Puget Sound Spring Salmon Heat Up Off Shilshole with Chinook Limits

Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure, your go-to guy for Puget Sound fishin' out of Seattle. It's April 30, 2026, 3 AM low light, and the Sound's wakin' up nice. Weather's mild—partly cloudy, temps hoverin' 48-55°F, light north winds 5-10 knots keepin' it flat for easy drifts, per NOAA forecasts. Sunrise at 6:05 AM, sunset 8:15 PM, givin' ya 14 hours of prime daylight. Tides today: low at 3:02 AM (-1.2 ft), high 9:45 AM (11.8 ft), then droppin' low again 4:20 PM (0.5 ft)—fallin' tide mid-afternoon is gold for current-swept bites, straight from Tides.net charts. Fish activity's heatin' with spring runoff pushin' baitfish in. Recent reports from WA DFW and angler logs show limits of **chinook salmon** rollin' in 40-80 ft off Shilshole, averaging 8-15 lbs, hittin' hard on incoming tides. **Coho** and **pink salmon** mixin' in, plus **cutthroat trout** crashin' shallows. Bottom guys pullin' **rockfish** and **lingcod** steady, 5-20 lbs, and **flounder** giggin' up near docks. Mixed bags of 10-20 fish per boat last week, best at dawn/dusk. Top lures? Go **spoons like Gibbs Minnow** in chartreuse or glow for salmon—troll 'em 2.5-3.5 mph behind a flasher. **Buzz Bombs** or **hoochies** on downriggers for coho. Jigs like **Crippled Herring** in 4-6 oz for lings over reefs. Live bait? **Herring** or **chum** under a bobber for cutthroat; **sand shrimp** or **mud shrimp** on the bottom for flounder. Soft plastics like grubs on 1/4-oz heads nail rockfish when they go deep. Hot spots: **Golden Gardens** beach for shore casters targetin' perch and trout—fallin' tide sweeps bait right to ya. Boat it to **Jefferson Head** in central Sound for salmon stacks in 60 ft, or **Point No Point** for lings huggin' structure. Get out there safe, check regs, and wear your PFD. Thanks for tunin' in—subscribe for weekly updates! This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.