Puget Sound Rainy Day Fishing Report: Salmon, Bottomfish, and Killer Whale Sightings

Artificial Lure with your Tuesday, November 4, 2025 Puget Sound fishing report, coming at you local and live from rainy Seattle. Sunrise this morning was at 6:49 am with sunset at 4:45 pm, so anglers have just about 10 hours of daylight to get their lines in. The tides are swinging nicely: we saw a low at 4:45 am down to -0.7 feet, and expect a high hitting around 1:26 pm peaking near 7.9 feet. The prime bite window today is late morning into early afternoon, with solid tidal push and lunar rise stacking the deck just right—especially between 9:45 and noon, plan your casts accordingly according to local tide charts and NOAA. Weather is signature November Sound: steady rain, full-on cloud cover, and a cool 54°F. Winds are gentle, under 5 knots from the east, and humidity is near-total. Water temps are holding cold at about 49°F, so rain gear and some fingerless gloves will keep you fishing comfortably. The marine forecast from the National Data Buoy Center echoes the local chatter—expect rain all day, with barely a ripple at 2 feet or less on the water. Despite the chill, fish activity remains solid. Late-run **coho salmon** are still rolling through—recent reports from Edmonds Pier and Shilshole Bay have been packed with locals picking up silvers averaging 4 to 8 pounds. Bank and kayak anglers are reporting daily limits if you hit the right tide, with some bonus **blackmouth chinook** (immature kings) caught outside Elliott Bay. Evergreen shorelines like Lighthouse Park and the Tacoma Narrows are giving up mixed bags: expect **flounder, true cod, and rockfish** for those working drop-shot rigs or bait along the bottom. South Sound—Point Defiance and the mouth of the Duwamish—has seen a bump in **sea-run cutthroat** and occasional bullhead. According to Gone Fishing Northwest, bullhead schools are moving shallow this week with the temperature drop. As for lures and bait, today’s theme is downsized and bold. With stained water and low light, **3-inch chartreuse and pink hoochies** with flash skirts are crushing coho. For cutthroat, classic **Dick Nites** or minnow-profile soft plastics—the Sand Lance swimbaits—are getting solid strikes. Trollers are having best luck slow-rolling **fresh herring strips**, while bait anglers around Mukilteo and Alki are seeing action with **sand shrimp under a float**. For bottom fish, nightcrawlers and squid chunks are the ticket. If you want to maximize your odds, target these two hotspots: - **Shilshole Bay Marina Breakwater**: Coho and blackmouth are holding deep and mid-depth. Metal spoons jigged vertically or mooched cut-plug herring have been the go-to. - **Edmonds Pier**: Dawn to mid-morning is best for salmon; try a blood-red spinner blade tipped with shrimp for a fast bite. Keep an eye out—nearly all of the region’s endangered Southern Resident killer whales were spotted off Vashon Island this weekend. As CBS News and the Center for Whale Research note, it’s crucial to fish with care—use barbless h This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.