Fishing for silvers out of Sekui next summer sounds like fun. Are there any places to rent boats in that area?

yeah olsen's resort in sekiu rents them out. Ben

I'd support Olsens, they work real hard lobbying the state to maximize recreational opportunity, certainly to ensure that their own business survives, but it helps all of us out too

It was a blast last year and the returns are supposed to be very close to the same numbers as last year.

Our highest number day last year was 68 fish to the boat.

-N.

Sekiu was a blast last Summer. We caught 280 fish on our boat, not including shakers. It was AWESOME! With the King prediction, there should be another great King season there beginning this July. I'll be up there most weekends, so stop by Coho resort and see me. They don't have boats for rent, but they have everything else.

Andy

Ah yes, Sekiu. If it's anything like it was last year, you won't want to miss it. Hell, even Dave Jackson could have caught fish out there last summer. Olsen's is the place. Get a room, rent a boat, go around the corner, and start spankin'.

Thanks guys!
July/aug for kings and aug/sept for silvers?

Phish,

The seasons haven't been set yet, but if they are going to be similar to last year which seems likely based on the pre-season forcasts, Kings will be on a quota. Last year the quota was 2000 fish which lasted about 10 days starting the first of July. Wild coho were released through Aug. 31st.

Bottom line, like others have said, be there and catch fish! Sekiu is a great place to be in the summertime.

Here's a link to last years Area 5 regs...
http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/fish/regs/2001/01regs-2.pdf

Van Riper's has boats too, so does Curley's. 16 ft. kicker boats with 15 horse Yamaha outboards. They work great since you don't have to go very far out to catch fish. 80 bucks a day was the going rate last year. Like everyone said Sekiu can be about the fastest fishing you'll find anywhere. I'll be there at least a couple of times this year. Hey Andy, I'll look you up at the Coho in August.

As I remember,the King quota was never reached last year.Or should I put down the pipe?

pass it down this way, I went the second weekend last year for my first trip and kings were closed so we went to neah bay and fished in smallcraft advisory all day saturday, but caught them mooching sunday, pretty fun. Ben

The quota was not reached on the first part of the opening. The area was closed based on extrapolated catch rate sampling, then opened again for a couple more days when EVERYONE figured out who got screwed and why. Clearly, based on the catch rates, they closed it too soon and had to re-open it to save face??? So did we catch our 2000? Maybe, maybe not. Go back and look at the creel data on the WDFW website for that area and see if you can figure it out. I'm not sure that it's an exact science they are applying up there.

All I can tell you is that you had better be there for the first two weekends if they open up kings again. I am planning on being there for a few days in a row so that I get my chance at those guys.

My boat only got to keep one king up there last year, but we caught over 40. They were definitely there in force. My dad was happy to get his 35 pounder, but sad to let it go.

Sekiu would get my vote for the July Flotilla during the king opener (as I pray to the quota gods). Lots of camping, good services, a few restaurants, and more than enough fish to go around. Shoot, even DJ could get fish there, and I bet RT would finally break his Flotilla skunk.

See you up there, 4Salt and Seacat.

Andy

Sekiu is indeed THE place to be in late Summer. The opener for Kings on July 1 last year was combat fishing at its finest, though. You'll never see so many boats and Nav lights unless there is a Lake Washington Sockeye fishery again.

The state record for saltwater-caught Coho was broken about 4 times up there in September. We saw about two dozen fish in the 20#-plus range including three that landed in our boat.

In three trips, early July, mid-August and Labor day week, we put over 200 fish in or to the boat and managed to put 130# of fillets in the freezer.

GO THERE!!!

I heard that according to the WDFW site, the Chinook catch in Area 5 last summer was 513... they then took that number and somwhow figured out that we really caught 2000... sounds a little stretched, doesn't it?

If you guys want to make real change, you need to get organized, join a fishing club or something (Puget Sound Anglers are great) and send some reps to the North of Falcon meetings. Our PSA North Olympic Peninsula Chapter is trying to send at least two guys to every NOF meeting... you have to get there and speak up for what you want, or they'll just keep taking it away from us.

-Norm.

the problem with the king quota was the huge number of boats during the opener. the fish checkers do not have the ability to count every boat when the numbers are 500-800 boats. they count the number of boats going out and apply a certain number of fish per boat based on statistics and their sampling. yes, it sometimes sucks (there are perceived problems every halibut season at neah bay based on the sampling).

i don't know if sekiu will get another king season. the biggest king runs are on the coast including the really large run to the columbia this spring and fall. puget sound still has listed stocks, so it's anyone's guess what will happen this summer. coho are also tight due to some low runs in a couple puget sound/hood canal rivers and the thompson river stock in BC. the likelyhood of similar seasons to last year are getting slimmer everywhere on the coast and strait.

my guess is a later opening than last year... maybe some kings but likely a smaller quota than last year, and the coho season will be wild-release the entire season. i would bet money that coho will be open in august and throughout september.

we'll all have a better idea after the north of falcon meeting tomorrow in portland and the meeting at sea-tac april 2nd.

i agree that more people need to become involved in the north of falcon process. this is only my second year going, and it has been interesting, frustrating, educational, and at times comical... but you will learn a lot about the intricacies of how our seasons are set and how complicated it can be (especially in year's like this one).

chris

I agree that we won't know for sure until the NOF process is finalized in April but the link below indicates that Puget Sound chinook stocks are forecasted at 15% higher than last years forecast.

http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/do/mar02/mar0102b.htm

Wild Puget Sound coho forecasts are nearly the same as last years and the hatchery coho forecast is much larger than last years. 450,000 compared to 336,000.

Quoting Pat Pattillo from the article, "This leads us to believe that we could see fishing opportunities on identified healthy stocks similar to 2001 fisheries,"

Maybe he's talking about the Columbia fall chinook, but IMO it sounds like Puget Sound seasons may be similar to last year also. Clearly, the coastal coho fishery will not be the same as last year based on the forecasted run size of 20% of last years. We'll have to wait and see what develops. Maybe those that are at the NOF meetings can give an updated report on the proceedings.

Dogfish, yep, we'll cross paths up there again. Looking forward to it. Even if there is no King season or a shorter season as has been suggested, the Kings were still around when the coho season opened last year as you, your dad and I all know. Can't wait!!!

And yes, I also agree that we can never be too organized as a group. PSA is definitely a front line ally for sport fishing.

well, it does look like there will be a similar king season as last year (but the quota of 2,000 may have to be split with area 6). the preliminary opener will be july 1 (although with some of the coho concerns already mentioned that might be pushed back based on sekiu's huge coho impact compared to other areas).

the saltwater record will not be broken at sekiu this summer, because as of right now there will be no wild retention of coho allowed.

of course, nothing is still known (even after the meeting) because the proposed regs given to us have too much harvest on a few stocks of concern. one river can have a major impact on saltwater seasons in the furthest mixed-stock fisheries and sekiu is one of the largest harvesters of coho and therefore has a proportionally large share of impacts on those stocks.

this year is also the first in many with a large contingent from area 6 (port angeles), and that's why the kings might have to be shared (even a shorter season) but area 6 is scheduled to open earlier than last year.

of course, new models must be run to get our fisheries under certain exploitation rates. the april 2nd meeting in sea-tac will give us a better idea of actual seasons.

but for coastal fishermen, while coho aren't looking as good as last year... can you say halibut and chinook fishing at the same time <G>

chris

Hey Chris,

I tried to email you, but the address in your profile didn't work.

Are you Chris Mohr (sp?) from Sekiu?

email me, I'd like to talk about this Area 5-Area 6 thing with you.

-Norm.