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Fish City

Tackle Shops on Puget Sound & the Strait

5 shops — hours, live bait, and directions.

Updated

Bait and tackle near you in Puget Sound & the Strait

5 open shops, 1 with live bait, live bait first.

Puget Sound is an inland sea, and its fishery is a year-round mix of salmon, lingcod and bottomfish, and the heavy crab-and-shrimp-pot side that Sound anglers live for. The shops here stretch from Everett up through the North Sound and the Skagit to Bellingham near the Canadian border, then west along the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward Port Angeles — the run that leads to the state's premier salmon and Pacific halibut grounds at Sekiu and Neah Bay.

These are mostly full-line sporting-goods stores and marine shops rather than bait specialists. John's Sporting Goods in Everett (since 1953) and Yeager's in Bellingham (family-owned since 1921) are long-running general fishing stores; LFS Marine in Bellingham leans toward the marine and crab-and-shrimp-pot side; Swain's in Port Angeles stocks Strait salmon-trolling gear; and Holiday Sports up in Burlington, the one confirmed live-bait stop, anchors the Skagit end. Most of the Sound runs on frozen and cured bait, so call ahead for live.

Select a shop or scroll the map to find the one closest to where you'll fish.

Shops in Puget Sound & the Strait

Puget Sound & the Strait on the map

Species to target here

Related regions

Frequently asked questions

  • Which Puget Sound shops carry live bait?

    One in this directory confirms it on its own source: Holiday Sports in Burlington, which advertises live, freshly frozen, and pre-packaged bait. Most other Sound and Strait shops run on frozen and cured bait, so call ahead if you need live.

  • What can you catch in Puget Sound?

    Salmon (resident and migratory Chinook and coho), lingcod and bottomfish over the rockpiles, and Dungeness crab and spot shrimp in their managed seasons are the core Puget Sound fisheries. West along the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward Sekiu and Neah Bay, salmon and Pacific halibut are the marquee targets. Seasons are tightly managed — check WDFW before you go.

  • Where are the main Puget Sound fishing towns?

    Everett anchors the North-Central Sound, Tacoma and Gig Harbor the South Sound, and Bellingham the North Sound toward the San Juans and the Canadian border. Port Angeles is the gateway to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Sekiu and Neah Bay salmon-and-halibut ports to the west.

  • Why are some of these stores general sporting-goods shops, not bait shops?

    Puget Sound's saltwater scene is built around downrigger salmon trolling, crab and shrimp pots, and bottomfish rather than the live-bait fishing common in Southern California. The region's tackle is sold mostly through full-line sporting-goods and marine stores — like John's (Everett, since 1953) and Yeager's (Bellingham, since 1921) — which carry the trolling, pot, and bottomfish gear the Sound runs on.