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RockfishClosedSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 11 AM · Rockfish
- Now
- 203 AM PDT
- Best window
- 11 AM-2 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- High9.2 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Dalco Passage scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 3 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
44Tide: High slackCurrent: 0.3 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
98Wind: 4 kt SSWPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC
33Water temp: 57°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Rockfish
Species seasonality
65Closed season · capped at 20Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Closed
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island)
Rockfish
Closed- Daily limit
- No retention
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Not published
- Season
- No end date on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Fishing for, keeping or possessing rockfish is prohibited. Barbless hooks required in Marine Areas 5 through 13.
From WDFW recreational bottomfish and halibut fisheries page, read Sep 13
Other species 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 Closed (No retention)
- Pink salmon Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)
- Sockeye salmon Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)
Source: WDFW · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Rockfish is best here
Shoulder season for Rockfish · 31 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Dalco Passage
- Depth
- 250-350 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · drop-off
- Season
- Shoulder seasonRockfish
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 Dalco Passage
Dalco Passage is a bay in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, Washington. Depth is 250-350 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads bay, 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
- Rockfish
- Rockfish live on rocky reefs, pinnacles and kelp from the shoreline out past 300 feet, with black and blue rockfish schooling mid-water over shallow reefs and copper, quillback, yelloweye and vermilion sitting tight to deeper bottom. Drift over the structure with a shrimp fly above a lead-head grub or metal jig, or a squid strip, and reel up a few cranks after touching bottom to cut snags. Use a descending device to release any fish brought up from deep water.
- 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
- Point Defiance69
Cape · 1.5 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 69
- Kelp greenling 64
- Cabezon 63
4 kt SSWL 9:23 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 11.3 ft
- The Narrows67
Bay · 2.5 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 67
- Kelp greenling 61
- Coho salmon 57
4 kt SSWL 9:41 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:56 PM · 11.9 ft
- The Narrow67
Channel · 3.2 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 67
- Cabezon 56
- Kelp greenling 55
4 kt SSWL 9:41 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:56 PM · 11.9 ft
- Neill Point65
Cape · 1.3 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 65
- Kelp greenling 64
- Cabezon 63
4 kt SSWL 9:23 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 11.3 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.