08/07 - 08/17 - Neah Bay Gathering

[rogerbum]

Well, Jim and Janet of Castaway arrived today. Jim called me on Thurs to indicate he was having truck issues (needed a new bearing and rear main seal). He replaced those parts himself on Thurs-Sat., tested the truck out on Sunday and arrived at Neah Bay a little after noon today. NOW THAT"s dedication to get to a gathering. This week will also contain a lot of firsts for he and Janet - open ocean, first salmon in the boat, first rock fish etc. They're a great couple and we should have fun out fishing tomorrow.

As for the fishing, I couldn't fish salmon today again so I fished for bottom fish. Three total on the boat and we limited by 10:30AM. Nice rock cod, mostly black rock cod in the 3-4# size range. We answered a marine assistance request that came just as we were about to head in. A 32' sail boat running on engine only, ran over a crab pot and wrapped the line around the prop. We stopped by to see if we could help but the prop was about 1/4-1/3 forward of the stern and without a wet suit (or better yet a dry suit), there wasn't much we could do to help. The coasties were on their way out, the seas were calm and they were drifting in fairly deep water so we left them to await the coasties and came in.

The weather was fabulous today - sunny and maybe mid 70' in the afternoon. 3' swells with a >10s period wind < 10 kts. Ideal for fishing. It looks like it will be nice tommorow, OK on Wed, a little tough on Thurs and downright nasty on Friday. I'll probably be leaving Fri. AM as a result. Tomorrow, it's up EARLY and I"m going out for king salmon. I've got some good intel that should help with that. I'll update again after tomorrow.

[hardee]

rogerbum, Sure would rather be out on the boat, even fishing, than going to work today. I envy some of those first, "open ocean, fish on board" ect and had considered coming out and then making the run across to Uculet and then up to Port Alberni but will have to wait until the schedule allows for travel time flexibility, (can't count on crossing weather matching work schedules). Sure have been enjoying your posts though. Wish you luck today on the BIG salmon.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Jazzmanic]

Roger,

Sorry to hear of the small attendance. Of course I feel that I didn't do my part as well and I'm sorry that things couldn't have worked out so that I could have attended. It was killing me knowing that we were in Kalaloch, just an hour away on the coast, while you were up there in Neah Bay catching some salmon. Thank you for your posts of the trip. I think you made the right choice in holding out for some big kings. I'm certain that your patience will be rewarded.

Be sure to let us know how you and Jim and Jan did today. Good luck, here's hoping for fair seas and big fish!

Peter

[rogerbum]

Well today it was back to salmon fishing again. We did well and put two nice coho in the box in the first 8 mins. After that I went deep looking kings. Didn't find any so later in the day we pulled up and finished out our coho limits (2 guys, 4 fish). Had 2 over 10# and one around 13.4#.

Jim and Janet were psyched. It was fun to see them so happy with their new experiences. They got their first salmon in the boat and released a few wilds. Tomorrow they will get some more fish (and so will I).

[rogerbum]

Today I got out a little earlier and without fog to slow us down, we had lines in the water outside of Tatoosh by 6AM. We trolled just S of Tatoosh for an hour or so looking for the odd king with no luck. So as per plan, I went down to Umatilla Reef again. Lines were in the water there about 7:45 and the first two fish were in the box in about 15 mins (both coho, both around 9-10#). The next two fish took a bit longer but we limited on salmon by about 9:45. All coho, the average size was maybe 10#. We then ran over to Cape Alava for bottom fish and we limited on rock cod (mostly black rock cod) by about 11:15. Checked my crab pot on the way back in and had a couple of legal size males but the were a bit soft on the shell and went back. So, I wasn't able to do the "trifecta" of limits of salmon, bottom fish AND crab but it was still a pretty darn nice day.

The weather was great most of today - clear and sunny with long period 4-5' swells. Not much wind until about 2PM, but I was off the water by then anyway. Jim and Janet of Castaway were out in the same places at about the same time, fishing the same gear at the same depth and came away with nothing. I don't get it, they must not have been holding their mouths right..... They're on their way over to the cabin I'm in for some wine and we'll discuss what went wrong and right today.

[rogerbum]

Well, one last update on the Neah Bay trip. Thurs the fishing was tougher. I had a different guy on board and let's just say he was less experienced. We lost many fish early on including one that he had in the net. I had given him netting instructions and told him how to hold the bottom of the net against the handle until the fish was netted but I guess I didn't clearly indicate that you should release the bottom. Anyway a 12-13# coho flopped around in the completely flat net for a few seconds, and then got loose. So it took until 2PM to limit on salmon on Thurs. Friday the swells were up to about 8' and I had to be out of the cabin by noonish. So we only fished 1/2 the day and scratched out 2 fish. Again, we could have limited had we not lost so many, but that guy will be more experienced next time around.

