Hood Canal Chum: Fall Beaches, Tidewater and Two Open Rivers

Overview

Hood Canal chum fishing centers on returning fish gathered along beaches, creek mouths and hatchery approaches in fall. November brings the Hoodsport concentration, with fish also moving through the Great Bend toward the Skokomish delta and Tahuya River mouth. Fish a slow presentation through the school: a suspended marabou jig, green yarn fly or small spoon rather than a fast lure ripped through the fish.

Under the current rules, Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) has its chum retention window Oct. 16 to Nov. 30; the two open lower-river sections continue through Dec. 15. The marine fishery and river fishery have different boundaries, limits and gear provisions. Read the exact entry before choosing your fishing position.

For a first beach trip, begin with the signed public tidelands at Hoodsport or the State Park beach at Potlatch; for river fishing, use the specified lower Dosewallips or Duckabush section. Boats reach the Great Bend flats and the marine side of the Tahuya mouth.

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Best months: Chum salmon Oct–Dec; coho salmon Sep–Nov — see September, October, November and December.

Getting There

US 101 runs the west shore through Hoodsport, Lilliwaup and Brinnon. State Route 106 reaches Union and Twanoh along the south shore, while Belfair State Park is on State Route 300. On the Kitsap side, Scenic Beach is near Seabeck and the Silverdale tackle stop is on Ridgetop Boulevard.

Choose your access before planning the drive. Hoodsport Hatchery beach has limited parking beside private tidelands; Eagle Creek has a small roadside approach beside US 101. At both places, check posted signs. Keep a second public access choice in your plan and avoid treating an empty roadside space as permission to cross the shore.

Licenses, Passes and Permits

Review WDFW’s fishing-license guidance and salmon catch record card instructions before departure. Under the current rules, salmon fishing carries catch record card provisions separate from parking and launch access. WDFW’s Vehicle Access Pass covers WDFW wildlife areas and water access areas and comes with qualifying licenses. A Discover Pass also covers parking on WDFW recreation lands and is the State Parks day-use parking pass.

State Parks launching has a separate launch-payment program, including the Natural Investment Permit. Match the payment to your use: parking a car, launching a boat and staying overnight are separate planning checks. Review Washington State Parks’ current boater education eligibility and exemptions before assigning the operator.

Seasons Under the Current Rules

Use WDFW’s Hood Canal page, the Marine Area 12 rules and the D-K river rules together. Check WDFW emergency rules before every trip.

Under the current rules, the Hoodsport Hatchery Zone has a night closure from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise. The inner closure is separate from that night restriction. December salmon fishing on this page is limited to the two listed river sections through Dec. 15 under the current rules; the marine chum retention window ends Nov. 30.

Where to Fish by Method

Lower Canal and Hoodsport

• Hoodsport Hatchery Zone. Fish the public outer beach during the fall marine window, concentrating on November staging schools and the incoming tide. Suspend a 1/4- or 3/8-ounce pink, black or purple marabou jig a foot or so off the bottom and drift it with the tide. A corky and yarn under a float, a slowly worked twitching jig or a sink-tip fly presentation also takes chum here. Stay between the signed public boundaries and outside the closed inner water.
• Hoodsport Hatchery ADA Wheelchair Platform. Under the current rules, fishing here is limited to people who permanently use a wheelchair and hold a designated harvester companion card. The platform is the stated exception to the inner-zone closure and remains subject to the hatchery-zone rules. Eligible anglers fish it with the Hoodsport float-and-jig rig described below.
• Hoodsport Pier. This public pier and dock sits in Hoodsport; follow the hatchery-zone rules.
• Eagle Creek beach. Fish the marine beach in November from low tide into the flood, using a small green fly over the shallow oyster flats. Work the fly 3-6 inches below the surface where chum cruise in about a foot of water. A floating line suits that shallow presentation; stay outside the freshwater creek. For parking, check posted signs.
• Hwy 101 public-access shores, Eldon to Hoodsport. This public-access shoreline corridor supports fall chum fishing. At its public beaches, cast a small chartreuse, pink or purple lure or fly and move it slowly. Use signed public tidelands and exclude Sund Rock and Octopus Hole from the fishing plan.

