Halibut Fishing in Seattle, WA

Pacific halibut come into Seattle's waters on a schedule you can plan around. Fish move in from deep offshore spawning grounds through March, and abundance peaks from late April into June as they push through the Strait and Admiralty Inlet chasing herring and sand lance. Numbers hold through summer, then taper as fish disperse and head back to outer waters. March through August is your window, and mid-April through May is the heart of it.

Eight spots hold these fish. Admiralty Inlet at Point Wilson and Marrowstone Point sit right on the migration route and take the most pressure. Across the Sound, Apple Tree Point off Kingston and the Kingston Reef and Appletree Cove area give you gravel and sand within a short run. Jefferson Head, Meadow Point, Blake Island at South Point and Point Robinson round out the list and spread you across the central basin.

Current runs your day here. Fish the slack. From dead slack up to about 0.5 knots you can hold bottom and feel your gear working, and by roughly 2.5 knots the water is unfishable. Plan your run around the window either side of high or low water. Drift jigging is the dominant approach, working metal jigs, leadhead jigs with plastic, or herring over gravel and sand flats in 120 to 300 feet. When you want to sit on structure, a weighted spreader bar holds whole herring, salmon bellies, octopus or squid on the bottom.