All total, I fished for salmon 7.5 days and limited everyone on the boat on 6 days, got 2/3 of a limit on one day when we spent hours trolling deep and throwing back legal coho in an attempt to get a large king, and got 1/2 a limit in half a day on the last day. I fished for bottom fish exclusively on 2 days and combined bottom fish with salmon on another 2 days. Limited everyone on the boat on bottom fish all 4 of those days. Fishing was a bit tougher this year than last year but I was still able to get my fish, it just took a little longer and I didn't get to nap in the afternoons at all. Needless to say, I'm bushed after doing this 9 days in a row so this weekend I'm taking a vacation from my vacation.

Other things:
I did screw up big time on Wed. I normally stow my downrigger weights in the holders on the corners of the boat and have never had a problem with that. On Wed. I took some air going over a larger than expected wave and both weights launched off the back. One beat up the port prop a bit (good thing I have a spare) and the other did some damage to the fins on the lower unit on the starboard side. Both engines remained functional but the starboard side one is missing a piece of the horizontal fin. Seemed to operate fine but looks ugly. That one will cost me some $'s (more business for Les I guess). However, it could have been much worse. On the bright side, I have a little over 1000 hours on both engines and this is the worst I've done to them.

We saw lots of different types of wildlife. Tons of birds or all sorts, lots of harbor porpoises, dozens grey whales and many seals and sea lions. On Sunday, we had a seal grab a 28" ling that my buddy was reeling in. After a protracted battle in which I kept back down towards the seal, he decided to release the fish. We boated the fish and it had only minor surface scratches. I wouldn't have minded feeding the fish to the seal but I wanted my jig back. On Thurs, we were visited at very close range by a pod of 4 orcas. They surfaced about 30' off my port stern corner and went right across the back of the boat. I haven't been so close to a whale in my boat before. They're pretty darn big animals and they created a 3' or so wake when they surfaced. Very cool!

Jim and Janet left on Fri. AM after I went out fishing and before I returned. They're a great couple and seemed to have a very good time. I enjoyed teaching them what little I know about salmon and bottom fishing and we had a good time drinking and eating on Wed. evening. They brought me two very nice bottles of wine to thank me for spending some time showing Jim what tackle to buy and how to rig it. I'm looking forward to consuming those sometime soon.

If anyone ever wants to go out to Neah Bay and stay in someplace nice, I will again highly recommend Hobuck Beach Resort. The cabins were pretty nice and the camping/RV park looks to be a big step up from the ones in town. Everything is right on the beach in Makah Bay and when it's clear, the views are spectacular. Also, there's a new place to eat - Linda's Woodfired Bakery. It's still under construction but the oven is up and operational and Linda was making wood fired pizza. The pizza was excellent. Handmade crust, home-made sauce, home made sausage, fresh herbs and fresh wild chanterelle mushrooms for $2 more. By next year, she intends to be operating a complete bakery with bread made in the wood fired oven and a variety of other treats. She'll also be renting out rooms upstairs (a B&B without the breakfast). Her husband is an excellent carver and makes some very nice (and very expensive) coastal indian masks. I may check that place out as a place to stay when they open for that.

During the trip, I put 539NM on the boat (620 statute miles). I filled it prior to leaving and every day during the trip except for the last one. My total fuel usage was 128.2 gallons so my average mileage was 4.2NM/gal or 4.8MPG. This was a mixture of trolling, low speed motoring in the fog and high speed motoring to and from fishing grounds. This seems too good to be true so I had to go back to my receipts and check to make sure they didn't miss charging me for a day of fuel. However, after checking, they charged me every day and every day was the correct amount. So the fuel mileage was great and even at $4.45/gal, my fuel bill was a little lower than last year. I guess I'm getting more efficient with my fishing and I know I was running a bit slower on average.

All-in-all, it was a great trip and it's too bad more brats couldn't make it out. Maybe next year.... Next year, I'll probably go out a 2-4 weeks earlier so I can catch kings in the straits. Also, then it won't be so close to the Bellinham gathering and maybe more brats will come on out.

[hardee]

Roger,
Sounds like you had a pretty waymore than decent week. Loved the wildlife report. It would be worth it to me just for that. Maybe by next year we can think about fishing. I would like to put a few wild caught into the freezer. We will be watching for your plans for next year.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Cast Away]

The crew of Cast Away returned from the 08 Neah Bay CBGT with perma-grins after our 3 days of salmon fishing adventure.