1. Hoodsport Hatchery Zone: fishing spot
2. Hoodsport Hatchery ADA Wheelchair Platform: fishing pier
3. Hoodsport Pier: fishing pier
4. Eagle Creek beach: fishing spot
5. Outfitters at Hoodsport ACE: service
6. The Glen Resort: service
7. Sunrise Resort on Hood Canal: service

Hwy 101 public-access shores, Eldon to Hoodsport: location not mapped

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Great Bend, Union and Skokomish

• Potlatch State Park beach. Cast from the State Park beach for chum in late October and early November. Work a small pink steelhead-style spoon with an ultra-slow retrieve. Use the State Park and adjoining DNR beach within their marked boundaries; the Tribal Nation tidelands are excluded.
• Skokomish Flats, Great Bend and Ayres Point. Approach this marine concentration area by boat during the late-October and November run. Troll dead slow with green or chartreuse squid behind a flasher, searching the upper 30 feet near shore and adjusting to visible schools. Remain afloat in legal marine water and keep the Skokomish River and the Skokomish Tribal Nation tidelands out of the trip.
• Tahuya River mouth (marine side). Fish from a boat on the marine side during the fall return, working the incoming tide through the start of the ebb. Troll slowly with a green or chartreuse mini squid in the upper 30 feet. The river above the mouth is closed to salmon under the current rules.
• Belfair State Park beach. Fly-fish or use a float presentation for fall chum from the public park shoreline. Chum take a small chartreuse, pink or purple fly moved slowly. Keep the presentation in marine water and within the public park frontage.

1. Potlatch State Park beach: fishing spot
2. Skokomish Flats, Great Bend and Ayres Point: fishing spot
4. Tahuya River mouth (marine side): fishing spot
5. Belfair State Park beach: fishing spot
6. Union boat launch: boat launch
7. Twanoh State Park boat launch: boat launch
8. Twanoh State Park shoreline: shore access
9. Hood Canal Marina: service
10. The Waterfront at Potlatch: service
11. Robin Hood Village Resort: service
12. Alderbrook Resort and Spa: service
13. Skokomish River near Potlatch stream gauge: stream gauge

Skokomish Tribal Nation tidelands (not fished): location not mapped

Chrome Marine Services: location not mapped

Verle's: location not mapped

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Mid-Canal West-Side Rivers

• Dosewallips River mouth and lower river. Fish chum in the marine staging water during the current marine window or in the mouth-to-BPA-lines river section Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 under the current rules. At the mouth, move a small chartreuse, pink or purple fly slowly. In the open river section, drift a buoyant corky and yarn with enough weight to tick bottom now and then. Dosewallips State Park gives river and marine shore access and camping.
• Duckabush River mouth and lower river. Treat the marine mouth and lower river as separate rule checks. Under the current rules, the freshwater chum section runs from the mouth to BPA line #1 during Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Drift the open river section with a buoyant corky-and-yarn rig within about a foot of bottom. At the mouth, move a small chartreuse, pink or purple fly slowly. Stay below the upstream section boundary.

1. Dosewallips River mouth and lower river: fishing spot
2. Dosewallips State Park (park access)
3. Duckabush River mouth and lower river: fishing spot
4. Pleasant Harbor boat launch (WDFW access site): boat launch
5. Triton Cove State Park boat launch: boat launch
6. Pleasant Harbor Marina and The Hamlet: service
7. Home Port Marina: service
8. Mike's Beach Resort: service
9. Duckabush River near Brinnon stream gauge: stream gauge

Lilly's Marine: location not mapped

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Quilcene and Dabob

Use Point Whitney WDFW boat launch or Quilcene boat ramp at Herb Beck Marina as access facilities. Gravel builds up on the Point Whitney ramp; launch with four-wheel drive. At Herb Beck Marina, check posted signs. Keep Tarboo Bay north of Broad Spit outside the fall fishing plan; it is closed under the current rules during this page’s marine chum window. Review the bay boundary before departing the ramp.

