UTERThe best time to fish Puget Sound is August for king salmon and September for coho. In odd-numbered years, August also fills the Sound with pink salmon. The fishing doesn't stop when summer ends: chum salmon run into Hood Canal and the South Sound in October and November, resident blackmouth chinook are a winter fishery, and spring opens halibut, lingcod and rockfish.
This guide covers Puget Sound and the rest of Fish Scouter's Washington Coast and Puget Sound region: the inner Sound from Everett to Olympia, Hood Canal, the San Juans, the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Sekiu and Neah Bay, and the outer coast at La Push, Westport and Ilwaco. The months come from the Washington page of Fish Scouter's season calendar.
Puget Sound fishing calendar at a glance
| Month | Headline | Top targets |
|---|---|---|
| January | Winter blackmouth; Olympic Peninsula steelhead | Blackmouth chinook, steelhead |
| February | Peak wild steelhead; blackmouth on the bait | Steelhead, blackmouth |
| March | Late steelhead; blackmouth winding down | Steelhead, blackmouth, lingcod |
| April | Sound halibut; coast lingcod and rockfish | Halibut, lingcod, rockfish, surfperch |
| May | Coast halibut; reefs on fire | Halibut, lingcod, rockfish |
| June | Coast salmon opens | Chinook, halibut, lingcod |
| July | Kings and coho on the Strait; odd-year pinks arrive | Chinook, coho, pinks, albacore |
| August | Prime time for Sound kings; pinks peak in odd years | Chinook, coho, pinks |
| September | Coho month | Coho, chinook, pinks |
| October | Coho at the river mouths; Hood Canal chums | Coho, chum |
| November | South Sound chums; blackmouth back | Chum, blackmouth |
| December | Late chums, blackmouth, winter steelhead | Chum, blackmouth, steelhead |
The salmon year, run by run
Puget Sound fishing revolves around five salmon runs. Here they are in calendar order.
- Chinook (kings): summer fish from June to August on the coast and the Strait, with August the peak inside the Sound. Resident blackmouth from October through March.
- Coho (silvers): resident coho from July, peak in September, and in the river mouths in October.
- Pink salmon (humpies): odd years only, from late July into early September.
- Chum (dogs): October to December, at Hood Canal and the South Sound inlets.
- Steelhead: winter fish in the Olympic Peninsula rivers from December to April.
Winter: December to March
Blackmouth
Blackmouth are resident chinook that never left for the ocean. They spend the winter on the bait in the Sound. Mooch a herring, or troll a spoon or a small hoochie behind a flasher near the bottom off Point No Point, Possession Bar and in the San Juans. Marine areas open and close by quota through the winter, so the open water changes from month to month. By March the fishery is winding down.
Olympic Peninsula steelhead
Winter steelhead are the other winter fishery. Hatchery fish arrive in the coast rivers in December, and the big wild fish peak in February on the Hoh, Queets, Bogachiel and Quillayute. Many wild runs are catch-and-release, and WDFW closes rivers by emergency rule when returns are low. Check the rules before you drive out.
Spring: April and May
Halibut usually open in eastern Puget Sound in April, and on the coast at Neah Bay, La Push and Westport in May. Coast halibut runs on a few set days a week and closes when the quota is used up. Halibut and lingcod fish best at slack tide on the big tides, so plan around the tide table, not the clock.
Lingcod and black rockfish open on the coast reefs out of Westport, La Push and Neah Bay. Puget Sound's rockfish and bottomfish rules are much tighter than the coast's, so read them separately. Redtail surfperch peak on the Long Beach and Ocean Shores beaches in May.
Summer: June to August
June and July
Coast salmon opens in June at Neah Bay, La Push, Westport and Ilwaco, with kings on the troll in 60 to 150 feet. July is the peak for kings on the coast and on the Strait at Sekiu and Neah Bay, and resident coho start showing in central Puget Sound. Fish small hoochies near the surface for coho. Out of Westport and Ilwaco, tuna boats run 40 to 60 miles out to the warm water for albacore.
In odd years, the first pinks arrive at Sekiu and Neah Bay in late July.
August
WDFW calls August prime time for Puget Sound kings, from Sekiu to Kingston. Troll a flasher and a hoochie or a spoon near the bottom on the points where the tide pushes bait against the shelf, and fish the change of tide. Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia opens in August for kings and later coho.
In odd years (2027 is the next one), the Sound fills with pink salmon. The run peaks in mid-August, and almost any beach with moving water holds fish. Cast pink buzz bombs, pink mini-jigs or small pink hoochies off the points and beaches. Pinks are the easiest Puget Sound salmon for a shore angler, which makes them the best starter run. In even years like 2026, there is almost no run.
Fall: September to November
September: coho
Peak coho in the Sound, off Point No Point, Edmonds, Kingston and Tulalip Bay. Coho hit fast trolls near the surface and cast buzz bombs from the beach. Buoy 10 has hatchery coho. In odd years, the last pinks reach the South Sound and the Snohomish and Puyallup river mouths in early September.
October: river-mouth coho and the first chums
Coho stage at the river mouths and estuaries: the Snohomish, the Skagit and the Hood Canal points. Cast buzz bombs and spinners from the beach on the tide. Hood Canal chums arrive at Hoodsport. They are big, strong fish, and the classic rig is a chartreuse corky and yarn drifted off the beach. Blackmouth start coming back into the inner Sound as the fall areas open.
November: South Sound chums
Chums peak in the South Sound inlets at Kennedy Creek, Minter Creek and Chico Creek. Cast jigs or drift a float off the beach near the creek mouths. These beaches get crowded on weekends, and many of the creeks themselves are closed, so fish the marine-area beach and read the posted rules. Winter blackmouth restarts in the open marine areas.
Tides in Puget Sound
Puget Sound has a mixed semidiurnal tide, with two highs and two lows a day of very different sizes. The range grows toward the south: about 11 feet at Seattle and 14 or more at Olympia. That much water moving through narrow passages makes strong currents.
- Salmon: stack on the points on the change of tide, when bait gets pushed against the shelf.
- Halibut and lingcod: fish the slack on big tides. In full current you can't hold bottom.
- Beach fishing: the hour either side of the change at a point with a current seam.
See the best tide for fishing for the general rules.
Rules
Puget Sound salmon seasons are set every year by marine area, and WDFW changes them in-season by emergency rule, sometimes with a few days' notice. Wild-fish release rules, hatchery-only seasons and catch record cards all apply. Check WDFW regulations and emergency rules for your marine area before every trip. If you're heading north, see the Alaska salmon runs by month.
Find the run, then the day
Fish Scouter puts this calendar together with the NOAA tide for the nearest station, the live water temperature, the wind and the seven-day outlook, and ranks every species for your spot hour by hour, with the reasons in plain words. We think it's the best fishing app for timing a Puget Sound salmon trip around the tide change. Try Fish Scouter free.