Westport for Albacore and Coho

[Beflyguy]

Since I'm getting tired of waiting for the Coho to arrive in the Strait and Puget Sound, I'm thinking of trying Westport. Reports are very good and many boats are getting tuna and limits of salmon. I don't have downriggers yet but I believe the tuna fishery is top-water and I know the Cohos are there much of the time. Does anyone have any experience at WP? The last time I was there was 30 years ago on a charter trip. I know the water temp is important for tuna and that the fish are 20-30 miles out.

[rogerbum]

I don't have experience out there but I'm going on a 1-day charter on Sept. 25th to get some. As I understand things, typically people either find schools that are jumping/surface feeding and throw live bait or soft plastics at them OR they troll with cedar plugs (or similar) until they get a couple of hook ups and then switch over to live bait. I also understand that things work best if you can keep at least one (or maybe two) fish in the water while you are working on getting your next hook up as that keeps the school near the surface. In either case, down riggers are not required.

I've also heard of people setting up a long 2x4 with eye hooks every 2 feet. From each eye hook, they run a rubber bungie cord as a snubber, followed by 40-80' of tuna cord and then a leader to either bait or a plug. They set this up with the outer most lines farther out and the inner ones closer so that the whole set up is like a reverse V. The board is rigged off the transom for trolling and then they hand line the tuna in. More of a harvesting than fishing operation but apparently it works.

If you do go, be sure to:
1) Bleed the fish into a bucket (or trash can) on board to keep the blood out of the water (less sharks).
2) Bleed the fish quickly when landed
3) Take PLENTY of ice and
4) Quickly gut the fish and pack it with ice.
Tuna are warm blooded and their body temp will be 6-8 degrees above water temp so the quicker you get them cooled down, the better.

[Beflyguy]

Thanks Roger,

Maybe I could let the fish bleed into the fish boxes but not pump them out until out of the fishing area. My fishboxes are insulated so I could pack one with ice. I don't think Ann wants to see all that blood so I'm looking for someone else that does.

[localboy]

No experience w/ tuna up here, but in Hawai'i I've done it a lot. Look for a "boil" (suface feeding) and birds. That's where you want to troll. They will be eager to bite. Plugs, rubber skirts etc will work. They love pink, lime green, tow-toned silver/blue (back home at least)...Live bait thrown out to keep the school at the surface is effecient, if you have the bait.

As Roger said, we also used hand line gear/technique. Rig consists of cording stuffed into 1-2' of surgical tubing (so the tubing can stretch but will only go as far a cording) and secured on each end with a tight wrap of cordage. Same cording goes out behind the boat to a swivel. From swivel back is mono with the rubber skirt/hook. We ran two of these center, close to the boat however, with two more rods outboard and two more on out riggers to form the "V". Love tuna fishing! And keep the heads if you crab...there is NO better bait than Aku/Kawakawa/Tombo Ahi* heads/gills. Nice and bloody and oily.

*Aku=skipjack tuna & Kawakawa=mackarel tuna & tombo ahi=albacore

[forrest]

Better hurry if you're going salmon fishing, it closes the 19th. It's been a banner year at Westport. I had to buy another punchcard. I left off at latitude 46-43 and the limits were easy. I was on a WDFW tagging trip this week and heard that there were quick limits straight out in 140 to 150 feet of water for silvers.

[Albie Back]

What Roger said & its faster to chill the fish in a slurry consisting of sea water and ice.

What we do is:
1. brain spike or hit it with a club
2. rip out 1 side of the gill
3. place fish in a bucket to bleed, 5-10 mins
4. gut & gill then into the slurry