About Lawson Reef

Lawson Reef is an outer-exposed corridor of mixed bottom in shallow water from 0 to 30 feet, set in DFO subarea 7 off Bellingham, Washington. The reef holds resident groundfish year-round, with lingcod peaking November through February and again March through June, cabezon strongest October through March, and aggregate rockfish concentrated March through September. Anglers work the mixed structure with jigging for lingcod, cabezon, and rockfish, running leadhead jigs with swimbaits or metal jigs across the rocky patches, while live bait drifting with live greenling or herring produces larger lingcod. Salmon move through the corridor in summer, with Chinook peaking June through September and coho June through October, both taken on downrigger trolling and trolling with flashers, hoochies, and trolling spoons. Kelp greenling round out the mix from June into December on leadhead jigs with soft plastics or shrimp fished tight to the bottom.