2022 Puget Sound Salmon Seasons

Tracking all of the news and developments as the 2022 Puget Sound Salmon Season takes shape through the North of Falcon process and eventually becomes our season for fishing the Puget Sound for Salmon.

Puget Sound Salmon Seasons by Marine Area for 2022

The below seasons have been sourced from WDFW’s page on their “Season summaries and agreed on fisheries”. I’ve added my commentary and some charts to them to hopefully enhance your understanding of them.

Always refer to WDFW pages and emergency regulations for the most accurate understanding of the current marine area regulations. Whatever WDFW publishes or what I’ve copied and pasted from WDFW below can change at any time via emergency regulation announcements:

Marine Area 5 (Seiku) – The Strait of Juan de Fuca

Mouth of the Sekiu River east to Low Point, mouth of the Lyre River.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire area	July 1 – Aug. 15	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release chum, wild coho, and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook guideline is attained
Entire area	Aug. 16 – Sept. 28	N/A	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook, chum, and wild coho.
Entire area	Mar. 1 – Apr. 30	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release coho and wild Chinook

That July 1st opening on Kings is what it’s all about. Of all the “Puget Sound Marine Areas” (cause this is technically the Strait), that MA5 Chinook opener is an absolute must-fish, destination, world-class fishing. Remember, you need to actually target Chinook though, there will usually be hordes of unmarked coho in the mix (outmigration from the Fraser where they don’t clip fins) that will annoy you after the first 2-3. you catch I’ve written a bit about Sekiu Salmon fishing here.

As you can see from the above chart of the average chinook per angler, fishing generally starts strong and then continues until approaching mid-August in tends to start to tail down as most of the chinook run is past MA5. The big drop-off likely denotes when the season typically ends on Aug 15th.

Marine Area 6 (Port Angeles) – The Strait of Juan de Fuca

Low Point east to the Partridge Point – Point Wilson line north to the line from Trial Island (near Victoria B.C.) – Vessel Traffic Separation Buoy “R” – Smith Island to the Lawson Reef Buoy to Northwest Island to the Initiative 77 marker on Fidalgo Island and west of the line from Reservation Head to West Point.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Chinook Selective Fishery – West of a true north/south line through the #2 Buoy immediately east of Ediz Hook.	July 1 – Aug. 15	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release chum, wild coho, and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook guideline is attained
Chinook Release Area – East of a true north/south line through the #2 Buoy immediately east of Ediz Hook.	July 1 – Aug. 15	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook, chum, and wild coho.
Entire Area	Aug. 16 – Sept. 28	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook, chum, and wild coho.
Dungeness Bay Fishery – Waters of Dungeness Bay inside of a line from Dungeness Spit Lighthouse to the #2 Red Buoy, then to the Port Williams boat ramp	Oct 1. – Oct. 31	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2 hatchery coho only. Release wild coho.

The Ediz Hook troll in Marine Area 6 in July is where I got started fishing for king salmon from a boat.

Usually not as good as Marine Area 5, but will typically hold its own throughout July. Tends to really peak near the end of July.

Marine Area 7

All marine waters north of the Trial Island line described under Area 6 to the United States-Canada boundary.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area	Jul. 14 – Jul 16	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 hatchery Chinook may be retained. Release chum, wild coho, and wild Chinook.  Additional days may be added based on in-season updates.
Entire Area	Aug. 16 – Sept. 30		2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release chum, wild coho, and Chinook.
Bellingham Bay Fishery – Waters of Bellingham and Padilla bays south and east of a line from Sandy Pt. to the northern most point of Lone Tree Island, easterly to the northeast point of Sinclair Island, then from the southeastern most point on Sinclair Island to Clark Pt. and true west from Yellow Bluff (southwest corner of Guemes Island) to Yellow Bluff Reef Range Marker to Washington State Dept. of Transportation ferry terminal dock east of Shannon Pt. and north of the railroad bridges at Swinomish Slough.	Aug. 16 – Sept. 30	22”	4	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 4. Up to 2 Chinook may be retained.

While this season is far from what most anglers were hoping for, the fact that there is a season at all is significant. I attended several calls where I would have said the likelihood of there being a season on Chinook in Marine Area 7 was quite low.

I’m guessing those 3 days will be hit quite hard…don’t expect a re-opener!

It is nice that Coho opens up in mid-August though for just having days on the water.

