I've been a freshwater fisherman, my whole life. I moved here over a year ago, and can't seem to get it. I fish off the piers, but can't seem to hook anything real. I want to know if anyone can give me advice or help for Halibut, and Salmon.
I don't own a boat, so my resources are limited. Please, any help will be great.

I doubt you'll catch halibut off a pier, but for salmon, wait until the runs are coming in and cast buzz bombs or Pt. Wilson Darts for them.

Try Buzz Bombing off the west Seattle pier about the last week in July till about the second weekend in August. The kings run right in front of the pier heading for the Green. You will want to be fishing while it is still dark, early in the morning. If you can see your bait, it is too late.

For saltwater you will generally need heavier gear than freshwater. Casting heavy weights requires heavy gear. Depending on what kind of fishing you did, you may need to buy new gear.

Rods:

Forget about light 'trout' rods, and all but the heaviest bass rods are too light. When you're doing a lot of casting (as you will be on piers) for rods longer = better. A longer rod will allow you to cast farther, and in most cases casting distance is everything. A good saltwater casting rod is at least 8 feet long, with 9.5 being better, and 11 feet being about the tops, unless you're surfcasting. Generally you want a medium to medium heavy rod with a sensative tip and a lot of backbone. This serves two purposes: to get to the bottom, and controlling the fish. The current in saltwater can be very fast, and you need a lot of weight. When bottomfishing, I generally don't go any lighter than two ounces, with five ounces being about the max. This does NOT include bait, hooks, or anything else, just the sinker. The rod must be able to sling this amount of weight to a maximum distance. When you're bottomfishing and get a bite, the first priority is to get it up off the bottom ASAP. Yank that rod tip up high and hard so Mr. Rockfish/Lingcod/Cabezon/whatever doesn't shoot right into a hole in the rocks and tangle you up on the bottom structure. For salmon this isn't so important (since they're not bottomfish and don't generally hide in the rocks) but a fairly stiff rod will sap the fish's strength sooner, and allow you more control once you get him to the pier.

Reels & line:

Most people generally use heavier line for saltwater. Fifteen pound test is generally the minimum people use, with the top end being around fifty pound test for really big fish like lings. Most people use twenty to twenty-five. Anything higher than that and it starts to become difficult to fit a lot onto a reel you can cast with. Of course, heavy line means big reels to hold that line. As far as reels go, they're generally the same as freshwater reels, just bigger. All the same stuff is important, such as drag, braking systems (for baitcasters), line capacity, ect.

Hooks and other terminal tackle:

Hooks will be matched to the species of fish you are going after. There are a lot of analogies with freshwater fish, believe it or not. Rockfish are basically just saltwater bass, surf perch are saltwater bluegills. Flounders come in all sizes, and as for lings, think of them as the love child of a giant sculpin (bullhead) and a walleye. Salmon are trout the size of good sized catfish. Halibut I've never seen taken off any of the piers. They're a deep water fish, and none of the piers go out far enough. Except for surf perch and flounder, all these fish have good sized mouths and generally take medium to large hooks. As mentioned above, you need heavy sinkers to get down to the bottom, and when the tide is really ripping, even five ounces will not keep you in one place. But as long as you stay on the bottom, that shouldn't be a problem unless there's a lot of snags. Make a few loops in the main line, then run the leader off the loops. Or you can do what I do and just buy rigs with metal arms on them. Great for keeping the bait from tangling in the line.

Bait & lures:

Frozen herring are pretty much ubiqitous, and they are OK, but there's generally better bait out there. They are usually very soft when thawed out, and don't stay on the hook well. You can toughen them up by soaking them in brine for a few days. Same for anchovies. Sand shrimp is also easy to find, but can be rather fragile on the hook. You have to be careful not to fling it off when you cast. Another good bait is raw frozen prawns from the grocery store. A pound will generally last you several trips, so buy it when it's cheap and freeze it. Don't worry if it's previously frozen, it doesn't effect its ability to stay on the hook, and the fish don't seem to care. Another favorite bait in saltwater are worms. Earthworms work, but tend to die quickly on the hook. The salt in the water literally draws all the moisture out of them, and they shrivel up and croak. You can find saltwater worms by digging in the sand or looking under rocks at low tide. These are the best bait for most bottomfish. Watch out for the nippers on the front, big ones can give you a good pinch. Last, but certainly not least, is live fish. There are several boathouses that sell live herring (but most of them seem to be out right now), and you can catch shiner perch (generally called pogies) around most docks. Never was a better bait for lings, IMHO. There are real advantages to using fresh herring over frozen, even if it's dead. Fresh herring is shinier, and stays on the hook much easier. I think the fish just seem to like it better. As for lures, soft jigs are popular, just upsized for the bigger fish. Metal jigs are (I think) unique to this area. Buzz Bombs, Darts, and Crippled Herrings are good for salmon and large bottomfish, but if there's any structure, you'll lose them and they're generally not cheap. Most people who fish from piers use bait over lures.

Man, I never expected it to take that long. Well, hope you found the info useful.

Last summer we caught silvers off of the beach after we got blown off of the water at Sekiu. Buzzbombs! One thing you might try is a weekend trip up to Sekiu. Rent a boat and motor, about 90 buck ($30 each). It won't be like last year, but the king season should be good in July. Halibut are also available, and many are caught from the kicker boats.

Andy