Starting this Friday, anglers in Central Puget Sound are back on the water! Our Puget Sound’s first major salmon opener of 2024 is going to kick off on March 1st in Marine Area 10 and 11. Winter Blackmouth, our resident Chinook Salmon draw a following of die-hard, cold-tollerant, weather-watching saltwater anglers every year, and offer up a unique opportunity to bring home fresh salmon in the middle of winter.
Marine Area 10 and 11 both open on March 1 and 4 days a week on Wednesdays through Saturdays, but each area has its own quota. One or both of the areas may close early if our Chinook guidelines are met, but if we don’t get close to those quotas, the season is set through April 15. Always check for emergency rule changes before heading out!
WDFW Official News Release: 2024 Winter Chinook fishery opens four days per week starting March 1 in Marine Areas 10 and 11
Winter Blackmouth Salmon Seasons & Outlook
Every year our salmon managers juggle the need to craft a winter salmon fishing season that gives us a decent chance at catching keeper-sized hatchery Chinook while limiting the impact of sub-legal sized and unmarked Chinook that swim around our favorite fishing spots. If you’ve been following the winter seasons for a couple years, you have observed that it seems like the seasons are different each year, and the trend has been to open the seasons later and later into the winter. State test fishing boats have the catch data to show that there should be fewer sub-legal Chinook caught with a later winter season. So the hope is that once we get onto the water in March, we won’t gobble up our allotment of little ones as fast and get more open days of Blackmouth fishing. My fingers are crossed that there are a bunch of 22″ and larger hatchery Chinook swimming around!
Marine Area 10 Blackmouth Fishing Season 2024
Marine Area 10 is my favorite area in Puget Sound, it also happens to be where my homeport of Shilshole is located. There are some great areas to catch Winter Blackmouth here. Jeff Head and Kingston are the prominent areas that see the most fishing pressure, and they put out plenty of fish. Other lesser known parts of the marine area are also worth looking at. I like to fish right in front of Shilshole Bay when I find bait stacked in there, and a little ways north, Boeing Creek and Richmond Beach can be worth checking out as well. Elliott Bay does have decent fishing on occasion, but I rarely make it down there during the winter season. If you are shorebound, keep in mind that the Seacrest Pier in West Seattle is open 7-days a week year round for salmon fishing.
Marine Area 10 will be opening on Friday March 1 and 4 days a week, Wednesdays through Saturdays. Daily limit is 2 salmon, one can be a Chinook 22″ or larger. Release Wild Chinook and Chum. Realistically, Chinook are going to be the only keeper-sized salmon caught this time of year, but be caught up on your salmon identification!
WDFW Emergency Rule Changes for Marine Area 10
Marine Area 11 Blackmouth Fishing Season 2024
Marine Area 11 is the part of Puget Sound from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to the northern tip of Vashon Island, including some great salmon fishing spots like Point Defiance, Clay Banks, Slag Pile, Point Dalco, Gig Harbor, Point Robinson, Browns Point, Redondo, Point Beals and many others.
Opening day will be Friday March 1. Marine Area 11 will be open this year 4 days a week from Wednesdays to Saturdays until the area’s winter salmon guidelines are met or at the very latest April 15th. Daily limit for Chinook is 1 hatchery Chinook over 22″. Technically there is a daily limit of 2 salmon, only one can be a Chinook 22″ marked, but the chances of catching another species that is worth keeping is negligible.
WDFW Emergency Rule Changes for Marine Area 11
Best fishing tackle for Winter Blackmouth
Most of the time, my Winter Blackmouth fishing gear is the same as my summer gear. I really like a Flasher & Spoon setup, since we are usually fishing within 10 feet of the bottom, and usually at least 90′ to 100′ deep, a lighted Pro-Troll Flasher is a great choice, pair it with a Silver Horde Kingfisher 3.0 or 3.5, or McOmie’s 3.25″ Spoon. The Flasher & Hoochie is always a classic Blackmouth setup.
One of my absolute favorite Chinook lures is a Tomic Plug, these in a 4″ Classic or 4″ Tubby is a perfect size for Winter Blackmouth. The selling point for me is that once you hook a good-sized Chinook, you aren’t battling a flasher! One other big benefit is that we tend to catch way fewer sub-legals (shakers), which in a fishery like this, where sub-legal encounters are most likely going to be what closes the fishery, it is a big plus.
I’ll be out in the Whaler as much as possible, so say hi if you see me out there. Watch the weather, keep an eye on the emergency rules for any season changes, and have a great Blackmouth season everyone!
My Favorite Saltwater Coho Salmon Lures & Rigs
