New to fishing puget sound

I just got a Hobie Outback.  Love it.  Had a Malibu 2XL and did a lot of lake fishing out of it.  I want to start targeting the salt water --halibut, cod, bottom fish, etc.  Live in Everett area.  Any suggestions, advice would be great.

Welcome to the forum.

Bottom fishing in the Puget Sound is pretty restricted. No retention of rockfish and no bottom fishing deeper than 120' IIRC. However, there are plenty of flounder.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/

Check out the rules for the marine area(s) you will be fishing in.

Enjoy

How are the flounder for eating? I'm thinking it might be more fun to target them and actually catch a mess of fish from time to time, rather than put in the long hours for a single steelhead or salmon.

Can you fillet them?

Flounder are good eating and easy to fillet.

Targeting lingcod may be an option if the season is open.

Bottomfishing on the Coast instead of the Sound, a few hours drive from Everett, will give you the opportunity to retain rockfish, which is not allowed in the Puget Sound. In addition, the lingcod limit is 2 fish instead of one and with a less restrictive minimum size. If you are looking to get a mess of fish in a hurry, try bottomfishing the coast.

"Flounder" is often used to describe true flounder, sand dabs, and sole.  Basically, any flatfish that is not a halibut.  At least that is how I use the term.

Flounder are fine eating, though some anglers stay away from the starry flounder.  I find flounder a bitch to fillet and have about a 15" size limit.  Smaller than that and you're not getting a lot of meat and it seems a shame to slaughter a 10" sand dab for a nugget.  However, there are A LOT of sand dabs.  Suggest you catch a mess of flounder and try it out.  Leadhead jigs and Berkley Saltwater GULP! grubs/shrimp/crabs.

They look like a bitch to fillet - kind of what I figured. Sometimes I'll drop a jig over to see what's home and end up catching a handful. I don't think I've hit a 15 incher yet, though.

My wife even caught a few on buzz bombs casting off Whidbey Saturday.

They look like a bitch to fillet - kind of what I figured.

To fillet you can treat them like a tiny halibut. 
http://www.salmonuniversity.com/ol_how_to_fillet_halibut.html
http://www.tillamookbayboathouse.com/halibut.htm