08/07 - 08/17 - Neah Bay Gathering
- Thread starter rogerbum
- Start date
Joe,
The salmon "season" for the area around Neah Bay is ostensibly open during this trip but due to a very low quota this year, it is likely the season will be closed by the time we get there. HOWEVER, the bottom fishing season is unaffected and if worse comes to worse, we can still fish for ling cod and rock cod. With a 10 fish rock cod limit per person/per day + up to 5 other bottom fish (no more than 2 of which may be ling cod and no more than 2 of which may be cabezon), there will still be plenty of fish to be caught.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the season won't be close in August, but we'll have to see.
The salmon "season" for the area around Neah Bay is ostensibly open during this trip but due to a very low quota this year, it is likely the season will be closed by the time we get there. HOWEVER, the bottom fishing season is unaffected and if worse comes to worse, we can still fish for ling cod and rock cod. With a 10 fish rock cod limit per person/per day + up to 5 other bottom fish (no more than 2 of which may be ling cod and no more than 2 of which may be cabezon), there will still be plenty of fish to be caught.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the season won't be close in August, but we'll have to see.
Cutty Sark
New member
I have to bag out on this one 
. My wife's best friend decided to get married on the same weekend in eastern washington. And I have been informed I will be going :shock: I'm extremly bummed out. I will still make Neah bay this year but will not make this trip. Damn.
Sark
. My wife's best friend decided to get married on the same weekend in eastern washington. And I have been informed I will be going :shock: I'm extremly bummed out. I will still make Neah bay this year but will not make this trip. Damn.Sark
Cutty Sark":15nvkn14 said:I have to bag out on this one
Sark
Sark,
That's too bad. I'll probably go out in early June to do some scouting and to hit the chinook opener. Probably will hit it 2-3 times prior to August. PM me and perhaps we can coordinate an alternate time with you and I.
Anyone know if the Halibut out of Neah is good? I was thinking of crusing the San Juans this week, but if the Halibut is good I might just have to change my plans. :smileo My goal this year is to catch one of these awesome fish - I'm hoping the season hasn't been closed just yet as I haven't checked in a few weeks. :smilep
Yep - the above is correct. You will need a Canadian license purchased in Canada (NOT ONLINE) if you wish to fish for halibut out of Neah Bay in August. Of course you would have to fish on the Canadian side AND you can't fish in US waters on your way back from Canadian waters IF you have a fish on board that would not be legal if caught in said american waters. There's decent halibut fishing w/i 25 miles or so of Neah Bay in Canadian waters.
It's also true that the salmon season in area 4 may be closed by then. However, we'll probably still be able to fish for salmon in area 5 (a 10-15 mile run). In addition, we'll certainly be able to fish for bottom fish in area 4. I've got a number of good spots for good rock cod/ling cod catching in area 4.
It's also true that the salmon season in area 4 may be closed by then. However, we'll probably still be able to fish for salmon in area 5 (a 10-15 mile run). In addition, we'll certainly be able to fish for bottom fish in area 4. I've got a number of good spots for good rock cod/ling cod catching in area 4.
We are going to be able to join as well! What a great spot to vacation from. We'll spend a few days in Neah and enjoy fishing and what not, then onto the San Juans for some exploring as we haven't been there yet. We will then enjoy the gathering in Bellingham!! Fishing for Cod, a week of exploring, sounds like a great time!!
Well we're just about 1 month away from the Neah Bay CBGT. So:
1) Those who are planning on coming please confirm.
2) Those who are thinking about it, jump on it.
3) It would be a good idea to reconfirm your moorage reservations with Big Salmon Resort - they are notorious for losing track of such things.
4) I'll do a brief fishing seminar/intro to the area on Friday evening. I have a room reserved on Saturday for our pot luck. The museum out there is a great place to visit as is Cape Flattery trail.
I look forward to seeing old friends and making some new ones. :thup
1) Those who are planning on coming please confirm.
2) Those who are thinking about it, jump on it.
3) It would be a good idea to reconfirm your moorage reservations with Big Salmon Resort - they are notorious for losing track of such things.
4) I'll do a brief fishing seminar/intro to the area on Friday evening. I have a room reserved on Saturday for our pot luck. The museum out there is a great place to visit as is Cape Flattery trail.
I look forward to seeing old friends and making some new ones. :thup
C-Dawg":8hnduolm said:
I'll be arriving on the 7th myself. I'll probably get there around 10/11AM. So depending on your arrival time, we can go out together. Here's a few brief pointers
Bottom fish (rock cod and ling cod)
How:
1) Almost anything with hooks on it works for rock cod if you can get it in their face. I feel like green, green/orange or white tend to produce a little better with my favorite being a green/orange 4-6oz dart.
2) If you are fishing for rock cod, you will be in rocks and if you're not loosing some gear, you're probably not catching as many fish as possible (e.g. you generally have to be near/on the bottom). So buy the cheapest darts you can get. You don't need the fancy holographic images for these fish. I piece of lead with some paint will do. I usually pay about $4/lure. A good place to pick up such lures is Swains in Port Angeles.