1. Point Whitney boat launch (WDFW access site): boat launch
2. Quilcene boat ramp at Herb Beck Marina: boat launch
3. Big Quilcene River below diversion stream gauge: stream gauge

Cedar + Fern: location not mapped

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Kitsap East Shore

• Misery Point tide rips. Fish by boat in the tide rips between Misery Point and Oak Head during the fall portion of the current marine season. Chum occur with feeding salmon in these moving-water rips. Launch at Misery Point and read the current before you commit to a pass. Troll a dodger and a herring or small chartreuse squid at a barely moving speed. Stay clear of the Big Beef Creek bridge closure.

1. Misery Point tide rips: fishing spot
2. Misery Point boat launch (WDFW access site): boat launch
3. Scenic Beach State Park: service
4. Kitsap Memorial State Park: service
5. Sportsman's Warehouse Silverdale: service

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By Method

Cast twitching jigs at Hoodsport in November, switching to a float if repeated foul-hooking occurs. Float corkies and yarn through the same outer-zone tidal lanes, with the offering a foot or so off bottom. Cast small pink spoons slowly at the legal southern-canal beaches and mouths, including Potlatch and the public Hoodsport frontage.

Drift the open lower Dosewallips and Duckabush Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 under the current rules. Keep a buoyant corky and yarn near bottom. Fly-fish Hoodsport with a sink-tip. At Eagle Creek, a floating line keeps a fly just 3-6 inches down. Belfair also fishes well with a fly in fall. Troll the Hoodsport-to-Great-Bend route and marine Tahuya approach dead slow during the fall return.

How to Fish It

Reading the Tide

Treat tidal flow as river current when fishing the Hoodsport beach: cast up-current and let the float travel down-current. The incoming tide through the beginning of the ebb is productive southern-canal timing, while bank anglers gain useful room from low tide into the middle of the flood. High water brings fish closer to shore and reduces the space between beach anglers.

Watch for finning and jumping schools before choosing the casting lane. At Eagle Creek, the flood brings fish across the shallow flats toward the creek approach. Start with the water immediately in front of you and keep the retrieve slow. Do not follow fish into freshwater that is closed to salmon.

1. Staging school off the mouth
2. Flood tide pushing toward shore
3. Casting position on the public beach (west of the mouth)
4. Casting position on the public beach (east of the mouth)
5. Float drifting with the tide like river current
6. Creek mouth: freshwater closed to salmon
7. High water: less room on the beach

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1. Low to mid flood: most room for bank anglers
2. Flood to start of ebb: fish moving in
3. High water: fish closest to shore and least room

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Floats With Jigs or Corkies and Yarn

Fish an 8 1/2-foot medium-action rod with 18-20-pound line at Hoodsport, using enough strength to turn a chum away from neighboring lines. Suspend a 1/4- or 3/8-ounce marabou jig a foot or so above bottom; pink, black and purple are useful jig colors. Green and chartreuse also belong in the chum selection.

Balance the float to the load and adjust its depth setting so the offering travels freely above bottom. Cast into the tide and follow the float without pulling it across the current. When the drift is clear of other lines, feed line to extend it while keeping the float upright. Set the hook when the float goes under.

A corky and yarn under the float gives a second Hoodsport presentation without changing the basic drift. Keep the hook presentation controlled and the drift deliberate. Read Float Fishing for float balance and line management.