Some of our highlights:

1. Meeting with Roger on his lunch hour at a downtown Seattle sporting goods shop to purchase the proper saltwater tackle. I've done some freshwater fishing but saltwater is a new ball game. The only carry-over gear I had were a couple of Abu Garcia 6500TC reels. Oh, I also had a Ranger octogon net which was given to me by some divers I met at Friday Harbor in the summer of 2007. As we were filling the cart, Rodger would explain the whys and wherefors of the various lures, flashers, lines etc.

2. Finding out my tow rig (91 Jeep Cherokee) not only had a failed motor rear main seal but also a worn crankshaft main bearing.(No doubt caused by the failed seal!) I had known about the failed seal and allocated a day to replace it, (I've done this before on the rig) but upon dropping the oil pan found metal shavings! The bright side was that it appeared as the crankshaft had not been scored to the point (time will tell;it actually felt smooth) of requiring it to pulled and turned. Anyways I ordered a set of bearings (overnighted from Spokane!;couldn't find a source in Seattle) After getting stuff back together I tested the repair by driving to a sporting goods store about 20 miles away and bought a couple more spoons and flashers, then drove to another sporting goods store and looked at more tackle! Good news no oil leaks and good oil pressure!

3. After trailering down Whidbey Island, Jan and I pulled into Ft. Ebey State Park http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Fort+Ebey at about 1930 and were fortunate enough to get a campsite without a reservation. The park was a nice stop off point since it was only 10 miles to the Keystone ferry terminal where we would catch a 0715 Keystone to Port Townsend ferry. In fact we liked the park so much we reserved a night for our return leg.

4. After arriving in Neah Bay at about 1130 am we call Roger to see where he was fishing, well, he and his buddys have already limited bottom fish (Monday, no salmon fishing today in our area) and are motoring in to dock! Wow! After docking Cast Away in the slip next to SeaDNA (maybe some fishing expertise will rub off) we check out the days catch and its very impressive - a large cooler full of bottom fish. Seeing those fish provided good motivation to start the trip off with,
especially when you give your spouse the "yes dear, we really want to get up at 4:30 am" line. We had already decided we would spend the day just getting our tackle ready and rodholders mounted. Frankly, I was just happy to relax after a couple of days getting close and personal with that Jeep! Later that afternoon, Rodger comes by and he outlines the fishing strategy for the following day - locations for Coho, Chinook and bottomfish as well as helping us tie up stuff with fancy knots all with verying degrees of breakage probabilities. The swell reports at http://www.wetsand.com/swellwatch/swellwatch.asp?CatId=292 looked good. The weather forecast called for sun. We were jazzed.

5. Tuesday 8/12/08 0600: SeaDNA has already headed out into the F-O-G for the morning in search of a King or two .The crew of Cast Away is busily putting away breakfast makings, detaching shorepower cords and generally NOT fishing. And whats with the FOG!!!! Now I understand why Rodger offhandedly asked if we were equipped with radar. Fortunately we had used our radar in good weather so at least we knew in general how stuff looked. On exiting the breakwater we tuck Cast Away about 300yds behind a large commercial fishing boat making way at about 4kts and visually scan the peasoup for threats. After venturing around Cape Flattery we were still in the fog, so to speak, and made for the area known as "the tabletop".

The fog was lifting to the point where we could see a mile or so and it was really something to be out in the ocean. Neither Jan nor I had spent any time on a boat in the open ocean. We both had taken some Bonine (seasickness med;tks Roger) and were handling the wave swells pretty well, it was nice to get a first taste in these smaller swells. We found
ourselves south of "tabletop" and decided to get our gear in the water and just fish our way up.At about 0820 am, as we manuevered around some kelp I remember looking back from the cabin (I was probably checking our bearings w/the pilot) and see a line that had come free from the downrigger release, "oh great we've snagged some kelp", I thought, but as I began to reel in I feel a tugging action that is definitely not kelp! I yell to Jan that we've got a fish on and to get the net. Jan, try as she may cannot reach the net (and shes not about to stand on the narrow gunwale in those swells) which is cleverly stowed in the newly installed rodholder on the radar arch. I pass the rod to Jan (tag-team fishing!) get the net down;bring up the ball and swing the downrigger out of the way so we can net the fish. Jan holds her own and more and the fish is noticeably closer when I take the rod back from her. The reel is being seriously stressed by the fish (too high gear ratio,too light weight reel) and I finally ease the salmon up to side where Jan has the net ready to slide under and net the salmon. Yahoo its a nice hatchery Coho! The fish, flops around spraying some blood until I bonk it. I attach it to the fish stringer slice the gills to bleed, scan for seals and sealions and drop it off the rear cleat. That first salmon will always be a great memory! At 0900 we have another fish on! It turns out to be a wild Coho so we release it. SeaDNA hails us and we relay the news of the mornings action. Roger congratulates us and asks us to let him know when we've limited. Uh huh. We get several more bites - 2 close enough to the boat to see the salmon's eyes before they self-release, but no more netted aboard. After we returned to the Marina I take our salmon to Ralph for filleting. He's a true pro and quickly with no waste, cuts 2 nice fillets. I'm a big believer in vacuum sealing, and Jan and I cut up portions, vacuum sealing them for freezing. Later, SeaDNA returns to dock with limits of salmon. I ask a few questions and decide maybe we'll head down to a table off Umatilla Reef tomorrow.

