Fishing the Westport Jetty

Located just a 2.5 hr drive from Seattle proper, the Westport Jetty is an absolute fishing gem. It’s probably the best place I’ve fished for consistently catching rockfish, lingcod, greenling and crab — as long as you’re willing to brave the jagged jetty rocks.

About the Westport Jetty

Close to shore, fishing off the jetty provides some easy access to the surf, without the need to get wet like fishing off a beach. Fishermen make good catches of perch here using shrimp or sandworms.

Towards the middle of the jetty near the jetty horn, the rock fishing starts to pick up. Fishing the harbor side can yield excellent catches of predominantly black rockfish with a sprinkling of other rockfish. Throwing swimbaits on a Texas rig/jighead, or fishing bait under a drift bobber works quite consistently if the fish are around. I’ve found that getting the timing right here is really important — it is really important to fish the slack tide here, as the current in the harbor can absolutely rip, killing the bite. The fishing can also be somewhat better in the morning than the afternoon. If the conditions are right, you’ll be rock hopping back to your car with a limit of rockfish in your backpack. With a long enough cast here, a crab snare can also provide a tasty Dungeness for dinner.

If you instead fish the ocean side of the jetty, you’ll soon find that the greenling are absolutely everywhere. It can be impossible to keep the greenling off your hook if you use shrimp for bait. These greenling can be absolutely massive too — my personal record here is a gauge-busting 20 inch greenling. There are also big lingcod here — the local trick is to rig a small live greenling for bait weightless, which I can attest works incredibly well. I’ve also caught a number of striped surfperch and cabezon here, but never a rockfish — guess they like hanging out more on the harbor side.

At the very end of the jetty is where the sea birds make their home. The rocks here are painted white with poop, and it smells like Satan himself dropped a load here — but, this also means less fishing pressure. What that means is big lingcod, and good fishing.

Supposedly when in season, fishing a cut-plug herring under a bobber can yield salmon, but I’ve never tried myself.

Notes

The jetty can get quite crowded here, especially on the harbor side. Be ready for fishermen casting over your shoulder.

Recommended Gear

For the crab:

Crab Snare

Your basic setup for catching crab. Fill the cage with some kind of bait - squid, chicken, or fish usually do well. Cast out, and reel in every 10 minutes or so - if there's a crab nibbling on the bait, the loops of the snare will catch on the crab. I like doing a slow smooth "hookset" to engage the snare loops. While you're reeling in, try and maintain pressure on the snare, to make sure a crab doesn't get loose! I've linked a nice, but somewhat expensive crab snare here; a cheaper option is here, but it doesn't really work as well in practice.

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My baits of choice (fish on a high-low rig):

Raw shrimp

The jack-of-all-trades bait for our local saltwater fish. Works for rockfish, cabezon, lingcod, surfperch, jacksmelt, croaker, and many more. It can be a bit hard to keep on your hook --- switching to cooked from raw shrimp can help with that problem, with IMO slightly decreased bite rate.

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Squid

The other big saltwater bait. Works very well for rockfish, cabezon, lingcod, mackerel, crab and more. It stays on the hook better than the shrimp. Cut the tubes into strips.

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Berkley Gulp Sandworms

Dealing with squid or shrimp for bait can be a pain, with lugging around a cooler to keep it fresh, the bait falling off the hook, and potentially even running out. As a result, I like keeping a pack of these flavor-infused plastic sandworms in my tackle box just in case. They seem to work ok for rockfish, although not as good as the fresh stuff. These worms are also one of the best baits for catching surfperch off beaches on the West Coast.

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My lures of choice:

Berkley Bonefish Ribbed Swimbait

If you don't want to use bait, this is a good all-around swimbait for rocky-shore species. I usually fish it on a Texas rig or jighead, or occasionally a dropshot rig. Try and fish the lure as close to the bottom as possible (unless you're fishing for black or blue rockfish).

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Keitech Swimbait

The swimbait that most people swear by. I honestly have had better personal success recently with the Berkley swimbait, but people have had some awesome catches on these Keitechs.

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Z-man Slim Swimz

I recently started using Z-man swimbaits a lot more. They are a lot more durable than the above swimbaits, and as a bonus they are supposedly non-toxic (unlike the phthalate-heavy soft plastics made by other brands). These particular Slim Swimz are a 2.5" swimbait, that are the perfect size for blue and block rockfish.

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When fishing the rocks, there is always a surprising amount of current, so you’ll need some heavy weights. I usually use anywhere from half an ounce to four ounces for my rigs. You’ll also snag and break off a lot, so make sure to bring a lot of spares. I’ve listed the weights I use below, in order of preference.

Cloth Bags

I hate snagging off and leaving a hunk of metal at the bottom of the ocean. As a result, I recently switched to using cloth bags, which I fill with gravel and small rocks at the fishing spot and hopefully biodegrade in the water. I've found that these cloth bags work incredibly well. They snag much less frequently than the metal weights I used to use, and the fish don't seem to mind. In addition, they are much cheaper.

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Ultra Steel Bullet Weights, 3/4 ounce

I usually use steel weights whenever I can. While they tend to be somewhat more expensive than lead-based weights, they lack most of the toxicity and developmental impacts of lead. In regards to your own health, you should use steel weights whenever possible. However, steel weights can be hard to find in larger sizes.

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Lead Sinkers, 2 ounces

These lead weights are much cheaper than steel, and come in much larger sizes. However, keep in mind the toxicity and developmental impacts of lead. Use at your own risk.

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