1. 8 1/2-foot medium-action rod
2. 18–20-pound line
3. Float balanced to the load
4. 1/4- or 3/8-ounce marabou jig (pink, black or purple)
5. A foot or so off bottom
6. Tide

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1. 8 1/2-foot medium-action rod
2. 18–20-pound line
3. Float balanced to the load
4. Corky above the hook
5. Yarn on the hook
6. A foot or so off bottom
7. Tide

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Twitching Jigs

At Hoodsport, remove the float and cast the jig directly through reachable water. Let it sink, lift it with the rod and reel slack as it falls, repeating the sequence through the retrieve. Vary the lift and pause while keeping track of the lure’s depth.

Dense chum schools increase foul-hooking with this approach. Change to a float presentation if you repeatedly hook fish outside the mouth. Keep the rod movement measured and leave room for adjacent anglers. Use Jigging for the general cast-and-lift mechanics.

1. Cast the jig without a float
2. Let it sink
3. Short rod lift
4. Reel slack on the fall
5. Repeat the lift and fall toward the shore
6. Switch to a float if you foul-hook fish

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Spoons

Fish a small pink steelhead-style spoon with an ultra-slow retrieve in southern Hood Canal’s shallow chum water. Cast, let the lure settle to the chosen level and retrieve with enough movement to keep it working. Change the sink time and rod position to change depth before increasing speed.

Small green spoons also fit the slow-trolling approach near the hatchery. Keep the casting and trolling presentations distinct when choosing weight and boat speed. Read Spoons and Spinners for lure action and depth control.

Drift Fishing the Dosewallips and Duckabush

These two lower rivers provide the freshwater chum option under the current rules during Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Identify the BPA boundary before fishing. Read the current river entry and statewide freshwater gear rules together before rigging.

Rig a buoyant corky above the hook with yarn and enough sinker weight to touch bottom intermittently. Cast upstream, follow the drift and retrieve before losing useful contact downstream. Aim to travel within about a foot of bottom, adjusting weight so the rig touches and lifts rather than anchoring among rocks. Begin with the nearest manageable lane and work outward.

Learn the difference between regular bottom taps and a change in the drift. Shorten the cast if slack prevents that distinction. See Drift Fishing for the rig and weight adjustments.

1. Sinker weight touching bottom intermittently
2. Buoyant corky above the hook with yarn
3. Within about a foot of bottom
4. Cast upstream
5. Drift downstream

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Fly Fishing for Chum

At Hoodsport, fish a sink-tip line. Chum take a small chartreuse, pink or purple fly moved slowly. Start with a nine-foot leader and a size 6 Chum Candy for staging chum. Change the fly when repeated controlled presentations draw no response.

At Eagle Creek, use a floating line and keep a small green fly just 3-6 inches down over the shallow flats. Belfair also supports the fall chum fly-fishing approach from the public shoreline. Move the fly slowly rather than rushing it past the fish. Check the backcast before each cast and leave room behind neighboring anglers. Use Beach Fly Fishing for casting and shoreline approach mechanics.

1. Sink-tip line
2. Nine-foot leader
3. Size 6 fly
4. Move the fly slowly
5. Floating line
6. Small green fly 3–6 inches down

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Trolling

Troll dead slow with the tide along the southern canal route from Hoodsport toward the Skokomish marine flats and Tahuya mouth. Start near shore in the upper 30 feet and use visible schools to refine the pass. Run a small green spoon behind a 2-ounce mooching sinker or a green or chartreuse mini squid behind a flasher.

For a dodger presentation, use a small squid on about two feet of stout leader and keep the dodger swaying rather than rolling. Behind a flasher, run the green squid on a leader of about 40 inches. Make the first pass deliberate and repeat productive water. Keep boats outside the shore anglers’ casting zone. Read Trolling for depth-control equipment and boat-speed mechanics.

Launches and Bank Access

Potlatch and Belfair beach access stays within the public park boundaries and the separately marked Potlatch DNR beach.