After dinner we turn in around 2100 eagerly anticipating the next days salmon adventures.

6. Wednesday 8/13/08 0530: We're out of the gates improving on yesterday departure time by 30 minutes! Its a beautiful clear morning and the sun is just beginning to peak over the Olympic Mountains as we venture out. We head to Umatilla Reef where SeaDNA had done very well the previous day. Roger hails us and already has 2 keepers in a very short span. We've got our lines in the water and can see SeaDNA 1/2 mile to the north of our position. Strangely after yesterday's bite excitement this morning is really dead for us. We get another hailing from SeaDNA and it sounds as though they could catch salmon with their bare hands! I mentioned to Roger the only action we've had was when I hooked my trouser pant leg earlier that morning. Roger replied, "well maybe you're not holding your mouth right". Sheer profundity. Around 1100 we had a real nice salmon hooked unfortunately it decided it wanted to go to the opposite side from where we were prepared to net it and as Jan and I were passing the rod there was a slight release of tension on the line and the fish was gone. We decided to head to "tabletop" where we have one more bite but nothing netted. It was a beatiful day on the water just no fish. We see the crew of SeaDNA at the docks and they had limited on salmon and bottom fish. How do they do it? Obviously they are holding their mouths right! We arrange to meet at Roger's cabin at the Hobuck Resort for some wine and fishing strategizing. Jan and I had a very enjoyable evening with Roger and his fishing buddy and enjoyed some dandy wine.

7. Thursday 8/14/08 0515: We again improved on our departure time. The swells were getting larger but still quite manageable. Very nice weather. We decided to give the Umatilla Reef fishing grounds another shot since SeaDNA had struck gold there for several days. One huge miscalculation on my part dealt with our fuel situtation. I had decided that it would be nice if our boat fuel tanks were pretty empty for the trailering home so opted not to refuel the day before, which didn't leave us with enough fuel to go to "tabletop" if we didn't have success at Umatilla Reef. Bad decision. Had virtually no bites at Umatilla so we would have to make the 20 mile run to fuel up. (going 10kts because of the swells) After fueling we decided to try some fishing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards Sekiu. Also one of our reels gave out so we only fished one pole.

8. Friday 8/15/08 0830: No fishing for us today. Uncomfortable swell predictions as well as small craft advisory for the Strait of Juan de Fuca make it our departure day. We have reservations on the 1845 Port Townsend to Keystone ferry and a pullthrough campsite reserved for the evening at Fort Ebey State Park. We settle our bill, retrieve Cast Away at about 1100, get our salmon out of the Big Salmon Resort Freezer and head for home. On the way to catch the ferry we stop in at John Wayne Marina at Sequim Bay (very nice marina!) to rest for an hour and as I'm walking through the parking lot towards our rig I hear someone call my name. I turn around and Roger from Dreamer is standing there. Talk about C-Brat karma! It turned out the crew of Dreamer were just getting ready to make way to the 08 Bellingham CBGT! Quick hellos/byes and Dreamer was heading off into the Stait.

9. Saturday 8/16/08 1600: After cleaning the boat and arriving home, we unthawed one of the seal-a-mealed Neah Bay Coho portions and bar-b-qed it on some charcoal briquettes. Easily the best Coho salmon I have ever eaten!


Thank you Roger for organizing the 2008 Neah Bay CBGT, thanks for sharing your knowledge of fishing at Neah Bay! We had a blast and are looking foward to next year!

Jim

[Jazzmanic]

Nice account, Jim & Jan. Yeah, Roger is a pro at catching them salmon in the ocean. Good for you two for giving it a go. At least you caught one, don't worry, there will be plenty more with a little more practice. I wish I coulda been there but you know how comittments tend to get in the way. Oh well, maybe next year!

Peter
C-Dancer