UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
CabezonShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 PM · Cabezon
- Now
- 564 AM PDT
- Best window
- 6-8 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing9.5 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF · Waterlands engine
Notify me when The Narrow 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 · 4 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.8 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 4 kt SPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC
51Water temp: 57°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Cabezon
Species seasonality
48Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island)
No rule for Cabezon 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 yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Cabezon is best here
Shoulder season for Cabezon · 31 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
The Narrow
- Depth
- 100-200 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · drop-off
- Season
- Shoulder seasonCabezon
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 The Narrow
The Narrow is a channel in Puget Sound and Hood Canal, Washington. Depth is 100-200 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Chinook salmon, cabezon and coho salmon. It is peak season now for Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and shoulder season for cabezon, kelp greenling, lingcod and surfperch. Chinook salmon peak from July through September. Cabezon peak from May through August. Coho salmon peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- Cabezon
- Cabezon sit in rock crevices, kelp beds and jetty boulders from the intertidal zone to about 100 feet and feed mostly on crabs and small fish. Fish a fish-finder rig with sand shrimp, squid or crab right on the bottom in the rocks, or drag a lead-head grub slowly through the kelp. Expect snags, and do not eat the roe, which is toxic.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- The Narrows67
Bay · 0.8 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 67
- Kelp greenling 61
- Coho salmon 60
4 kt SL 9:41 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:56 PM · 11.9 ft
- Point Fosdick65
Cape · 2.6 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 65
- Kelp greenling 64
- Cabezon 62
4 kt SL 9:41 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:56 PM · 11.9 ft
- Point Defiance65
Cape · 2.8 mi
Top: Chinook salmonPeak season- Chinook salmon 65
- Kelp greenling 64
- Cabezon 62
4 kt SL 9:23 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:32 PM · 11.3 ft
- Wollochet Bay63
Bay · 2.9 mi
Top: Kelp greenlingShoulder season- Kelp greenling 63
- Chinook salmon 61
- Cabezon 56
4 kt SL 9:58 AM · 1.1 ftH 4:59 PM · 12.6 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.