About Parker Reef

Parker Reef is a kelp-covered rock reef off Bellingham, Washington, in DFO subarea 7, where the bottom runs between 30 and 80 feet across a mid-exposure structure. The reef holds Kelp Greenling from June through December and Lingcod through two windows, November to February and March to June, with Rockfish concentrating over the rock between March and September. Anglers work the reef with jigging using metal jigs, leadhead jigs with soft plastics or swimbaits, and shrimp for greenling, rockfish, and lingcod, while live bait drifting with live greenling or herring targets lingcod holding tight to the structure. Chinook Salmon move through from June to September and respond to downrigger trolling with whole herring, spoons, and flashers, or mooching with cut-plug herring along the reef edge. Pacific Halibut hold on the deeper margins from April through August, taken by drifting herring, squid, or octopus across the bottom.