcod, kelp greenling, cabezon and sablefish. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Lingcod peak from April through June. 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.
Lingcod
Lingcod ambush prey from rock outcrops, reef edges and kelp where current runs, most often in 30 to 300 feet, and males move shallow to guard nests in winter. Drift over the reef bouncing a lead-head swimbait or metal jig on the bottom, or fish herring or squid on a heavy leader, since their teeth cut light line. From jetties and rocky shore, work bait or jigs along the rocks on the incoming tide.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Lopez Sound

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    75
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 75
    • Chinook salmon 73
    • Lingcod 67

    5 kt SEL 8:50 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:43 PM · 7.1 ft

  • Sylvan Cove

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    74
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 74
    • Chinook salmon 73
    • Lingcod 64

    5 kt SEL 8:50 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:43 PM · 7.1 ft

  • Brigantine Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    74
    Top: Coho salmonPeak season
    • Coho salmon 74
    • Chinook salmon 73
    • Lingcod 64

    5 kt SEL 8:50 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:43 PM · 7.1 ft

  • Thatcher Pass

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    74
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 74
    • Coho salmon 74
    • Lingcod 64

    5 kt SEL 8:50 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:43 PM · 7.1 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.