Can you spearfish at Titlow Beach?

No. It is protected no-take water.

What is the main Day Island hazard?

Current over 2.4 kt is flagged as hazardous.

Can I spear salmon in Washington?

No. Salmon and sturgeon are not by spear.

Are rockfish keepers in Tacoma?

The local MA11 notes say rockfish are release-only.

Tacoma (The Narrows) spearfishing forecast — United States

Tacoma (The Narrows) · United States

5.3

visibility: 3 m

visibility3m

Today — right on the edge.

Sources: NWS · NDBC · Open-Meteo · Copernicus — high confidence · data 21:19

Sources & confidence

Sources: NWS · NDBC · Open-Meteo · Copernicus
Method: spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →

The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.

How we score the water

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

Swell & wave memory: Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
Coast shape & exposure: How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.

Where to get in, where to hunt

Entry points with coordinates

Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

NWS no dataupdated 21:19

Offshore marks — solo, off the rocks

Day is over

That is it for today — the day's windows have closed.

Tomorrow, best window 06:00–09:00

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Saturday · today2026-10-24

07:41–18:06 · full moon

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide— no data

Wave0.02 m

Wind3 km/h

Water— no data

fish activity: moonset 05:58 · moderate · moon underfoot 11:30 · high · moonrise 17:08 · moderate · moon overhead 00:00 · high

Open the seafloor map with entry points

Coming soon

Get the go / no-go verdict for Tacoma (The Narrows) by email

Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Tacoma (The Narrows), we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.

Just your email — nothing else needed.

Optional: city, channel, phone

City

What to send

Good windows / green daysStorm warningsMorning digestCrab season (santola)

Where to send it

WhatsAppTelegram

Phone

More spots

Spots in United States

🇺🇸United States

USA map →

Feedback

Help us make it better

What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map

Day Island WallOffshore marks

borderline

774 m from the boundary of Titlow Beach Marine Preserve (WDFW boundary) (no-take zone)

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈0.5–27 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM/CoNED, 3 m)

A current-undercut wall, 8–24 m: wolf-eel dens, lingcod, cabezon and rockfish, the latter release-only in Marine Area 11. WARNING: current above 2.4 knots is hazardous — slack water only, no exceptions.

Google Maps

Fox Island East WallOffshore marks

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈0.9–45 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM/CoNED, 3 m)

A two-tier wall with deep undercuts, 5–24 m: octopus, wolf eel, lingcod, cabezon and sculpin. Rockfish are release-only. Boat dive and slack water only — the current here does not forgive.

Google Maps

Fox Island West WallOffshore marks

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈2.0–48 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

A wall facing Carr Inlet, 8–27 m: lingcod and cabezon tight to the rock, with rockfish present but release-only. Slack water and boat access only; visibility is best in winter, when the water is colder.

Google Maps

Harper's PierOffshore marks

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈0.6–8.3 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

Harper's Pier is a shore entry about 29 km from Tacoma (The Narrows). Marker position: 47.522° N, 122.519° W. It is also reached by boat. Maximum depth is around 9 m. Expect mixed tides: two highs of different height each day.

Google Maps

Les Davis Marine Park artificial reefOffshore marks

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈1.8–34 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM/CoNED, 3 m)

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Redondo BeachOffshore marks

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈1.1–26 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

Redondo Beach: you go in from the shore, some 19 km from Tacoma (The Narrows). Marker position: 47.349° N, 122.325° W. Maximum depth is around 15 m.

Google Maps

Saltar's Point BeachOffshore marks

borderline

23 m from the boundary of Saltar's Point Beach Conservation Area (WDFW boundary) (no-take zone)

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈3.1–55 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

Shore access point Saltar's Point Beach, roughly 12 km from Tacoma (The Narrows). It is also reached by boat. Maximum depth is around 9 m. Saltar's Point Beach Conservation Area, a no-take zone, lies about 23 m away; confirm its boundary on site.

Google Maps

Saltwater State ParkOffshore marks

borderline

⛔ Banned here

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —

WARNING: Saltwater State Park is inside the Saltwater State Park Marine Preserve, closed to all recreational harvest (WAC 220-305-080(2)(g)) — no spearfishing here. Shore entry, about 21 km from Tacoma (The Narrows); maximum depth around 15 m.

