2026 planning figures for Puget Sound and coastal seasons. Quotas and dates reset every year through WDFW's "North of Falcon" process and can change in-season.
Always check WDFW for current regulations before you fish or dig. Seasons, quotas and bag limits change, sometimes with only days of notice. Every entry below shows the date we last checked it against WDFW; this page is not a substitute for the official rules at wdfw.wa.gov.
Put these dates on your calendar
Every dated opener, closure and deadline on this page, with the WDFW source linked from each one. Subscribe and it updates when we refresh the page. Long seasons show as an opening day and a closing day, not a bar across the month.
Forum posts, club newsletters and blogs are welcome to quote it. Link to the page rather than copying the dates: they change in-season and the page is corrected when they do.
seattle.fish, “Washington Fishing Seasons (2026),” verified against WDFW on September 4, 2026. https://seattle.fish/seasons
Puget Sound Salmon (Chinook / Coho)
Coho through Sept 30 (MA 9) and Nov 15 (MA 10); winter blackmouth Mar 1 – Apr 30, 2027
Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) & Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton)
The 2026 summer hatchery Chinook openers came and went fast: MA 9 (July 16–18) landed 131% of its 2,650-fish quota and MA 10 (July 23–25) hit 121% of its 1,300, so both closed after their initial three days with no extension days. The rest of 2026 is about coho. MA 9 runs Aug 1 – Sept 18 for hatchery coho and Sept 19–30 for any coho (release Chinook and chum throughout), then closes to salmon on Oct 1. MA 10 is open for coho through Sept 30 (release Chinook and chum) and continues Oct 1 – Nov 15 releasing all Chinook, then closes Nov 16. Shilshole Bay and Elliott Bay were closed to salmon July 1 – Aug 31. The next opening is winter blackmouth: MA 10 reopens Mar 1 – Apr 30, 2027 for hatchery Chinook (22-inch minimum; release unmarked Chinook and chum). Year-round pier rules allow two salmon a day, one of them a Chinook, at Seacrest Pier in West Seattle and at Waterman Pier, the Bremerton Boardwalk and Illahee State Park Pier on the Kitsap side. Pier 86 is still named in those rules, but the Elliott Bay Fishing Pier has been closed since 2016 and its replacement is not yet funded.
Summer 2026: July 2 – Sept 7 (Seattle: Sun–Mon only from July 5); winter season not yet announced
Puget Sound (Seattle is Marine Area 10)
Final 2026 summer seasons: Marine Areas 4, 5, 6, 8-1, 8-2 and 9 run July 2 – Sept 7, Thursday through Monday; MA 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) runs July 5 – Sept 7, Sundays and Mondays only; MA 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) ran July 5 – Aug 17, Sundays and Mondays. The two-day weeks reflect lower abundance in central Puget Sound. Daily limit is 5 male Dungeness at 6¼" minimum, hard-shell only, plus 6 red rock crab of either sex at 5", and every crabber needs a Puget Sound crab endorsement plus a catch record card. Summer cards must be reported online between the day after Labor Day and Oct 1, with a $10 penalty for missing it. MA 12 south of Ayock Point and MA 13 remain closed. The winter season had not been announced as of Sept 4, 2026. WDFW typically announces it in September; last year it announced on Sept 24 and opened MAs 9 and 10, among others, Oct 1 – Dec 31, seven days a week.
2026: April 2 – June 30, plus Aug 16 – Sept 30 (daily)
Puget Sound & Strait of Juan de Fuca (MA 5–10)
The spring season ran April 2 – June 30, seven days a week, and took a little under half of the 80,512 lb Puget Sound quota, so WDFW announced on July 15 that Marine Areas 5–10 would reopen daily Aug 16 – Sept 30, 2026, subject to the remaining quota; fishing can close before Sept 30 if it is taken. Limits: 1 fish/day, no minimum size, 6-fish annual limit, plus a halibut catch record card ($5.50) and barbless hooks in MA 5–13. Marine Areas 11, 12 and 13 are closed to halibut for rockfish protection.
Opened April 25, 2026; many lakes year-round; Trout Derby through Oct 31
Statewide, 500+ stocked lakes and ponds
Washington's traditional trout opener is the fourth Saturday in April (April 25 in 2026), when hundreds of seasonal lowland lakes open at once, backed by roughly 15.5 million stocked trout and kokanee, including 2.1 million catchable-size fish and 157,000+ "jumbos" over a pound. Plenty of other lakes are open year-round, and the statewide Trout Derby runs through Oct 31 with tagged prize fish. Anglers 16 and older need a freshwater, combination or Fish Washington license; individual lake seasons vary, so check the pamphlet for yours.
2026: MA 10 closed to all shrimp; non-spot shrimp elsewhere June 1 – Oct 15
Puget Sound
2026 is a down year. After test fishing confirmed low abundance, WDFW kept Marine Areas 8-1, 8-2, 9, 10 and 11 closed for spot shrimp in 2026, and MA 10 (Seattle) has no shrimp season at all. Non-spot shrimp (coonstripe and dock) opened June 1 in MAs 8-1, 8-2, 9 and 11 and are expected to stay open through Oct 15, with gear limited to 175 ft of water in MAs 8-1 and 8-2 and 150 ft in MAs 9 and 11. Where open, the daily limit is 10 lb of shrimp, heads and tails combined, and every spot shrimp must go straight back.
Puget Sound closed June 15; coast open Mar 14 – Oct 17, 2026
Puget Sound (MA 5–11) & Washington coast (MA 1–4)
The Puget Sound lingcod season (Marine Areas 5–11) closed June 15, 2026. The next inside opportunity comes with the 2027 season, set by the sport fishing pamphlet. On the coast, Marine Areas 1–4 run March 14 – Oct 17, 2026, with a two-lingcod daily limit and no minimum size; off Westport (MA 2) lingcod retention seaward of the 30-fathom line is limited to open halibut days plus June 1–15 and Sept 1–30.
