Let the carnage begin...

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:43 pm Post subject: Let the carnage begin...

Well, I'm out here at Neah Bay and will be fishing for salmon about 0 dark thirty (maybe 4AM). From what I hear, king salmon fishing has been off the hook out here with the best fishing seen in the past 10-15 years. I'll report back tomorrow with pictures. I anticipate 1 king, 1 coho and 2 pinks per person for a 3 person crew by the time the day is over.

CAVU · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:26 am Post subject:

Sounds great Roger. Wish I could join you. My salmon low-level light has been blinking for weeks. Looking forward to the pix.

starcrafttom · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:17 pm Post subject:

Go get them!!!!!!!! and use a good release.

Dreamer · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:16 pm Post subject:

Roger,

I'm sure Tom means, use good herbs and spices to Release the fine flavor! Happy hunting!

colvosview · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:26 pm Post subject:

Best of luck, Roger! Wish I was there!

Desolation Cruiser · Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject:

My Motto is Fillet and release Laughing

rogerbum · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:47 am Post subject:

Well here's a brief report of the carnage that ensued.

Sorry this took so long and sorry my "daily reports" didn't happen. My internet access was minimal at the cabins (signal faded in and out) and was dead tired at the end of each day.

Monday - 7/6 - We got off to a late start as I spent all weekend repairing various little bits on the boat (replaced a bilge pump, replaced some switches, waxed the boat, unloaded five years of misc. gear that I never really use etc). We arrived at Neah Bay around 2PM, got the boat in the water and decided against bottom fishing as the weather was so-so.

Tues 7/7. Got up at 4AM and went out by about 4:45. Fished around Waddah until about 9AM. We caught several native silvers but couldn't land a king or a legal silver. Ran out to fish Table Top for silvers. Weather was foggy, raining and 15-20kt winds. We got a legal silver each and released about 15 nates. Both my wife and my dog started looking a little green so we went in with 1/2 a limit. My first day in 30 in which I didn't limit everyone on the boat at Neah (but I've been fishing August for the past 4-5 years).

Wed. 7/8 Got up at 4AM and went out by about 4:45. Fished Table Top and Limp Spot. Ran a line deep for kings with no luck but got 5 nice hatchery silvers (one short of the limit for 3 guys). Fished a little for bottom fish but the wind was blowing too hard to make it fun so we came back in. The commercial guys were out in force trolling the 240' contour from the S. end of Table top to Umatilla. We were in that same crowd but didn't find a king.

Thurs. 7/9 The best day weather wise of the week. We fished in close by mushroom rocks in the early AM to look for kings (others had done well there earlier and the previous week). We caught a several silvers but no kings. Went out to troll the 240 contour with the commercials and wound up limiting out on nice size silvers. Then moved down to Cape Alava and eventually limited out on bottom fish (mostly black rock cod). Took until about 4PM so it was 7PM by the time we got back, got the fish cleaned and vacuum packed 'em all. A 3rd very long day.

Fri. 7/10. Again headed out to the 240 line between Limp spot and Umatilla. The wind was up a bit (10-15kts and we had 2-3' of chop on top of fairly low swells (2-4', 8-10s). Limp spot was OK for silvers but even with 2 lines deep, no kings for us. Caught silvers all the way down at 250'. We finished with 1 shy of a limit.

Sat. 7/11. Fished Waddah from about 4:45AM until 9AM and caught 2 legal silvers and a bunch of nate silvers. Again no kings. Also caught a yellow eye and a canary (both released of course) about 40' off the bottom while trolling. Punched my wife's card for the silvers, ran in for breakfast and dropped her and the fish off. Went back out and decided to try the deep water in the mid straits for silvers (wind was up and I was tired of fighting it in the ocean). We caught a few nates, but it definitely was NOT on fire. Around 1PM we moved down to about 300' of water just north of mushroom rocks. That put us in the shadow of Tatoosh and sheltered us from 15-20kt winds. We fished there for a couple of hours and eventually picked up 3 more hatchery silvers (4-6 lbs). Then in about 5 mins, the wind went from calm behind Tatoosh to about 30-40kts. It was still fishable but only going east. We trolled in that direction and finally picked up our last legal silver.

Summary - While some kings were caught by others last week, the king fishing was not near as hot as it was the week prior to my arrival (isn't it always the case? "You should've been here last week"). However, the silver fishing was pretty good for this time of year, especially relative to the past two years when you couldn't get a silver in the straits to save your life until about late August. The silvers outside the straits were averaging 6-8 lbs which is big for this time of year. I let a few nates go that were 10-12 - I would like to see those same fish in Sept. The commercial guys were still doing OK for kings but most all of them were fishing the 240 contour I mentioned above. Fishing will only get better as time goes on so I think August will be fantastic out there. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures. None of the fish were "photo worthy" in my book. Just nice, average silvers and some rock fish. I'll be out several more times this year and will hopefully get some better (photo worthy) fish.

Wandering Sagebrush · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:38 am Post subject: Salmon Carnage

Roger,

Good luck on stocking the freezer. I am out tomorrow, through the end of the week at Garibaldi. I put two silvers in the boat on a rough day last week. Hopefully better seas this week.

With a little luck, maybe a run for tuna.

Steve

Larry Q · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:43 am Post subject:

Roger-
Glad to see you got out for a few days! Even if fishing wasn't great it was better than being at work.
I took two friends out of Westport on Sunday and we caught two kings( mid teens) and four silvers between 5 and 9 pounds. The best part was we did not catch a native fish and were back at the dock by 1pm.

lloyds · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:58 am Post subject:

You ought to do well steve, the guys at work are not at work, they are killling them out of newport when they can get out. Tuna and coho both. Looks like maybe friday will be doable for coho so I might head over to newport and test the waters. There are a lot of fish this year.

Catch 22 · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject:

i got a 15# king out of elliot bay on saturday, gonna be in areas 9 and 10 thursday to try and get some fish on the opener for hatchery kings, sounds like there are some fish making their way in...

Jazzmanic · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:45 am Post subject:

Thanks for the update Roger. Looks like you had another good year catching silvers. Way to go!