Google Maps

Sunny Side BeachOffshore marks

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈1.4–15 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

Sunny Side Beach is a shore entry about 10 km from Tacoma (The Narrows). The pin sits at 47.178 N / 122.591 W on the chart. Depths reach about 9 m. The nearest protected area on our map, Saltar's Point Beach Conservation Area, is about 1.2 km away.

Google Maps

Sunrise Beach Park wall (Gig Harbor)Offshore marks

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

35 m from the boundary of Colvos Passage Marine Preserve Area (WDFW boundary) (no-take zone)

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈2.4–56 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Tacoma Narrows Bridge (War Memorial Park)Offshore marks

borderline

Pro · subscribers

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈50–68 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM/CoNED, 3 m)

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Three Tree N.Offshore marks

borderline

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈1.6–42 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM, 3 m)

Shore access point Three Tree N., roughly 24 km from Tacoma (The Narrows). Marker position: 47.452° N, 122.380° W. Depths reach about 15 m. Tides are mixed, with two unequal highs a day.

Google Maps

Titlow Beach Marine PreserveOffshore marks

borderline

⛔ Banned here

in the headland's lee today — swell from the quarter/behind

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: ≈0.3–20 m (bathymetry NOAA CUDEM/CoNED, 3 m)

WARNING: a famous dive park over pilings and reef, 3–12 m, but it is a state marine preserve — spearfishing is prohibited and so is removing organisms. Use it for diving and photography only. Pin: shore access; water entry unverified.

Google Maps

SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.

Look at the water
right now.

Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».

connecting to the stream…

● LIVE↗

Commencement Bay & Thea Foss Waterway — PCTV Mountain Cam (Pierce County)YouTube live — Commencement Bay & Thea Foss Waterway — PCTV Mountain Cam (Pierce County). Embedded live stream; if the ID rotates it opens the source page. Read the water before you go.camera: youtube ↗

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

greenling
Hexagrammos spp. · 2–20 m · legal
Year-round in both states with no minimum size. The trap is the aggregate: it almost always fills a slot you already spent on rockfish — Oregon's 4-fish General Marine Species limit, or the WA area bottomfish aggregate (15 in Puget Sound Areas 9/13, 9 on the coast in Area 2).
surfperch
Embiotocidae · 0–12 m · legal
Oregon explicitly lists spear among the legal methods ('by angling, hand, bow and arrow, spear…'). Year-round in both states, no minimum size. Bag: OR 15/day in aggregate for all marine perch; WA Area 2 12/day (or 15 shiner perch), not counted in the bottomfish limit. The default shore-dive target when rockfish are closed.

Regulated — check your state

lingcod📋 season by state
The SPEARFISHING window in Puget Sound (Areas 5–13) is its own: spear May 21–Jun 15 only, while hook-and-line opens May 1. There the spear has no minimum but a 36″ (91 cm) MAXIMUM, 1/day. WA coast (Areas 1–3): 2nd Saturday in March–3rd Saturday in October, 2/day. Oregon year-round, min 22″ (56 cm), 3/day.
rockfish📋 season by state
In WA Marine Areas 6–13 (Puget Sound) rockfish are CLOSED outright — unlawful to fish for, retain or possess. That covers Edmonds, Tacoma, Port Townsend, Friday Harbor and Anacortes. Open on the WA coast (Areas 1–4): 7/day in Areas 2 and 4, no yelloweye, seasonal release requirements for copper, quillback and vermilion. Oregon year-round inside the 4-fish General Marine Species limit, canary sub-limit 2.
cabezon📋 season by state
Oregon is CLOSED Jan 1–Jun 30, open from Jul 1, min 16″ (41 cm), 1/day inside the 4-fish General Marine Species limit. WA Puget Sound (Areas 9, 13) May 1–Nov 30, min 18″ (46 cm), 1/day. WA coast (Area 2) year-round with the bottomfish season.
Pacific halibut📋 season by state
Both states name spear as legal gear for halibut — WA: 'Hook and line angling and spearfishing only'; OR: 'May be taken by angling with a single line, no more than 2 hooks; and by spear.' It is the biggest legal fish a PNW diver can take. The season is set annually: WA by marine area (check WDFW in April), OR by port-of-landing windows. WA 1/day, 6 per year, Catch Record Card required.

Not a target — don't shoot

salmon🚫 no-take
This is a GEAR prohibition, not a stock closure: salmon is an open fishery by rod, but spear is not on the methods list in WA or in OREGON — ODFW lists spear for groundfish, flatfish, surfperch, offshore pelagics and Pacific halibut, never for salmon. WA also restricts white sturgeon to one single-point barbless hook, catch-and-release only, so sturgeon by spear is out in both states.

