When to Squid Jig in Puget Sound: The Real Season

WDFW allows recreational squid fishing year-round in Washington waters, with no closed season and no minimum size. But “legal” and “worth showing up for” aren’t the same thing, and the difference comes down to where squid actually are relative to shore.

The real window: fall through winter

According to Ted’s Sports Center — a Puget Sound tackle shop that’s been fielding this exact question for years — the recommended window runs “between October and January,” with late October through December as the strongest stretch for anyone new to the technique. That lines up with the species biology: market squid live less than a year, and the fall push into shallower nearshore water is when a fresh generation is actually reachable from a pier instead of scattered further out.

Outside that window, squid are still around — WDFW’s year-round allowance isn’t a formality — but you’re fishing for whatever’s passing through rather than a concentrated, predictable push.

What to actually plan around

• Season: October through January is the dependable stretch; late November through December tends to be the strongest single window.
• Time of day: After dark, consistently — squid feed at night and key on light, which is also why lit piers matter as much as the calendar does.
• Conditions: Nothing here is a hard rule, but darker, overcast nights are generally treated as better than bright, clear ones — less ambient light competing with the pier’s own lights for the squid’s attention. Rather than guessing which upcoming nights fit, Puget Sound Live Fishing Conditions tracks this for real, every night this week, against WDFW’s own guidance.

None of this means don’t bother the rest of the year. It means: if you’re planning a first trip and want the best odds, fall and early winter, after dark, at a lit pier, is the actual answer — not just “go whenever.”