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SurfperchShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 8 AM · Surfperch
- Now
- 4712 AM PDT
- Best window
- 7-10 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding6.4 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Rocky Bay 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 · 12 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
49Tide: FloodingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 5 kt SWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC
33Water temp: 57°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Surfperch
Species seasonality
55Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound)
No rule for Surfperch 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 Retention open (2 salmon combined per day)
- 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 yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Surfperch is best here
Shoulder season for Surfperch · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Rocky Bay
- Depth
- 4-15 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · slope
- Season
- Shoulder seasonSurfperch
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 Rocky Bay
Rocky Bay is a bay in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, Washington. Depth is 4-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
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, cabezon, lingcod and surfperch. Coho salmon peak from July through September. Kelp greenling peak from October through November. Chinook salmon peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- Surfperch
- Surfperch feed in the troughs and holes within about 30 feet of the waterline, just outside the first set of breakers. Cast a two-hook high-low or Carolina rig with size 4 to 2 hooks and a 1 to 6 ounce pyramid sinker and let the surge work it through the trough. Fish the incoming tide on beaches with a steep drop, and switch to jetties, pilings and bays when the surf is too big.
- 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
- Glen Cove64
Bay · 3.1 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 64
- Chinook salmon 61
- Kelp greenling 58
5 kt SWH 3:44 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:15 AM · 1.1 ft
- Rocky Point61
Cape · 0.5 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 61
- Chinook salmon 59
- Kelp greenling 57
5 kt SWH 3:44 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:15 AM · 1.1 ft
- Vaughn Bay58
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 58
- Kelp greenling 56
- Chinook salmon 55
5 kt SWH 3:44 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:15 AM · 1.1 ft
- North Bay57
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Coho salmonPeak season- Coho salmon 57
- Kelp greenling 55
- Chinook salmon 54
2 kt SWH 3:41 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:17 AM · 1.1 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.
