Puget Sound Early Summer: Coho Awakening and Bottom Fish Action

This is Artificial Lure, checking in with your Puget Sound fishing report. We’re riding a mild early-summer pattern now: light morning breeze, generally calm seas, and comfortable temps building into the 60s by afternoon. Local marine forecasts call for patchy low clouds early, burning off to filtered sun and good visibility. Winds are light from the north in the morning, picking up a bit mid‑day, so plan your small‑craft runs early. Tides today are running classic Puget Sound “yo‑yo” style. Around the central Sound you’re looking at a decent morning flood pushing in before shifting to an afternoon ebb. That moving water window around the tide changes is your prime time; the slack periods have been noticeably slower for both bait and lures. Up north toward Everett and south toward Tacoma Narrows the timing shifts a bit, but the same rule holds: fish the first and last couple hours of current. Salmon action is slowly waking up. Resident coho and a few early ocean fish have been showing on the West Side of Whidbey and along the shipping lanes off Jeff Head and Kingston. Most of the bites have been in the top 60 feet of the water column, with smaller “resident‑size” coho dominating, plus the occasional legal. Anglers running 3‑inch silver/green spoons or white hootchies behind UV flashers are doing the best, especially on the morning flood. A few folks dragging cut‑plug herring behind a flasher are also picking up fish when the wind lays down. Bottom fishing has been the most reliable game. Lingcod reports are tapering a bit after the early rush, but there are still fish hanging on rock piles, reefs, and steep ledges from Possession Bar to Point Defiance. Large white or root‑beer swimbaits on 2–4 oz jig heads, and 4–6 inch curly‑tail grubs tipped with a bit of herring strip, are producing. For those targeting kelp greenling and rockfish where legal outside the main Sound, simple dropper rigs with strips of squid or sand shrimp are hard to beat. Flounder and sand dab action is hot for anyone with kids or just wanting bent rods. Inside Elliott Bay, around Alki, and along the shallower flats near Edmonds and Everett, folks are filling buckets using small pieces of worm, clam, or squid on two‑hook bottom rigs. Light spinning rods, 1–2 oz weight, and you’re in business. Crabbing is on everyone’s mind as the summer season approaches. While the main Puget Sound crab opener hasn’t hit yet in many areas, test pots and reports from folks with non‑Sound access are encouraging: lots of legal Dungeness in 60–90 feet on sandy bottoms. When it opens, fish‑based baits like oily salmon carcasses, turkey legs, or chicken backs in a well‑rigged pot will be the go‑to. Plan your sets on the last of the flood through the first of the ebb to keep pots from walking. A couple of current hot spots: • Jeff Head and the Kingston bar: good early‑morning coho action on the flood, plus some decent bottom fish along the edges. Troll spoons or hootchies at 25–60 feet on the wire, watch your speed over ground, and stay close to bait marks. • Point Defiance and the Clay Banks: solid for lingcod and other bottom dwellers, especially on the change of tide. Drop big swimbaits or metal jigs right on the structure and work them just off bottom; bring extra gear, because the rocks eat tackle. Best all‑around lures this week: 3‑inch silver/green or silver/blue trolling spoons, white or glow hootchies, 4–6 inch white swimbaits for lings, and small chartreuse soft plastics for flounder. For bait, herring—either cut‑plug or strip—is still king, with squid and sand shrimp close behind. That’s the word from around the Sound. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn