Neah Bay, WA Fishing Report & Live Conditions

Neah Bay, WA fishing report

Neah Bay sits at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and what you target shifts dramatically with the season. Chinook salmon are the backbone of the fishery, staging near the rocky points and kelp edges from late spring through summer as they push toward their home rivers. Coho arrive later in the season and run shallower, often right in the rip lines. Halibut show up on the sandy flats and gravel humps offshore as water temps climb through spring and summer, then thin out considerably by fall. Lingcod hold structure year-round — rocky reefs, pinnacles, and steep drop-offs — and the biggest fish tend to concentrate in deeper water during winter.

Tide movement is everything out here. The Strait generates serious current, and fish stack on the edges of rips where baitfish congregate. Target the first two hours of an ebbing tide near prominent points for salmon, trolling hoochies or cut-plug herring behind flashers at depths where your sonar shows bait. For halibut, anchor or slow-drift sandy transitions adjacent to structure and drop large circle-hook rigs baited with herring or squid. Lingcod hit heavy metal jigs worked tight to bottom on vertical drops. Northwest winds can build ugly chop fast, so watch the forecast closely and run early when it's calm.