Puget Sound Fishing Update: Salmon Surge, Halibut Closing, and Bottomfish Bonanza

Artificial Lure here, bringing you the latest from the water around Puget Sound and Seattle for Saturday, June 21, 2025.

Today’s conditions were classic June in the Sound: cloud cover early, lifting towards midday, highs brushing up against 70°F, and light winds—perfect for both saltwater and shore anglers. Sunrise clocked in at 5:10 AM with sunset expected around 9:10 PM, giving us those long summer fishing windows we all crave.

The tidal swing today brought a moderate morning ebb, bottoming out around 10:15 AM, followed by a rising afternoon tide that peaked just after 4 PM. This upswing really sparked baitfish movement along the shorelines, pulling in predatory fish across the usual haunts.

According to the latest WDFW creel reports, Chinook and coho salmon action is ramping up, with solid catches around central Sound and north to Everett. Seattle’s Area 10 is showing strong early summer numbers—26 Chinook and a handful of coho reported at the Everett ramp in just the last week. The 2025 forecast has pink salmon runs at nearly 7.8 million fish, a bump of over 70% from the recent 10-year cycle, so expect the pinks to really start pushing in soon, especially around the Green and Nisqually river mouths this summer.

Halibut anglers are still bringing in some decent fish before the season closes at the end of the month. Remember, the 2025 Puget Sound halibut quota is just under 80,000 lbs, with a one-fish daily limit—so get out before the season wraps on June 30th.

On the bottomfish front, lingcod have been hitting well near rocky structure and deep edges. Recent reports from BD Outdoors noted a nice 28" lingcod caught with live bait in Area 9. Soft plastics in herring or sandlance colors, as well as large swimbaits, continue to produce—try white or chartreuse for visibility.

For lures and bait, salmon are hitting well on hoochies in green/white and flasher combos, as well as 3" to 4" spoons like Coho Killers and Coyote spoons. Don’t overlook trolling a cut-plug herring or anchovy, especially around the mouth of Shilshole Bay and westward toward Possession Bar. Lingcod continue to smash live sand dabs and large swimbaits, while shore-bound anglers are picking up surf perch and smaller rockfish with Gulp! sandworms on dropshot rigs.

Hot spots today? Shilshole Bay and West Point lit up for early Chinook and the occasional coho, while the classic rips off Possession Bar produced for trollers at first light and again on the afternoon flood. Along the Tacoma Narrows and the pilings at Edmonds, anglers reported steady action for both blackmouth and bottomfish.

Thanks for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe for more daily, boots-on-the-dock fishing reports straight from Puget Sound. This has been a Quiet Please production. For more, check out quietplease.ai.