Puget Sound Fishing Report: Hot Bite for Salmon, Cutthroat, and Lingcod

Artificial Lure here with your Puget Sound fishing report for Wednesday, June 18, 2025, coming to you right from the heart of Seattle and the Sound.

Let’s start with today’s tidal and weather setup. We’re seeing pronounced tidal swings across the central and north Sound, with strong currents especially in the morning—perfect for stirring up bait and creating prime opportunities for both boat and shore anglers. Sunrise was a crack-of-dawn 5:12 AM and sunset will close out your day at 9:07 PM. Expect classic Puget Sound June conditions—cool, dry air, scattered clouds, and a refreshing westerly breeze whipping across Elliott Bay and up into the inlets. The best fishing windows are around first light and last light, when the water is calm and predators are on the hunt.

The bite’s been strong the last few days. According to daily reports from the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife creel samplers, Chinook salmon action is picking up steam, especially off Edmonds and Possession Bar. Recent catches include several healthy resident Kings in the mid-teens, with local guides celebrating some very quick limits. Resident Coho are beginning to show in better numbers—nothing huge yet, but scrappy fish are taking baits both north and south of Seattle. Anglers on the beaches are also seeing a nice push of Sea-Run Cutthroat, plus a few late Chum fry keeping bait balls close to shore. Baitfish—mainly herring, sand lance, and shiner perch—are thick right now, which means the predators are in and hungry.

For lures, you can’t go wrong with the classics: try trolling 3-inch green or purple haze hoochies behind a flasher, or rig a cut-plug herring for the salmon. Metal jigs like Pt. Wilson Darts and Buzz Bombs are drawing aggressive strikes, especially where the tide is running. Shore casters should swing small Clousers, epoxy minnows, or white/chartreuse soft plastics for cutthroat and Coho. If you’ve got shrimp or squid, now’s a great time to soak those baits for hungry Lingcod—these toothy critters are still hot on the bite near rocky structure.

Hot spots right now include Possession Bar off the south tip of Whidbey Island—one of the best places in the Sound for both Chinook and Coho, with strong tidal flow and tons of bait holding fish close. Elliott Bay is producing decent catches for city-bound anglers, especially for salmon running the shipping lanes at dawn. Down south, the Tacoma Narrows is living up to its legacy for both salmon and Lingcod, though you’ll want to watch those currents.

A quick reminder: while rivers like the Nooksack remain closed to protect ESA-listed Chinook, most Sound fisheries are open, but regulations change fast—so check the WDFW emergency rules before heading out.

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