Law

✓OR: fishing licence + the new Ocean Endorsement (2026, $9/yr). WA: licence + Catch Record Card for certain species (halibut).
✓This is a GEAR prohibition, not a stock closure: salmon is an open fishery by rod, but spear is not on the methods list in WA or in OREGON — ODFW lists spear for groundfish, flatfish, surfperch, offshore pelagics and Pacific halibut, never for salmon. WA also restricts white sturgeon to one single-point barbless hook, catch-and-release only, so sturgeon by spear is out in both states.
✓Lingcod/rockfish/cabezon/halibut allowed; the diver must swim/float, bang sticks banned. No yelloweye retention.
•Puget Sound, WA Marine Areas 6–13: rockfish are CLOSED outright (no fishing for, retaining or possessing), bottomfish fishing is prohibited deeper than 120 ft (37 m), with a 15-bottomfish daily aggregate. That covers Edmonds, Tacoma, Port Townsend, Friday Harbor and Anacortes.
•Five Oregon marine reserves are no-take for all fish and invertebrates: Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, Otter Rock, Redfish Rocks and Cape Perpetua. The adjoining allow only troll salmon/crab or shore angling.

⛔ 🚫 Salmon and sturgeon — NOT by spear (hook-and-line only). Yelloweye rockfish: no retention in any WA marine area.
⛔ 🚫 Oregon Marine Reserves and Puget Sound conservation areas — take restricted/prohibited; check the specific site.
⛔ 🚫 Puget Sound (WA Marine Areas 6–13): rockfish closed outright, bottomfish prohibited deeper than 120 ft. 🚫 Oregon marine reserves — Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, Otter Rock, Redfish Rocks, Cape Perpetua — no-take for everything.

US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.

Safety protocol

Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.

Spearfishing in Tacoma (The Narrows): spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing around Tacoma is cold, vertical and current-driven. The useful structure is Day Island Wall, Fox Island East Wall and Fox Island West Wall, all marked as slack-only dives. Lingcod, cabezon, greenling and sculpin are the practical finfish names when seasons allow. Rockfish in the Marine Area 11 notes are release-only, and Titlow Beach Marine Preserve is no-take. This is a buddy-team dive, not a casual beach swim.

TL;DR

Tacoma spearfishing means Puget Sound Narrows walls: Day Island and Fox Island are slack-water dives.

Titlow Beach Marine Preserve is no-take and is excluded from the harvest table.

Washington requires a fishing license; salmon and sturgeon are not spear targets, and yelloweye rockfish has no retention.

Day Island is hazardous above 2.4 kt, so current timing matters more than the ocean swell report.

Best spearfishing spots in Tacoma

The table is a wall list. Dive slack, leave before the exchange builds, and keep Titlow out of the harvest plan. If a current table and the water in front of you disagree, believe the water and do not enter.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Day Island Wall	Current-undercut wall	Wall and ledges	Advanced	Boat or shore-supported slack dive	Lingcod and cabezon habitat. Current over 2.4 kt is hazardous; rockfish are release-only in MA11 notes.
Fox Island East Wall	Two-tier undercut wall	Wall ledges	Advanced slack-water dive	Boat-supported Fox Island approach	Octopus and wolf eel are viewing wildlife; target only clearly legal finfish.
Fox Island West Wall	Carr Inlet wall	Wall and broken rock	Advanced slack-water dive	Boat-supported Carr Inlet approach	A lingcod and cabezon wall where timing is the dive.

Surface

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

Spots in United States

🇺🇸United States

Washington

Oregon

Help us make it better

The water column

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The seabed

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Surfacing

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.

Spearfishing in Tacoma (The Narrows): spots, seasons and rules

TL;DR

Best spearfishing spots in Tacoma

Why is slack water mandatory?

California

What Washington rules shape the catch?

What about Titlow Beach?

How should a wall dive be ended?

FAQ

Sources

Nearby towns

Tacoma (The Narrows) spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Tacoma (The Narrows) by email

Spots in United States

🇺🇸United States

Washington

Oregon

Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

Look at the water right now.

What's in season, what the law says.

TL;DR

Best spearfishing spots in Tacoma

Why is slack water mandatory?

California

What Washington rules shape the catch?

What about Titlow Beach?

How should a wall dive be ended?

FAQ

Sources

Nearby towns

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.