3) You can reduce the number of lost lures by putting the hooks on VERY short leaders off of the top of the lure (sometimes called a stinger hook). If you put on two stinger hooks and take the bottom hook off, you'll catch just almost as many fish with very little lost gear. You can make your own stinger hooks or buy them pre-made at many good tackle shops (and Cabellas).
4) I found it's much better to cruise around rocky areas (points are good) to find schools of fish than it is to simply fish in areas that have the proper structure. What I do is to go to the "correct" type of area (rocky areas with structure - points, humps, shelves, ledges etc), and then cruise around with the sounder on until I find a good school. Then I position the boat up wind/up current of the school and drift back over it. When I find a good school of black rock cod (sometimes they're a few 100 ft across), everyone is hooked up w/i 20-30s of dropping the lure. We reel up as fast as we can, throw the fish on the cockpit floor and drop the lures again. With a big school and a nice slow drift (low winds), we can often bring in 2-3 fish/person until we drift off the school. Then, I drive back up current while others in the boat stow the fish and we repeat the process. Occasionally, I lose the school and we go hunting for another. I've found this to be MUCH more effective the randomly fishing what looks like good structure.
5) You'll probably catch some kelp greenling. These make excellent ling cod bait.
Where:
There are many good places to bottom fish near Neah Bay. My favorite spots are down towards Cape Alava (about 10-15 miles S of Tatoosh). In general, the farther you get from the marina, the easier it is to find legal size ling cod. Also, the rock cod are more plentiful. However, you can catch rock and ling cod at many closer locations. The rocks around Tatoosh are quite popular spots as are many of the rocks within 1-2 miles S of Tatoosh. Note that you need to fish shorewards of the 20 fathom line (required by the regs to protect yellow eye - you can't retain yelloweye or canary rock fish).
Salmon Fishing
How:
There's a previous thread I started on this. It covers my favorite tackle and methods plus some info from others. You can find it here.
Where:
This will be dependent on whether the salmon season is still open in area 4 when we get there. If it is:
a) just off the NE corner of Waddah Island early in the AM is a good spot for Kings.
b) Most coho in the straits are caught near the center of the straits in water that is 300-600' deep while trolling 20-40' down.
c) Duncan rock can be good.
d) Just W of Waddah about 3-4 miles, there's a big underwater peninsula that points NW. There's a reliable tide line that forms here on the exchanges, fishing in 150-200 foot of water along this line is usually good.
e) In the past few years, salmon have been late to enter the straits so fishing has been MUCH better offshore. Favorite spots include:
i) Blue Dot - 25 miles W of Tatoosh. A long run but generally AWESOME for salmon. I caught 8 fish there in about 15 mins last year - couldn't even get more than one line out and coho were hitting before I could get the line clipped into the downrigger.
ii) Table top - A plateau about 6-8 W of Tatoosh. Probably the closest reliable place to find salmon. I like either the far W edge or the NE corner. Try the NW corner first. It's closest and it's located at the end of a canyon that comes up from over 1200' deep to about 360'. There's a big upwelling here and lots of bait fish.
iii) "Limp spot" - this is a contour that is about 8-12 miles SSW of Tatoosh. When the map is oriented with N up, it looks like a limp piece of the male anatomy. Fish the edge near the canyon.
iv) 3-4 miles W of Cape Alava is the Umatilla reef. Fishing is often quite good here.
GPS coordinates for all of the spots above are available at Big Salmon Resort.
bshillam":10fwhb77 said:
It's about 115 miles from Bellingham to Neah. How long depends on speed which can depend heavily on the weather/wind. August normally bring pretty good weather to the straits and Neah bay but there is often a W wind that can pick up to 15-25kts in the afternoon. As that blows down the strait, it can bring good size swells and wind chop with it. So some days, you will be constrained to 10kts or less. That makes for a long trip. You can break up the trip with a stop at Port Angeles (that makes the distance a little longer as the shortest path from Bellingham would have you on the Canadian side of the strait for much of the way).
john schuler
New member
I and my neighbor Mike who now has Clara would like to get in on some of
this get together. Is it to late? Who should I contact ? We would be boating from Anacortes. Would any one like to flotella out with us?
:smiled john schuler :smiled
this get together. Is it to late? Who should I contact ? We would be boating from Anacortes. Would any one like to flotella out with us?
:smiled john schuler :smiled
I've decided to I won't be going to Neah Bay this year -- the iffy salmon season is one reason but the main reason is my daughter will be with me and I think she would enjoy a cruise north more. We'll be stopping at the Bellingham CBGT on the way back.
Roger, do I need to do anything? Thanks for all the great tips earlier in this thread.
Warren
Roger, do I need to do anything? Thanks for all the great tips earlier in this thread.
Warren
Sorry Roger but I too am bowing out of this year's trip to Neah Bay. It looks like the salmon quota will probably be up by then and I'm opting not to tow the boat such a long distance this year.
I hope there's still a decent turnout. Maybe if you're planning to do it again next year, it can be planned for mid-July rather than August?
I hope there's still a decent turnout. Maybe if you're planning to do it again next year, it can be planned for mid-July rather than August?
