Aleck Bay, Lopez Island, WA Fishing Guide

Species at Aleck Bay, Lopez Island

• Chinook salmon

  Fall stock stages in bays, bites the incoming on tide change

  Season: Aug–Oct · Tide: the incoming tide · Light: low light · Water: 52–62°F

• Coho salmon

  Silvers school the bay mouth on a moving tide, dawn best

  Season: Sep–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 50–60°F

• Lingcod

  Spring spawners move shallow to rocks, bite the first of the incoming

  Season: Mar–Jun · Tide: the incoming tide · Light: low light · Water: 46–55°F

• Black rockfish

  Schools on the jetty year-round; moving water turns them on

  Season: Apr–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 48–58°F

• Redtail surfperch

  Pre-spawn fish stack in bays, feed the hour before high

  Season: Apr–Jul · Tide: the incoming tide · Light: any light · Water: 48–58°F

• Kelp greenling

  Holds tight to kelp and rock; moving water brings the bite

  Season: Apr–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 48–56°F

• White sturgeon

  Stack in deep estuary holes; bite hardest on a strong moving tide

  Season: Apr–Jul · Tide: the outgoing tide · Light: any light · Water: 50–64°F

• Striped bass

  Spring pre-spawn and fall fish feed tidewater on moving water

  Season: Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 55–68°F

• Sea-run cutthroat trout

  Late-summer harvest trout chase fry in low light on a moving tide

  Season: Jul–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 50–60°F

• Starry flounder

  Winter-spring spawners feed the estuary bottom, peak February

  Season: Jan–Apr, Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 45–55°F

• Pile perch

  Works pilings and rock structure, moving water feeds them

  Season: May–Sep · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 50–62°F

• Cabezon

  Rocky-reef ambusher; takes bait on the bottom in moving water

  Season: Mar–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 48–58°F

• Sand sole

  Sandy bay-mouth flatfish; feeds the incoming over sand

  Season: May–Sep · Tide: the incoming tide · Light: bright daylight · Water: 52–62°F

• Dungeness crab

  Post-molt fall crab forage and walk on the slack, high best

  Season: Sep–Dec · Tide: slack water · Light: any light · Water: 48–60°F

What's biting at Aleck Bay, Lopez Island, month by month

Typical seasons for this stretch of coast — a warm or late year shifts them by a few weeks. The live forecast scores today's actual conditions.

How Aleck Bay, Lopez Island fishes

Open water lies to the west of Aleck Bay, Lopez Island. A wind out of the west is onshore here — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes stirred-up water inshore, while an east wind flattens the surface and tends to clean it up.

This is an inshore station — bay, river or lagoon water rather than an open ocean mouth. Tide stage and water temperature drive the bite here far more than swell does.

Tides here are read from NOAA station 9449994 at 48.4250, -122.8530 — see it on NOAA CO-OPS.

Shops & partners near Aleck Bay, Lopez Island

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Common questions about Aleck Bay, Lopez Island

What fish can you catch at Aleck Bay, Lopez Island?

Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Lingcod, Black rockfish, Redtail surfperch, Kelp greenling, White sturgeon, Striped bass, Sea-run cutthroat trout, Starry flounder, Pile perch, Cabezon and 2 more. Each has its own season, preferred tide and water-temperature window at Aleck Bay, Lopez Island.

When is the best time to fish Aleck Bay, Lopez Island?

September has the most species in season (10 of 14) — Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Black rockfish, Kelp greenling, Striped bass, Sea-run cutthroat trout, Pile perch, Cabezon. Seasons shift by a few weeks in a warm or late year.

What tide is best for fishing Aleck Bay, Lopez Island?

8 of the 14 species here feed best on moving water. Moving water is what pulls bait through the mouth, so the hours either side of a tide change usually beat dead slack.

Which wind is bad for Aleck Bay, Lopez Island?

Open water lies to the west, so a west wind is onshore — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes dirty water inshore. An east wind flattens and cleans it up.

Where are the tides for Aleck Bay, Lopez Island measured?

NOAA CO-OPS station 9449994, at 48.4250, -122.8530. What Inlet? scores the live tide, current, solunar and weather for that station.

Inlets near Aleck Bay, Lopez Island

• Telegraph Bay, Puget Sound 3 mi
• Burrows Bay (Allan Island) 8 mi
• Armitage Island, Thatcher Pass 8 mi
• Deception Pass St. Park, Bowman Bay, Fidalgo I. 9 mi
• Ship Harbor, Fidalgo Island 10 mi
• Cornet Bay, Deception Pass 11 mi
• Yokeko Point, Deception Pass 11 mi
• Friday Harbor, San Juan Island 11 mi

Fishing a different inlet today? Every one has its own species roster and bite pattern.

Browse every inlet in Washington, or the full inlet directory.