Tackle, Bait, Fuel and Boat Service

Lower Canal and Hoodsport

Great Bend, Union and Skokomish

Mid-Canal West-Side Rivers

Kitsap East Shore

Lodging and Camping

Check the park’s winter camping schedule before booking.

Rules, Closed Water and Tribal Tidelands

Under the current rules, freshwater is closed to salmon except where a special rule opens it; on Hood Canal that leaves the listed lower Dosewallips and Duckabush sections Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Finch Creek, Eagle Creek, the Skokomish River and the Tahuya River above its mouth stay out of any salmon trip. Follow fish only within legal water.

At Hoodsport, the water between the yellow buoys and the weir, the Finch Creek channel and the hatchery structure is closed year-round under the current rules, with the designated ADA platform exception. The outer hatchery zone extends through a 2,000-foot arc seaward of the yellow marker buoys and carries the night closure. Follow the signs and the full rule diagram.

Sund Rock and Waketickeh conservation areas are closed to fishing under the current rules; Octopus Hole is closed to harvest. Tarboo Bay north of Broad Spit is closed during this fall marine window under the current rules. The Enetai Hatchery outfall has a year-round food-fish closure within 100 yards, while the Big Beef Creek bridge has a food-fish closure within 100 feet during Aug. 1 to Nov. 30 under the current rules.

The Skokomish Tribal Nation tidelands east of the Potlatch DNR boundary are closed to non-tribal fishing and harvest; WDFW permits only non-consumptive use there. Send your shore-fishing plan only to the State Park and DNR beaches at Potlatch, observing the carsonite posts that mark the DNR boundary. Do not use the tidal flats as a shortcut or landing place.

Under the current marine rules, salmon gear provisions call for single-point barbless hooks; check the freshwater gear rules before you move the same outfit into a river. Review hook, lure and anti-snagging details in the full current entries.

Open full sizeHood Canal marine area pageMarine Area 12 rulesDosewallips and Duckabush river rulesCurrent emergency rules

Shellfish and Biotoxins

A salmon opening does not establish permission to harvest shellfish from the same beach. Hood Canal shellfish closures address dangerous biotoxins as well as individual beach seasons. Biotoxins are not destroyed by cooking, freezing or cleaning; safe shellfish cannot be identified by appearance.

Check the current shellfish safety map and WDFW’s individual beach rules before gathering anything. Review shellfish separately from the salmon plan.

Etiquette and Crowding

Hoodsport concentrates fish and anglers, with less standing room as the tide rises. Leave a casting lane for the person beside you and coordinate before a hooked fish crosses neighboring lines. Use tackle strong enough to control a chum in crowded water.

Anchored boats belong outside the shore anglers’ casting zone. Avoid dropping an anchor noisily into a school or running a boat through visible fish. Keep the signed hatchery frontage clear of trespass onto neighboring private tidelands. Change methods if you foul-hook fish repeatedly.

Safety, Tides and Weather

Hoodsport is exposed to rising wind and fast tidal flow, which complicate anchoring and small-craft control. Rocky bottom calls for an anchor with holding power and terminal chain. Wear your life jacket, judge the return route before leaving shore and turn back before wind removes your margin.

Eagle Creek’s shallow flats lose fishable clarity when wind stirs mud and moves weed across the presentation. Inspect the shoreline and your exit before wading. At launches, inspect the usable ramp surface at the actual tide; Twanoh launch docks and Triton Cove floats come out for winter.

Use these three USGS references to compare flows and observation times:

• Skokomish River near Potlatch stream gauge, USGS 12061500 supplies a flow reference for the southern canal watershed; the river is closed to salmon under the current rules.
• Duckabush River near Brinnon stream gauge, USGS 12054000 supplies the named Duckabush streamflow reference.
• Big Quilcene River below diversion stream gauge, USGS 12052210 supplies a Quilcene watershed flow reference, not permission to fish the river for salmon.