Marine Area 8-1

From West Point to Reservation Head eastward through Deception Pass, including all waters of Swinomish Slough and Skagit Bay, and the portion of Saratoga Passage north and west of a line from East Point Light to light on Camano Island (Saratoga Pass light #4 FI Red 4 Sec).

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area	Aug. 1 – Oct. 9	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook and chum.

Marine Area 8-2

East of East Point Light-Camano Island Light line (described in Area 8-1) and north of the Possession Point-Shipwreck line.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area – Fishing for salmon limited to the area south and west of a line between Clinton and Mukilteo ferry docks.	Aug. 13 – Sept. 19	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook, chum, and wild coho.
Tulalip Terminal Area Fishery – Waters west of a line from Mission Point to Hermosa Point and contained within 2,000′ off shore between the pilings at Old Bowers Resort (48°02.88’N, 122°16.42’W) to 2,000′ from shore (48°02.63’N, 122°16.79’W) and north to 2,000′ from shore (48°04.36’N, 122°19.06’W) of the boundary marker approximately 1.4 miles north of Hermosa Point (48°04.57’N, 122°18.64’W)	May 27 – Sept. 5, 2022	22”	2	Open Fridays through Noon Mondays ONLY. Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Anglers may fish with two poles with Two-Pole Endorsement. July 15 – August 15, intermittent closures may be needed to hatchery broodstock goals.
Sept. 10 – Sept. 25	22”	2	Open Saturdays and Sundays only. Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Anglers may fish with two poles with Two-Pole Endorsement.

Getting the selective coho fishery back in 8-2 is a big deal and indicative of the recovery of sensitive stocks of coho in the north sound. The Tulalip Bubble Fishery is always nice for folks in the north sound to get an early crack on some returning chinook.

From the average chinook per angler chart, you can see that there’s not exactly a “best time to time the run”, so I would look at it as an opportunity to chase those chinook throughout June and early July before the bulk of the opportunity shows up in places like MA9 or the MA7 opener.

Marine Area 9

All waters inside and south of the Partridge Point – Point Wilson line, south and west of a line from Possession Point 110° true to shipwreck, north of the Hood Canal Bridge, and north of the Apple Cove Point-Edwards Point line.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area	Jul. 14 – Jul. 23	22”	2	Open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday only.  Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Release chum, wild coho, and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook quota is attained.
Entire Area	July 28 – Aug. 15	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Release chum, wild coho, and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook quota is attained.
Entire Area	Aug. 16 – Sep. 25		2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook, chum, and wild coho.
Edmonds Public Fishing Pier	Year-round	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Aug. 1-Sept. 30: release chum.

Again, looking at the Chinook opportunity here… don’t expect a re-opener. Take a vacation or whatever you have to do to get on the water for the Thursday and Friday portion of the 3 days per week openers.

I suspect the season will close on July 23rd and not re-open for chinook on July 28th…

Marine Area 10

From the Apple Cove Point-Edwards Point to a line projected true east-west through the north tip of Vashon Island.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area	June 16 – July 13	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release Chinook and chum.
Entire Area	July 14 – Aug. 31	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Release chum and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook quota is attained.
Entire Area	Sept. 1 – Oct. 31	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release chum and Chinook. Sept. 1-Sept. 15: release chum.
Entire Area	Feb. 1 – Mar. 31	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook guideline is attained.
East Elliot Bay Fishery –Waters of Elliott Bay east of a line from Duwamish Head to Pier 91 up to the mouth of the Duwamish River including Harbor Island (Duwamish Waterways)	Aug. 5 – Aug. 8	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release chum. Additional openings may occur.
Aug. 20 – Aug. 31	None	2	Daily limit 2. Release Chinook and chum.
Sinclair Inlet Fishery – Waters of Sinclair Inlet and Port Orchard south of the Manette Bridge in Bremerton, south of a line drawn true west from Battle Point, and west of a line drawn true south from Point White	July 16 – Sept. 30	22”	3	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 3. Release wild Chinook. Aug. 1-Sept. 15: release chum. Anglers may fish with two poles with Two-Pole Endorsement.
Bremerton Boardwalk, Illahee State Park Pier, Seacrest Pier, and Waterman Pier	Year-round	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22”. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Aug. 1-Sept. 15: release chum.

There’s some big stuff to talk about here:

First, for many folks that June 16th resident coho opener will be their first opportunity to get out on the water and get primed for the summer salmon season. That’s exciting!

