UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
SablefishShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 11 AM · Sablefish
- Now
- 4810 AM PDT
- Best window
- 11 AM-1 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.3 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Point Defiance 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 · 10 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
57Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.6 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 4 kt SSWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC
44Water temp: 57°F, hotLight: OvercastSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Sablefish
Species seasonality
49Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island)
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 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)
- Rockfish Closed (No retention)
- Sockeye salmon Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)
Source: WDFW · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Sablefish is best here
Shoulder season for Sablefish · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Point Defiance
- Depth
- 35-200 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 Point Defiance
Point Defiance is a cape in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, Washington. Depth in the nearest water is 35-200 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are coho salmon, Chinook salmon and kelp greenling. It is peak season now for coho salmon and Chinook salmon, and shoulder season for kelp greenling, cabezon, lingcod and surfperch. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Chinook salmon peak from July through September. Kelp greenling peak from October through November.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Neill Point71
Cape · 2.7 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 71
- Chinook salmon 70
- Kelp greenling 64
4 kt SSWH 4:32 PM · 11.3 ftL 10:34 PM · 4.8 ft
- Dalco Passage68
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 68
- Chinook salmon 66
- Lingcod 62
4 kt SSWH 4:32 PM · 11.3 ftL 10:34 PM · 4.8 ft
- Gig Harbor65
Bay · 2.1 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 65
- Kelp greenling 64
- Chinook salmon 63
4 kt SSWH 4:46 PM · 11.3 ftL 10:51 PM · 4.7 ft
- The Narrows63
Bay · 2.0 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 63
- Chinook salmon 62
- Kelp greenling 56
4 kt SSWH 4:56 PM · 11.9 ftL 10:52 PM · 4.9 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.