Tide-reference stations include Lofall 9445088, Bangor Wharf 9445133, Whitney Point in Dabob Bay 9445246 and Zelatched Point in Dabob Bay 9445269. Other references are Quilcene in Quilcene Bay 9445272, Pleasant Harbor 9445293, Seabeck in Seabeck Bay 9445303 and Triton Head 9445326. Southern references are Ayock Point 9445388, Lynch Cove Dock 9445441 and Union 9445478. Choose the station for your part of the canal and review the tide through the entire return trip.

Seasonal Calendar

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First Trip Checklist

1. Choose one named fishing place and one public approach.
2. Read the current marine or river entry and emergency changes.
3. Identify the mouth, hatchery boundary or BPA section limit before casting.
4. Review your fishing license and salmon catch record card.
5. Match the parking pass and launch payment to the facility.
6. Check posted access notices and winter dock availability.
7. Read the tide for the whole outing, including the return.
8. Open the relevant gauge and check its observation time.
9. Check wind and weather before loading the boat or wading.
10. Pack a slow float or fly presentation and a second controlled method.
11. Fit life jackets and agree on a return plan.
12. Leave room for other anglers and keep private and Tribal Nation tidelands outside the plan.

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Methods

• Float Fishing
• Jigging
• Spoons and Spinners
• Drift Fishing
• Beach Fly Fishing
• Trolling

Guides Who Specialize in This

Browse Puget Sound salmon guides and Puget Sound salmon fly-fishing guides. Match the proposed water, method and public approach to the trip you want.

Ask your guide for their WDFW guide license number before you book.

FAQ

When Should I Plan a Hood Canal Chum Trip?

November is the central Hoodsport staging period. Under the current rules, marine chum retention runs Oct. 16 to Nov. 30 and the two specified lower-river sections run Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.

What Is a Good First Hoodsport Presentation?

Fish a 1/4- or 3/8-ounce pink marabou jig under a float a foot or so off bottom, drifting with the tide. Set the hook when the float goes under and keep the fish clear of neighboring lines.

Where Should I Fly-Fish in Very Shallow Water?

Eagle Creek beach supports a shallow green-fly presentation during the November flood, with the fly just 3-6 inches below the surface. Stay in marine water and check posted signs for parking.

Is Every Hood Canal River Open to Chum Fishing?

No. Under the current rules, freshwater is closed to salmon except where a special rule opens it; on Hood Canal that leaves the listed lower Dosewallips and Duckabush sections Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.

Where Do I Fish at Potlatch?

Use the State Park and DNR beaches inside their marked boundaries. The Skokomish Tribal Nation tidelands are closed to non-tribal fishing and harvest; WDFW permits only non-consumptive use there.

Is the Hoodsport Inner Zone Open to Everyone?

No. Under the current rules it is closed except for the designated ADA platform, whose fishing eligibility is limited to permanent wheelchair users with a designated harvester companion card.

Does November Still Offer Marine Coho Retention?

Under the current Hood Canal rules for Nov. 1-30, release coho and Chinook while fishing within the daily salmon limit of 4. Check emergency rules before departure.

Does a Salmon Opening Make Shellfish Safe?

No. Shellfish have separate beach seasons and biotoxin closures and cooking does not destroy the toxins. Check the safety map and the individual beach entry before harvest.

Related

Continue with chum, salmon and Puget Sound salmon. Compare other trips in Skagit and Snohomish salmon and steelhead, Olympic Peninsula winter steelhead and Puget Sound crabbing. Use October, November and December to organize the rest of your fall fishing plans.

Sources for this guide are listed on our Credits page.

— The Salish Guide

Related fisheries

• Puget Sound Salmon Fishing: Species, Timing and Guides
• Skagit, Snohomish and Skykomish Salmon and Steelhead Fishing
• Westport Salmon Charters: Ocean Salmon Timing and Trips
• Buoy 10 Salmon Fishing at the Mouth of the Columbia