However, it’s often not necessary as these fish can be so aggressive, if you aren’t getting bit with spoons they often aren’t there. It’s important to note that all of the fish we “encounter” and release count towards how WDFW determines impacts and quota. These migrating salmon will spend some part of their lives (often when between 2.5 – 3 years old) in the Puget Sound. Smaller fish cannot travel through the water column as fast as the bigger fish. Usually open year around, but rarely a reliable place to target blackmouth. Copyright © 2021 Pacific Northwest Best Life. Blackmouth fishing is a great Puget Sound fishery. These blackmouth are voracious feeders as they are very much still in the “bulking up” and growing phase of their lifespan. You can read our primer on Puget Sound Salmon Fishing to learn more about this topic. Point no Point and Possession Bar are two of the most consistent salmon fishing spots in the entire Puget Sound and winter blackmouth is no exception. You don't have to be an expert to land one, but it doesn't hurt to go fishing with an expert. Another approach is by using the ProTroll flashers with the agitator fin, to enable you to spin that hoochie really well at slower speeds. If the bottom is 100 ft, I will drop my downrigger ball down to about 80 ft. Than I will get up to 2.4 -> 2.8 knots speed. I’m specifically calling out the speed factor here, because when you are fishing on the bottom in 120-150 ft of water, it may be challenging for you to remain in contact with the bottom plus keep your speed up. Area 10 is home to the central Puget Sound places like Jefferson Head, Blakely rock, Southworth, Kingston and Point Wells are a few of the key places people fish. Location: Marine Area 10. Why not just call them king or chinook salmon? Fish for starry flounder and sand sole with bait on the bottom in the muddy and soft flats. Puget Sound Marine Area 10 Salmon Fishing – June 19, 2020. During the winter months, the size of bait tends to be on the smaller side. In the many years I have fished Puget Sound I have found that Puget Sound … Required fields are marked *. You can also fish with salmon plugs like the 4″ Tomic. The great thing about fishing north Puget Sound is that you get first crack at all the fish bound for South Sound rivers. … I will typically drop my downrigger ball until it hits bottom, and than come up a few feet while trolling my offering. Typically, … Most often, blackmouth are found with their nose in dirt on the very bottom of the sea floor. Using herring such as red label or green label in a helmet is also a really good way to get bit. Low returns of Stillaguamish and mid-Hood Canal Chinook, as well as Snohomish coho limited a number of Puget Sound … I would focus on depths of 100-150 fow then working deeper if you aren’t finding any signs. Rent our trailer on Outdoorsy for a great camping experience! 425-328-4664. Fishing in area 10 has been fair to good this winter starting in November we have seen a fair number of keeper blackmouth caught in the area. In the greater Seattle area, the winter months bring one thing to mind; blackmouth fishing. Stock up on these out of season so you arn’t scrambling around to find one. Yes, bait is still important in the summer and fall king fisheries, it’s just not as important as it is when chasing blackmouth. Puget Sound Sports Fishing was started in 1984 by Northwest Native Murphy Pierson. Murphy has been fishing the waters of the Puget Sound for over 30 years. Why are there blackmouth in the South Sound one week and the next not? Marine Area 13, South Puget Sound: There are lots of opportunities for Blackmouth anglers here in this only Washington marine area with an open Chinook season 12 months out of the year, and most of the … Some fish may stay around Puget Sound for their entire lives. Undersized shakers have been a problem this winter so increasing size in presentation is recommended. Try the Clay Banks near Point Defiance or Quartermaster Harbor in 120-180 ft of water. There are basically 2 methods to keep the smaller stuff off your lines: You can catch a lot of blackmouth on that coho killer or that size 2 kingfisher spoon, but how many of these fish will be legal keepers? The bottom line is that this activity is almost always going on, on the bottom. The tides dictate where … The Kingfisher 3.0 in Herring Aide might just be the best all around salmon trolling spoon for summer or winter. One rule is true all the time though with these fish. WDFW, in consultation with fishing advisors for Puget Sound, has decided to temporarily close this fishery until later in the season in order to preserve future fishing … If Herring Aide is my #1, than