Neah Bay Whales

D

drbridge

New member
We went fishing at Neah Bay last Monday through Wednesday. Monday we went to Swift sure Bank. This was our first trip on the open Ocean and it was very memorable. The first thing we saw when we reached Swiftsure was the biggest bait ball we had ever seen boiling on the surface for as far as you could see. Looked like a good place to fish so we stated to set out the rods. Suddenly half a dozen humpback whales surfaced beside us on both sides behind us and in front of us with their mouths open and flailing around eating the bait fish. we watched them at point blank range for quite a while and then proceeded to fish. More whales continued to chase these bait fish. It went on the entire time we were out there. There was no telling where they would surface, but as soon as you saw the bait fish splashing on the surface you knew the whales were coming. One whale came out of nowhere and surfaced directly in front of us within 20 yards of our boat. How do you avoid that? There was at least 50 whales in the area and some people we talked to thought it was closer to 100. Other people we talked to said that they had been going to Neah Bay for 30 years and had never seen so many humpbacks. It was hard to concentrate on fishing with such a magnificent showing of these whales. We caught lots of little fish but none we could keep. Eventually it stated getting pretty rough and we headed in. We could only do 8 knots, so it took a couple of hours. The next day the whales thinned out but there were still quite a few around. We managed to catch a few nice fish.
So far we have made many memories in the few years we have been using our C-Dory. This is one we will never forget. We are very grateful for the time that this boat gives us on the water and we are looking forward to many more memories.

Doug & Susan
 
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story. Yes, it would be a little hard to concentrate on fishing with all that activity around you.
I'm heading out to Neah Bay next week for 5 days and would like to fish Swiftsure. How far from the harbor is it?
Maybe we will get lucky and see some whale activity, too.
Thanks!
 
More humpbacks in the Salish Sea this year than any I've seen before. I really enjoy seeing these big mammals. They go where the food source is... I am not a fisherman, but I watch the bait balls when I'm out on the whale watch boats. We found a humpback on the way to see Orcas a couple days ago this way.

Two days ago, at least 20 humpbacks near the shipping lane in de Fuca.
 
It took us 1 hour one way at 16Knots when the water was smooth. In rougher water we could only do 8 knots and it took 2 hours. We also saw whales out near Tatoosh island, but not as many. Tatoosh is only a half hour from the harbor.

Doug & Susan
 
Great, thanks for the info. We're excited to be out there and hope to take advantage of fishing from Neah Bay down to Tatoosh and if water cooperates, we'll go to Swiftsure since we've never been out there.
 
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