Chinook Salmon Fishing in Seattle, WA

Chinook Salmon run through the water off Seattle on two separate clocks, and knowing which one you are fishing changes where you point the boat. We cover 15 spots that hold these fish, from Admiralty Inlet at Point Wilson down through Jefferson Head, Apple Tree Point at Kingston, Kingston Reef and Appletree Cove, the Edmonds Oil Tanks, the south end of Hat Island, Blake Island's South Point and Duwamish Head in Elliott Bay.

The winter and early spring months hold resident blackmouth, feeding sub-adult fish that keep numbers up through January to March. The bigger event is summer. Hood Canal, Stillaguamish, Skagit and Snohomish-bound fish stage in Area 9 and Area 10 from late June, building through mid to late July and peaking in August, which is why July through September is your window. A second pulse of Green and Duwamish-bound fall Chinook pushes through Elliott Bay in September. Late fall through midwinter thins out as mature fish enter the rivers.

Trolling is how most of this water gets fished. Run flashers with hoochies, trolling spoons, cut-plug herring or whole herring near the bottom in 60 to 150 feet along the shelves and points. Mooching a weighted herring works over structure and current rips, and metal jigs or leadhead jigs get down to fish stacked on bait and dropoffs. Fish first light and the last of the evening, and plan around a tide running 1.5 knots or better. Slack water is the dead spot.