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SablefishShoulder season

Cape · Washington

Rocky Point

47.36°N · 122.81°W · Cape · Puget Sound and Hood Canal

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Best score today · 8 AM · Sablefish

78/100Great
Now
343 AM PDT
Best window
7-10 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding10.7 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 3 AM · now

Time3ANOW
Score34Fair
Tide10.7 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.3 kn · toward WSW
Wind4 kn SSWgusts 7 · steady
Air temp52°Cool
WeatherMostly cloudy81% cloud
Water57°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound)

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 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 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

Rocky Point

Depth
7-45 ftSlope
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · slope
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 Rocky Point

Rocky Point is a cape in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, Washington. Depth is 7-45 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Chinook salmon, kelp greenling and cabezon. 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. Cabezon peak from May through August.

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

  • Rocky Bay

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    63
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 63
    • Chinook salmon 62
    • Cabezon 61

    4 kt SSWH 3:44 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:15 AM · 1.1 ft

  • Vaughn Bay

    Bay · 1.8 mi

    63
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 63
    • Chinook salmon 62
    • Cabezon 61

    4 kt SSWH 3:44 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:15 AM · 1.1 ft

  • Dutcher Cove

    Bay · 3.6 mi

    63
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 63
    • Chinook salmon 62
    • Cabezon 61

    4 kt SSWH 3:44 AM · 11.1 ftL 10:15 AM · 1.1 ft

  • North Bay

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    62
    Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season
    • Kelp greenling 62
    • Chinook salmon 61
    • Cabezon 60

    2 kt SSWH 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.