my kids and I will be on the island after the 8th of july, any suggestions on fish,shellfish,or other outdoor activities would be greatfully appriciated. p.s. we live in spokane and its a long way's away so I wont tell any secrets. LOL e-mail if you like. thanx in advance.

Bikes are a good idea. I live on Orcas for about a year, and that seemed to be a popular activity. Be considerate, though. I lost count of how many times I was on my way home and came upon a group of cyclist, 25 or so, stopped in the middle of the road! There are a few pay to play lakes on San Juan, check the Washington lakes BB and look for post about the San Juans. There was a post about that area within the last month. You did't mention if you had access to a boat. You could also check the local large hotels to see if there are charters or guided trips available. try SANJUAN.COM for additional info. Andy

My family is going to be there on the 9th of July staying at Roche Harbor. I've come up with a few guides and have done some of research about the island. If you have a boat, it's salmon, bottom fish and crabs. Email me for the details.

WRT bottomfish in Area 7 in July, the only thing you can keep is 1 rockfish per day per angler (not counting flatfish). Since you will likely hook as many Ling cod as rockfish, and you have to throw the Lings back, and they probably won't survive the round trip from 150' to 0' back to 150', consider NOT fishing specifically for bottomfish.

Just my $1/50.

The crabbing should be good, and salmon fishing along the NW coast of San Juan Island is a good bet.

Mike
Woodinville

Oops, make that the SW coast of San Juan Island.

thanx to all for the input we are sure to enjoy ourselves

be real careful on the shellfish they have had an out break of red tide all over the place so chech befor eating any enjoy, doug

The salmon fishing should be just starting to get good then. I spent my summers up in the sanjaun islands while I was growing up and learned how to mooch a ride on a boat when I was young and then by the time I was 12, 13 I was running my own boat. The west side of sanjaun is usaully pretty good, you will want to mooch a cut plug herring, use the sliding mooching wieghts and about 6 feet of leader. You will be fishing anywhere from 60 to about 140 feet of water. Look for good tide rips close to the points and of course keep an eye out for the birds.
Good luck!!
Superfly

WRT Red Tide, this applies mostly to clams and oysters, especially butter clams. Crab aren't as affected, as they aren't filter feeders and as such are once-removed from direct ingestion of the Red Tide boogers (they will eat affected clams, though). If you detach the leg clusters from the crabs BEFORE cooking, you are pretty much 100% safe.

You are also 100% safe on clams and oysters if you go to Westcott Bay and buy from the company there. They keep a VERY close eye on things, since they sell to highbrow restaurants. You can get there by boat or road.

Regards.

Mike
Woodinville