Marine Areas 7,9 & 10 Open For Salmon Fishing January 1st

Finally, we have a number of areas opening for Winter blackmouth this next Tuesday, January 1st, 2019. Marine Areas 7(San Juan Islands), Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) and Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) will open Tuesday, January 1st, 2019. These areas were delayed this season due to large impacts on sub legal fish when these areas opened earlier. By delaying the opener it is hoped that a lager number of fish will have grown to legal size, lessing the impacts on smaller (sub-legal) fish which have caused WDFW to close areas earlier when impact numbers are reached.

Make sure to read your WDFW regulations for the areas you intend to fish as every area is slightly diferent. Please take note that WDFW has changed the Area 10 limit to just a single fish. 

Hopefully, we should see some fairly good sized fish in marine Area 9 & 10 as we have seen some good sized fish landed off the Edmonds Pier this Fall / Winter season. There have been a number of fish landed in the 7 -14 pound range in the past month. This has been the best Fall / Winter season we have seen off the pier, with many of the regulars landing legal fish on a consistant basis. 

If you want to curtail the number of sub - legal fish you encounter consider fishing larger offerings. Going to plugs in the 4 - 5 inch range, such as Silver Hordes or Tomics, will help cut down on the smaller fish. Fishing larger soons in the 4 - 5 inch range will also accomplish curtailing the impacts on smaller fish. Yes, you may not catch as many fish, but the average will be considerably larger. If we lessen the impacts, then we will see a longer season, and just might see a full season, giving us more time on the water.

Good Luck To All Of You!