Waterlands

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SablefishShoulder season

Cape · Washington

Bill Point

47.62°N · 122.50°W · Cape · Puget Sound and Hood Canal

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Best score today · 7 AM · Sablefish

76/100Great
Now
454 AM PDT
Best window
5-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing8.3 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 AM · now

Time4ANOW
Score45Good
Tide8.3 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind4 kn SSWgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.1 ft · 2 s
Air temp51°Cool
WeatherOvercast90% cloud
Water57°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Marine Area 10 (Seattle-Bremerton Area)

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 Special rules
  • 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)

Source: WDFW · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Sablefish is best here

Shoulder season for Sablefish · 1 more week at shoulder

Sablefish season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Sablefish · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Sablefish in Washington

Spot profile

Bill Point

Depth
5-60 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · 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 Bill Point

Bill Point is a cape in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, Washington. Depth in the nearest water is 5-60 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

  • Blakely Harbor

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    68
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 68
    • Cabezon 65
    • Chinook salmon 63

    4 kt SSWL 9:22 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 10.8 ft

  • Wing Point

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    65
    Top: Chinook salmonPeak season
    • Chinook salmon 65
    • Kelp greenling 63
    • Coho salmon 62

    4 kt SSWL 9:23 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 10.7 ft

  • Eagle Harbor

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    65
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 65
    • Cabezon 62
    • Chinook salmon 61

    4 kt SSWL 9:23 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 10.7 ft

  • Tyee Shoal

    Bar · 0.8 mi

    57
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 57
    • Chinook salmon 56
    • Cabezon 55

    4 kt SSWL 9:23 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 10.7 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.