Two weeks into the season and already there are some great reports from the straits indicating the salmon are going to be here in big numbers.
This past weekend I managed to get out to the San Juans and do some serious fishing, and Saturday morning was a memorable one.
The day started off early as we headed out of Cornet Bay to Hein Bank. Setting our gear down approximately 70-feet, I did my best to keep the boat in 70 to 120-feet of water.
Within 15 minutes it was “fish on!” After a nice fight, we had a 12-pound king in the cooler. The fish were biting and we consistently had “take downs” on our gear. Catching the occasional dog fish, I bumped up the speed on our troll and that took care of the problem.
There were at least three take downs that started ripping line off my reel right away. Unfortunately, I never managed to get them close to the boat. I imagine they were fish weighing over 20 pounds, but could never get them up — except one that did a quick head shake and spit the lure on the surface.
Fishing slowed down a bit around 10 a.m., but we stuck to what was working. We were using a green flasher with a 4-inch coyote spoon about 40-inches behind the flasher.
Other popular colors are cop car, army truck and green glow.
Around 12:30 p.m., the bite was back on and on in force. We had one take down in about 75-feet of water and landed a nice eight-pounder.
About five minutes later, we caught another eight-pounder along with a sub-legal shaker that was released. It wasn’t long after I re-set the downriggers before we finished off our limits of kings. You would have thought we were catching humpies the way they were biting.
Speaking of humpies, for those of you who have been waiting now is the time to start hitting the beach. Sekiu’s fishing report for Friday said the pinks have arrived.
Not just a few, but a full-scale invasion of humpies with exceptional numbers of cohos and decent numbers of kings mixed in as well.
Now that Area 9 is open, Fort Casey will be the place for beach anglers.
If you fish the area right it can be quite an enjoyable experience even with the many anglers sure to be there competing for the same fish.
Pinks return in huge schools, so wait for the line of anglers to start screaming “fish on!” This is the time to start casting. Fish until the school has passed and then enjoy a break. It will happen over and over on a really good day. You might see the occasional hook up but that is usually the angler that casts his pink buzz bomb a country mile. But for the most part, pinks hit the beach in huge schools.
Area 9 is also open for the retention of kings, something that has not happened in about 12 years.
I have caught kings at Fort Casey quite a few times on a pink buzz bomb. For me the trick is to let it settle toward the bottom before you start your retrieve. Who knows, you might catch a 30-pound king out there while everyone else is catching 4-pound humpies.
Whatever salmon you like to catch now is the time to get out there and give them a go. Send me your comments and suggestions to whidbey_fff@yahoo.com.