Cookies n’ Cream is the easy #2. Some may hang out around western Vancouver Island and than mill around Puget Sound for another year before reaching sexual maturity. Blackmouth: These "Blackmouth" are Juvenile King Salmon that live in Puget Sound all year around and provide the best winter Salmon fishing … A site dedicated to capturing the best of living and recreating in the Pacific Northwest. As the saying goes “Everybody’s got to eat” holds true for birds as well. Looking for birds in this area pays dividends as well. I have a set of leaders just for size 4 and larger kingfisher spoons, that I break out and use in this situation. Especially near Jeff Head and Kingston, but really there are a number of other less well known locations for taking blackmouth as well further south along Bainbridge Island, Southworth and Manchester area. What are these fish doing in the Puget Sound? Goldstar Kingfisher Spoon 3.0 #395 Herring Aide. The different sides of this area will fish good at certain parts of the tide. The main key at Jefferson Head is to find where the bait is congregating and stay on top of it. You should also consider the visible color spectrum underwater, given you will be fishing down deep near the bottom of puget sound. The tides dictate where the blackmouth will congregate solely because the tide will push smaller baitfish onto different banks and ledges creating an ambush place for the blackmouth. Generally open more than most areas, but blackmouth abundance can be very inconsistent. Birds are tell-tale that bait is in the area. A "Blackmouth" is a term anglers use for an immature Chinook salmon. Earlier this winter season we saw jigging had become one of the most consistant ways of fishing blackmouth in the Point Defiance area of south sound… These fish will almost always be in the teens or larger. They are hungry. This season we have seen quite a resurgance in jigging here in Puget Sound. You get the idea, there are no set rules here. Ha! Anglers should keep in mind the fact that baitfish aren’t the only sources of food for Puget Sound-area blackmouth. It’s time to get some of the pound for pound best eating best fighting fish of the season. Some salmon may go to the Strait, than mill around the Islands, than come back down south to Puget Sound and do it all over again. Mooching with red label herring is preferred over green label unless shaker blackmouth (undersized juvenile chinook) become a problem then by all means increasing size of bait is highly recommended. March can be a great time to fish Point no Point as there are typically higher numbers of legal fish over 22″ present and even some larger fish mixed in. June 19, ... Blackmouth Black Rockfish Brook Trout Chinook Salmon Chum Salmon Coho Salmon Cutthroat Trout Dungeness … You can leave the UV / Haze type flashers at home on most days. Puget Sound opens for Blackmouth (Winter Chinook Salmon) on January 1st 2021 . Also, a lot of fisherman make the switch to braid for less blowback. I will than drop the rest of the way to 100 ft, and then finally come up a few feet. Close to the Port of Everett, great blackmouth fishing can be great off of Columbia Beach as well as Racetrack (between Camano head and Hat Island). Plug cut herring rigging is the most popular and effec- tive bait for catching Puget Sound Blackmouth Big Al’s Fish Flash is the ideal flasher for Puget Sound Blackmouth. Blackmouth fishing is a great opportunity to get outdoors in the winter months. Using 15-18 lb downrigger balls to counter the blowback can be important to help with the combination of higher speed and fishing deeper. Once again try fishing a larger bait, such as a green label sized bait to cut down on the sub legal catches. This article is all about how to have success fishing for winter blackmouth in the Puget Sound. Typically, Marine Area 6 won’t open up until later in the season. These are both favorite food for Blackmouth. If you’re looking to get out on the water and learn how to mooch for blackmouth we’d be glad to give you a run down on the most hands on active style of fishing on the Puget Sound and if were lucky, catch a few fish while we’re at it. Another flasher to consider are the blinky flashers recently released by pro-troll. We target these fish from October through March in Puget Sound. May – June: Bottom Fishing … Seasons. They typically won’t be suspended mid-water column unless there’s bait that’s suspended. Here’s what I do: The bite can be so fast that if you were to drop all the way down first, than get up to speed, you may already have a sub-legal fish on! The aforementioned 4″ Tomic Plug in Purple Haze is another good way to go, especially if you are looking