I am far from being any kind of expert in fishing for Halibut anywhere in the PNW. However, if you want to know what’s going on in our current halibut fisheries around Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca, or Admiralty Inlet, then you are going to want to keep reading.
This page is not here to provide you with up-to-date fishing reports from a few individuals who felt like sharing, but to provide you with the aggregate of all the creel checks as recorded by WDFW monitoring our halibut fisheries when they are taking place.
That means you get all of the credible fishing reports summarized in one place!
Sure, you can read a random report on social media, a fishing forum, or some fishing app about someone who had a great trip. But is that what any of us want? I want to know: Is it worth it to spend hundreds of dollars in gas and bait to go halibut fishing this week or next week?
Okay, last bit of preamble: This page will show everything from the western edge of the Strait and east to the San Juans, Admiralty Inlet, and Puget Sound. I haven’t found the publicly shared creel information for Ilwaco, Westport, and La Push yet so that is not covered.
Marine Area 4 Halibut Fishing Reports
Link to Marine Area 4 halibut fishing season details
The above chart shows the average catch over multiple recent years in Marine Area 4 so you can anticipate when fishing might get good in this area as you look at the weeks or months ahead. Fishing sometimes starts slowly but is steady throughout the rest of the season as well as the later season that sometimes opens in August through September.
One of the major factors is always going to be weather and whether boats can get out to some of the offshore halibut grounds that are generally very reliable in producing good catch numbers.
Marine Area 5 Halibut Fishing Reports
Link to Marine Area 5 halibut fishing season details
The above chart shows the average catch over multiple recent years in Marine Area 5. Things start slower in April around Sekiu / Pillar point typically, but then get better as the season goes on, until you get into June when fishing results in a much better catch.
Marine Area 6 Halibut Fishing Reports
Link to Marine Area 6 halibut fishing season details
The above chart shows the average catch over multiple recent years in Marine Area 6. It looks like fishing tends to be fairly steady from when it opens all the way until the closure, maybe tailing off slightly towards the end of June.
Marine Area 7 Halibut Fishing Reports
Link to Marine Area 7 halibut fishing season details
The above chart shows the average catch over multiple recent years in Marine Area 7. It looks like you have a decent chance early on and then it typically tails off before picking up again close to the end of the season.
Marine Area 9 Halibut Fishing Reports
Link to Marine Area 9 halibut fishing season details
The above chart shows the average catch over multiple recent years in Marine Area 9. Not great typically!
Marine Area 10 Halibut Fishing Reports
Link to Marine Area 10 halibut fishing season details
The above chart shows the average catch over multiple recent years in Marine Area 10. I guess someone caught a halibut in Marine Area 10 that one time…
