went to the end of the south jettie yesterday trying to catch a fish, caught one greenling. what is the best time to go there like when,and what tides? Has any body ever you used a fly rod there if so did you have much luck? caught the greenling drop shotting a sculphin fillet. what about fishing for perch there? and is salmon fishing pretty good there in the summer? sorry for all the questions but really like that kinfd of fishing.

those darker rocks about halfway are a SOB

RF,
The 'seabass', "black rockfish', "bombers", etc.. seem to fish well during the summer months. I used to allways try to hit the jetty right at dusk or daylight on a high slack or and hour before/after. Low slack is not a bad bet, but thinking that everything seems to flush in and out of Grays Harbor with the tides it makes sense that high slack is better. Calm weather definately helps (as well as safer of course).

Patterns...anything pink , white, combo of the two. I just tied up white crystal buggers with red thread and some red or pink krystal flash in the tail. Used a 9 ft. 5-6 wt rod and a floating line with a 10 foot leader (wieghted fly of course). The schools of rockfish would forage just below the surface at dusk and fairly close to the jetty.

Try Shewey's book...I think its called flyfishing and beyond for patterns and descriptions. Has a pic of him getting blasted in the surf while double hauling. DON'T forget surf perch while you are at the jetty....good all the way from the jety to Tokeland.

I'd go with a 6wt on a calm day with little to no wind and calm seas, but would use an 8wt for times when the wind is blowing.

Perch: April & May are when they are present in large numbers. However, there are some around anytime and usually you need not walk far out on the jetty. They can be taken anytime that they're hungry. I would recommend that you use a stainless steel O' Shaughnessy size 2 or smaller.

Greenling: As always, look for "fishy" holes. Once again I'd recommend using either O' Shaughnessy or some other long shanked hook. These guys tend to swallow the hook deep, so use the largest hook your rod/reel/leader can handle. Also, use a bite tippet.

Rockfish: Search out the deeper waters as well as areas where kelp is present. Keying in on large submerged rocks is a factor as well.

For any of the above species I highly recommend the use of heavy leaders, weed guards and of course long shanked hooks.

Fishing when it is calm is always a pleasure. In the later part of spring, early summer when schools of baby candlefish are cruising up and down the jetty, using a clouser minnow with dumbbell eyes will likely put you into rockfish, greenling, and even lingcod or salmon.

I'm sure that if you've ever hiked to the end of the jetty you are well aware of the hazards of rockhopping. Notice that the jetty is comprised of three sections. The section closest to the beach is easy to navigate. Then you come to the section where the going isn't nearly as easy. WARNING!!!: If the rocks are even the slightest bit moist, take extreme caution and make sure you have very good footing. There is a boulder that has 4 bolts sticking out of it and is spray painted some bright color. Novices advised not to proceed beyond this marker. From here on, there are crevices to contend with and as you walk further out, gaps between rocks become larger. Rocks are larger too, but you'll at times find yourself standing on a rock edge no bigger than your shoe. This is where experience counts. If you somehow manage to survive this rough terrain and make it to what I call the danger zone, then bravo! The danger zone is EXTREME, rocks are separated by chasms and covered wth bird poop as well as crushed shells. Great rewards await the angler who persists and reaches the end.

Usually either side of the tip of the jetty(bayside or surfside) are productive for large fish. As expected, it is usually windy and so dress warmly. The surfside is where the backeddy is located. When the wind gets nasty, get the heck out of there! Another note: wind slows down your travel esp when you are going over the rough terrain carrying fish. The bayside is the place to be whenever the salmon season is open and the weather doesn't call for high winds. Fish are close to the rocks, but hanging deep.

Whoops, almost forgot to mention the colors to use. Chartreuse, green, blue, white are standard saltwater colors. And just about anything else except red could also be tried

Shrimp patterns as well as minnow patterns ought to draw strikes. Don't think it's been thought of before, but a monster scud pattern tied on a curved shank hook could prove effective. For a realistic shrimp imitation, I have thought about using a glo bug yarn body, monofilament legs, clear plastic shell, and lead wire eyes.

Oh yeah, rabbit strip is excellent for rockfish, esp in white. Marabou is also good. Never tried it, but big buggy patterns fished with a tiny split shot could potentially draw out aggressive fish. If any cabezon are around, try fishing a crab imitation.

Good luck, I'm sure one of the above suggestions/advice/ideas will help you hook up.

hey thanks for the great replies, I remember those 4 bolts I was wondering why they were there. when we walked backed from the end there was a old man fishing where those rocks are washed out, thats kind of what it looks like about 4/5 of the way out. he looked about 70 years old. it was super windy thats why we went out so far because the rocks were dry from the wind. rockhopper have you ever fished off the neah bay jetty before? someone told me its worse then the south jetty, jumping over 5/6 ft crevices. I wonder how many people have fell before out there? if its dry this weekend I'm gonna try for surf perch out there. tight lines

I've thought about flycasting from the Neah Bay jetty for rockfish in the kelp beds. Never been there, so is that place open to the public or do you need some tribal permit? You are best off stickin to the South Jetty, the North Jetty at Ocean Shores is a *@#%!. When the wind picks up there and you got to go over the top to either side of the jetty it's kinda scary being buffetted by the wind. That place is way too snaggy for my likings, not to mention the water is sometimes sewage sludge brown.

hey rockhopper if you ever need some company going jettie fishing feel free to email. Ben