Open year-round; Seattle piers best late fall through winter
Puget Sound public piers, incl. Seattle
Recreational squid fishing is open year-round in all Washington waters outside a few marine preserves, but the Seattle fishery is jigging at night under pier lights in late fall and winter as market squid move down the Sound. WDFW's own guide puts them at the Edmonds waterfront in September, Elliott Bay and the Seattle shoreline after that, Des Moines and Tacoma in late November and December, and South Puget Sound in December and January. Daily limit is 5 quarts or 10 lbs (Humboldt squid: 1 per day), one line per harvester with a forage-fish jig or up to 4 squid lures, on a shellfish/seaweed license.
Crayfish season runs from the first Monday in May through Oct 31, statewide. Native signal crayfish carry a 10 lb in-shell daily limit and a 3¼" minimum (rostrum to tail), and egg-bearing females go straight back; non-native crayfish have no limit but must be dead before leaving the water's vicinity. Up to five traps, ring nets or pots per person (pots need natural-fiber escape cord), on a shellfish/seaweed, combination or Fish Washington license.
2026–27 dig dates not yet announced; tentative fall dates expected from WDFW in early fall
Washington coast
Digs run as short multi-day series, each confirmed about a week ahead based on marine-toxin testing, with a daily limit of 15 clams per person and a license for everyone 16 and older. The 2025–26 series ran from Dec 31 to May 6 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks; Kalaloch stayed closed for small, scarce clams. WDFW says it plans to announce tentative digging opportunities for 2026–27 in early fall. None had been posted as of Sept 4, 2026.
Washington has no single opening day. Many lakes, rivers and fisheries (like squid) are open year-round, while each marine fishery above keeps its own window, set annually and adjusted in-season. When people say "the opener," they usually mean the lowland lakes trout opener on the fourth Saturday in April, the closest thing the state has to a ceremonial start of the season.
Two other calendars matter. Fishing licenses run April 1 through March 31. The sport fishing rules pamphlet runs July 1 through June 30. Neither matches the actual species windows above, so the answer to "when does fishing season start" depends on what you're fishing for.
Before any trip, check the current regulations pamphlet and the emergency rule changes. WDFW closes and reopens fisheries with days of notice, and its Fish Washington app carries the current rules.
Common questions
When does fishing season start in Washington?
There is no single opening day. Hundreds of lowland lakes open on the fourth Saturday in April (April 25 in 2026), and that is the closest thing to a statewide opener. Saltwater seasons are set species by species: halibut in April, Puget Sound salmon openers in June and July, crab in July. Many lakes, and squid, are open all year. The license year runs April 1 to March 31.
Is fishing season over in Washington for 2026?
No. As of September 4, 2026: coho in Marine Area 10 runs through Nov 15 (Marine Area 9 through Sept 30); halibut in Marine Areas 5 to 10 is open daily through Sept 30 unless the quota is taken first; coastal lingcod runs through Oct 17; crayfish through Oct 31; squid is open all year and is at its best in Seattle from late fall. A winter crab season is typically announced in September, and winter blackmouth opens in Marine Area 10 on March 1, 2027.
When is crab season in Seattle?
The 2026 summer season in Marine Area 10 ran July 5 to Sept 7, Sundays and Mondays only. A winter season usually follows from October to December and is announced by WDFW in September; it had not been announced as of September 4, 2026. Details, limits and gear rules are in our Seattle crab season guide.
When is halibut season in Washington?
Puget Sound and the Strait (Marine Areas 5 to 10): April 2 to June 30 and Aug 16 to Sept 30, 2026, open daily. Westport (Marine Area 2) and Ilwaco (Marine Area 1) fished select spring days from April 30 and run daily from Aug 8 to Sept 30; Neah Bay and La Push (Marine Areas 3 and 4) from Aug 16. Every area can close early once its quota is taken. Area by area in our halibut guide.
When does trout season start in Washington?
The lowland lakes opener is the fourth Saturday in April, April 25 in 2026. Many lakes stay open year-round, and the statewide Trout Derby runs through Oct 31.
When does salmon season end in Puget Sound?
Marine Area 9 closes to salmon on Oct 1, 2026. Marine Area 10 stays open for coho through Nov 15, then closes until the winter blackmouth season, March 1 to April 30, 2027. Year-round pier rules apply at Seacrest Pier and a few others.
When is squid season in Washington?
It is open all year. In Seattle the fishery is late fall and winter, jigging at night under pier lights; WDFW puts the run at Edmonds in September, Seattle after that, and Des Moines and Tacoma by late November. Piers, limits and gear in our squid jigging guide.
License fees (2026)
License
Fee
Resident annual freshwater
$32.40
Resident annual saltwater
$32.40
Resident combo (fresh + salt + shellfish)
$58.75
Nonresident combo
$124.65
15 and under
Free
Halibut catch record card add-on
$5.50
Salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, halibut and Puget Sound Dungeness crab all require a Catch Record Card. Anglers 16 and older need a saltwater or combo license. Fees as published for the 2026-27 license year.
Copper River salmon
Copper River salmon (Alaska) isn't a Washington season, but it drives Seattle seafood-counter pricing every spring. The 2026 commercial drift-gillnet fishery opened at 7am on Friday, May 22, for a 12-hour period, and the standard schedule runs two fishing periods a week from there, with management shifting to coho from early to mid-August. The fish migrate 300+ miles upriver, which builds unusually high fat content. Prices are highest at the season's start and drop substantially as it progresses.