to upsize your offering. Your email address will not be published. And really only Marine Area 10 was putting out fish. But, there is no switch that tells these fish they must leave the river and go straight out and up north. Call to book your charter . No drag, lots of flash and glo finishes … The name blackmouth comes from the black gumline that identifies it as a resident chinook salmon. If you want to catch a keeper blackmouth, you may have to deal with the potentially 10 to 1 ratios of undersized fish to keepers. You can leave the orange / red stuff for summer fishing. I thought king salmon migrated out to the ocean? What are these fish doing on the sea floor? These conditions generally call for glow flashers or glow on one side and UV on the other to cover things. Early reports also indicate about 1 million coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) will be headed into the Strait before filtering through north Puget Sound. Puget Sound Blackmouth opens…. So, trying something different than what you normally do will be easier as there’s less traffic on the water. Puget Sound is not a lake or a bay or even … Find the bait, find the fish. Fish the west side along the drop off that starts at 30 feet and falls off to 300 feet for both blackmouth and summer … The best location to catch blackmouth has to start with whichever Marine Area is open. Try Point Fosdick in May-June. Kings are the prize of every serious salmon angler. The term “blackmouth” refers to the dark gum line that is a distinguishing feature for identifying all king/chinook salmon. When it comes to blackmouth it’s all about the bait. If you are like me on a smaller boat, you are running a rod and the tiller handle at the back of the boat to steer all at the same time. This is that spoon you may never see as it’s usually an empty peg in the store when you are looking for them. This fishery has always been by far … While that’s true, most puget sound blackmouth are in the 2-3 year old range which means their size is more often predictable. Fishing for these resident Chinook Salmon is a bright spot for saltwater anglers … One of the exciting aspects of fishing Marine Area 6 is the possibility of intercepting the rare puget sound springer. This Tuesday in areas 8-1, 8-2, 9 and 10. Note: This may not be a great strategy in really rocky areas like you might find in some parts of the San Juans. Current regulations for the Puget Sound state that a fish must be 22″ to be considered a legal keeper, and there will often be many fish around that size and smaller than that, hungry for your offering. Puget Sound Winter Blackmouth Seasons for 2021. I was hooking into quite a few sub-legals recently on my Marine Area 10 blackmouth fishing trip near Kingston in January 2020, until I sped up to about 2.4 knots (2.8 mph). Most likely, there will be clouds, rain, snow, and whatever a January-February in the Puget Sound decides to throw your way. Area 10 fishes well for Blackmouth from the typical opening in November all the way through February when it typically closes. Puget Sound is home to many spawning beds for herring and sand lance. Point no Point and Possession Bar are two of the most consistent salmon Puget Sound – Departing from Shilshole Bay Marina Cold days don’t stop us as we fish for one of the most unique King Salmon sub-species. Hoochies are also an option, but keep in mind that you will also need to go fast enough to get that flasher and hoochie spinning to generate the right type of action. Recreational fishery samplers with the Puget Sound Sampling Unit collect catch and effort information throughout the fishing season at selected fishing access sites throughout Puget Sound. That’s not what anybody wants! Successful salmon fishing in Puget Sound begins with understanding the immense body of water you’re fishing. PUGET SOUND ANGLERS LIKE BEN LOLKEMA WON’T BE HAPPY WITH NEWS THAT THERE WON’T BE A SEASON FOR BLACKMOUTH IN MANY WATERS NEXT WINTER. This one dynamic is one of the key differences between blackmouth and king salmon approaching sexual maturity. Yes, most Puget Sound kings will migrate out to the ocean and travel as far as the coast of Northern BC or even Alaska. Finding Blackmouth in Puget Sound. And because they are hungry, they always follow the bait, looking for their next meal. In addition to the migrating coho, Puget Sound … During the winter months, there’s often a hatch of candlefish or sand lance that these feeder chinook will key in on as well as a wide variety of other options. New Years Day offers us the beginning of a favorite local fishery for Puget Sound Blackmouth Salmon. 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