Most of my fly fishing to date has been stillwater trout fishing but I have been doing some reading lately about shore fishing Puget Sound for sea run cutts. So naturally I have a few questions. First, is this a year round fishery or is it primarily a fall fishery? How about gear? Do you recommend any special lines, reels, rods, or can you use your same fresh water equipment with a good wash down afterwards? And finally, if anybody wants to give up the info....can you recommend some good areas for a beginner?

Thanks in advance for your inputs!

The best times for me have been September/October in the fall and April in the spring. I only fish Southern Hood Canal. We have a family house on the North Shore. There are fish out there in good numbers all summer but with all of the boats and jet skiers I don't usually attempt it, plus I'm salmon fishing. In April when the juvenile chum enter the salt the SRC's really attack them in front of any stream on the canal. This is when we catch some of the bigger fish. There are more numbers of fish in September/October in front of these same streams. Find a point with some current on the incoming tide. I use floating line with an 8ft leader and a clouser or shrimp pattern. These fish will be in shallow water. Go ahead and use your freshwater gear, just really wash it down afterwards. I'm not ready to give up my secret stream mouth, never seen anyone else around, kind of a family secret. If you have a small boat with a kicker, just about every stream mouth on the canal will produce at the right time.

as cfish said stream mouths are a great spot but really anywhere there is a good source of food will be a good spot, one spot i fish is a sloughish area that empties out on the tide, and when the tide is coming in the fish will stack up near the mouth of it, because the bait will pour in with the tide, as for gear i mostly pitch spinners at them, but when i want to toss flies i primarily throw a chartreuse clouser...oh and this is all coming from the PA area, i havent tried this in the sound or the canal

oh and if there isnt much feed around strip the clouser in fast and keep it up on the surface, this will result in really sweet arial strikes

you can get as into salt fishing as you really want...
It is pretty much a year round fishery.
I like a "slime" line like the aqualux from rio. But i also always have a floater with me in the summer. Fishing for SRCs and salmon on poppers or sliders is a lot of fun.
A fast action 6wt or 7wt will suffice in almost all situations. A 6wt will handle any cuts, but the 7wt allows you to have enough rod for the bigger incedental salmon.
You dont have to have a great reel but i would reccomend an anodized reel which will help protect against the salt. Most of the anodized reels will also have a little bit better drag for the bigger fish.
Any gravel point with a good current surrounded by eel grass is a great bet... a good slope to the beach is nice as well
(almost) NEVER WADE DEEP FOR CUTS...
when fishing from a boat i pull my flies right off the shore in most cases... These fish will sit in less than a foot of water at times.
explore the canal or the sound.

shoot me a PM or an e-mail if you;d like to get out this summer and explore the beaches.