Most folks will be eyeing the July 14th chinook opener. This is likely the most sustained chinook opportunity outside of fishing MA5 or MA6 in the Strait. While not as ideal as fishing metabolically active salmon in MA9, the bite can still be quite good in MA10 if you hit it right. Also, MA9 may close very quickly.

Another big thing to look at is the blackmouth opportunity that has historically gotten started on Jan 1. I welcome the change to Feb 1 as the new start date to avoid the huge shaker encounter factor. That season now has an opportunity to make it all the way to the end of March due to just opening a month later.

Marine Area 11 – Tacoma / Vashon

From the north tip of Vashon Island to the Northernmost Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area	June 1 – Sept. 30	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Release chum and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook quota is attained.
Entire Area	Oct 1. – Oct. 31	None	2	No min. size. Daily limit 2. Release chum and Chinook.
Entire Area	Nov. 1 – Dec. 31	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained. Release chum, coho and wild Chinook. Season may close earlier if Chinook quota is attained.
Dash Point Dock, Des Moines Pier, Les Davis Pier, Point Defiance Boathouse Dock, and Redondo Pier	Year-round	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained.

Starting the season on June 1st is a great chance from last year’s mid-June opening. That chinook opportunity is usually best in early June and really tails off until the typical summer fish arrive in late July. Read more about MA11 Chinook Salmon Fishing here.

Marine Area 12

All waters south of the Hood Canal Bridge.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
North of Ayock Point – Quilcene Bay Only	Aug. 1 – Aug. 31	None	4	No min. size. Daily limit 4. Release chinook and chum.
North of Ayock Point	Sept. 1 – Sept. 30	None	4	No min. size. Daily limit 4. Release chinook and chum.
South of Ayock Point	July 1 – Sept. 30	20”	4	Chinook – min. size 20″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 4. Release chum and wild Chinook. Anglers may fish with two poles with Two-Pole Endorsement.
Entire Area	Oct. 1 – Nov. 30	None	4	No min. size. Daily limit 4. Release Chinook. Oct. 1-Oct. 15:.
Hoodsport Hatchery Zone – Waters within a 2,000′ arc seaward of the yellow marker buoys at the mouth of Finch Creek	July 1 – Nov. 30	None	4	No min. size. Daily limit 4. Release wild Chinook. Night closure. July 1-Oct. 15: release chum. Oct. 1-Nov. 30: release Chinook.

Marine Area 13

All waters south of the northernmost Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

WATER	SEASON	MIN.SIZE	DAILYLIMIT	ADDITIONAL RULES
Entire Area	July 1 – Sept. 30.	20”	2	Chinook – min. size 20″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release wild coho and wild Chinook. Anglers may fish with two poles with Two-Pole Endorsement.
Entire Area	Oct. 1 – June 30	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Release wild coho, wild Chinook and chum. Anglers may fish with two poles with Two-Pole Endorsement
Fox Island Public Fishing Pier	Year-round	22”	2	Chinook – min. size 22″. Other salmon species – no min. size. Daily limit 2. Only 1 Chinook may be retained.

Preliminary Salmon Seasons for Puget Sound

Some of the below season proposals have changed and are reflected above.

Low returns of Stillaguamish Chinook are expected to continue affecting fisheries across Puget Sound. Stillaguamish and Snohomish Chinook returns will especially impact fishing in the San Juan Islands (Marine Area 7) and Admiralty Inlet (Marine Area 9). Managers have proposed a three-day hatchery Chinook and coho fishery from July 14-16 in those areas, followed by a coho-directed fishery starting Aug. 16.

“Strong catch rates and fishing pressure led to some early closures in these areas last year, and we wanted to make sure we do not exceed our catch allocations in 2022,” said Kyle Adicks, intergovernmental salmon manager with WDFW. “We heard from many anglers that they wanted an opportunity to fish in July in these areas, and this offers some opportunity while still hopefully preserving the chance to fish on what’s expected to be a solid coho run later in the summer.”

Winter Chinook fisheries will again be limited in Puget Sound in 2022-23, with some Chinook retention opportunity available in November and December in Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island), February and March in Marine Area 10 (Seattle-Bremerton), and March and April in Marine Area 5 (Sekiu).

Most Puget Sound marine areas will once again open for the summer season beginning in July or August, with June openers currently planned for Marine Areas 10 and 11.

WDFW email on 4/12/2022

It’s critical to highlight above that since the initial North of Falcon public meeting, some significant challenges were encountered in meetings with co-managers regarding a season in MA9 similar to 2021.

It was already known that MA7 would likely not have a summer chinook opportunity at all in 2022, but at some point, it emerged that the MA9 opener would be pushed into mid-august which would essentially negate the opportunity to catch chinook there given the transitory nature of the area with fish mostly traveling through vs any terminal areas concentrating salmon.

So while it’s considered by some as a significant win and compromise to have a 3-day season in both MA7 and MA9, the fact that MA9 only gets 3 days is a significant deviation from what was initially discussed at that first public meeting.

Nothing else is a significant surprise from the information you would glean from reading below. We will break down the opportunity by each Marine Area once the final seasons are released.

North of Falcon Season setting process

The North of Falcon process related to the Puget Sound kicks off on Friday, March 4th with WDFW releasing their initial forecasts during a public meeting. You can always visit the WDFW 2022 North of Falcon page for the entire schedule.

Puget Sound Proposed Salmon Season “Scenarios” in 2022

Before you dive into these scenarios you should be aware of a few things:

1. These are not proposed seasons, just scenarios
2. Co-Managers / Tribes have not yet weighed in on these scenarios
3. MSF = Mark Selective Fishery
4. NR = Non-Retention. These are focussed on Chinook so NR implies other fisheries are open such as Coho.

First off, I love the idea of getting back to a Jun 1 Chinook fishery in Marine Area 11 and also continuing a Nov-Dec Chinook season from 2021.

This is just a scenario…but I’m pretty sure the final seasons will be closer to this than Scenario 2. A big change is shifting the MA7 opportunity into the Aug-Sep vs July.

MA10 not opening until March for Blackmouth is probably a good thing, but I would prefer starting in mid-Feb or Feb 1…

So…they are basically exchanging MA5 and MA6 summer opportunities in July for MA7. Not having a chinook fishery in MA5 and MA6 would be an absolute disaster for the Sekiu / Port Angeles area…

There were a lot of frustrated folks on the call talking about the MA7 lost opportunity, who were more enthusiastic about Scenario 2, but I’m not sure anything is going to happen here given how strong the voices will be advocating for MA5 and MA6 July fisheries.

Not to mention all of the trips that have already been booked out in Sekiu for MA5 in July…I just don’t see Scenario 2 happening.

Puget Sound Salmon Forecasts for 2022

Checkout my complete blog post covering all the details of the Puget Sound Salmon forecast for 2022

Here are a few highlights focussed on Chinook and Coho in 2022 :

Based on the above forecasts and the continued forecasted weakness of the Stilly Chinook stock, I would guess we will have similar seasons as in 2021. This is good for some, but a huge negative for those in the North Sound and the San Juan’s wanting to fish Marine Area 7 for Chinook.

Coho looks to be strong again, but this combined number hides some of the weakness in the south sound contrasted with strength in the north. One might want to focus effort around the Edmunds area as many coho will be headed north from there.

Lastly, we have to talk about the salmon indicator chart and 2021 being the 2nd best of the last 24 years on record. What does this mean? Bigger, healthier fish that have found plenty of feed.

Also, the conditions bode well for out-migrating stocks surviving and growing for the next few years as well.

Given how tough the ocean conditions have been the past few years, this is really good news for the Puget Sound angler.

Keep checking this blog post as I keep following the season-setting process.

Meeting Calendar for the 2022 Puget Sound Season Setting

March 4th – Initial Forecast Meeting. Public meeting. COMPLETED

March / April – Co-manager meetings between WDFW and tribal leaders

March 8 – 14 – Pacific Fishery Management Council (Federal side of season setting)

March 16 – North of Falcon Statewide preliminary proposals for sport / commercial fishing

March 28 – Focus on sport fishing opportunity in Puget Sound

March 30 – WDFW presents preferred options for sport fishing opportunity

April / May – Draft regulations developed

May / June – Public comment

June – Final regulations adopted

One of the first observations I have is that it seems the calendar is much more robust and includes more public meetings and public / sport fishing input throughout the process. Whether that’s window dressing in light of some of the legal challenges to North of Falcon or substantive change is yet to be seen.

Puget Sound Winter Blackmouth Seasons for 2022

The early blackmouth season in 2022 is similar to 2021, with the difference that we have more opportunity in MA10 as compared to 2021 as a result of the season management being better.

March 1st opened up MA5 and social media / reports indicate early success near Sekiu. I’m excited to hit this opportunity in March after the ocean bottom-fishing season opens up.

Marine Area 13 remains open year around for hatchery clipped chinook as it usually does.