well im making my first annual trip to cq this coming weekend. im wondering about the conditions one can expect on the water up there. iv been fishing from tulalip to tacoma for years in all types of weather. i dont have a gps so fog is a problem for me, is the fog a givin or is it hit and miss? i have a 17 foot campion explorer, with a vhf and all that stuff. the problem is my fishing buddy is outa town for 3 weeks so ill be taking another friend who is just getting started, i dont wanna scare him to death so id like to know what to expect out there. thanks in advance.

It really depends the fog can be really thick and burn off quickly or can hang around quite awhile. I would recomend getting a gps you can find some rather inexpensive ones for 100 bucks. they wont have mapping on it but will get you from point A to point B with out any problems as long as learn how to use it! Now go get them silvers!!

If you can't afford a GPS, and even if you have a GPS, get a compass. You can get a cheap one for $20 or less. You have to pay a little attention about where you are going, but with a little common sense, you can always get back home.

Head straight out to the 625 foot depth line and drop your lines. Get the GPS, small price to pay for lots of safety. Bring extra batteries, and a compass. From Thursday to Sunday I was on tha water and there was fog somewhere every day. Water conditions were optimal on all but Saturday afternoon. Expect seas of 3 foot swells and wind waves of 1-2 feet. If you have less than that, you are having a great day at Sekiu.

Several years ago, prior to GPS, we fished in the fog in Neah Bay. We went straight out and punched in a few hours. We could hear the foghorn and figured that we were near Tatoosh.
I was sitting around and looked at a chart of the area. I noticed that the foghorns on a chart have times listed with them. Huh? Well, in about 3 minutes time, we realized that the horn we were hearing was in synch with the foghorn to the EAST of Neah Bay. If we had blindly run east, because we thought we were hearing the Tatoosh horn, we'd have run until we were out of gas. Or maybe we'd have run into that big rock at Snow Creek....
Anyway, beg, borrow or steal a GPS. You'll feel a lot safer, and so will your fishin' buddy.

Great reply D!

Doing any Sekiu bank action?

Andy you are the master! We are not worthy oh great egg rich friend!

Almost forgot...Diana did you fall off the face? How's the business?

FJ...out.

Hiya, FJ!
Nope....never did get to do the bank bit. I've not heard that they're in like they were last year so I've been waiting. Been taking the boat out to have the advantage....ya know, if they won't come to me, I'll come to them?

A customer today lives next to Trettevic's. He said that they're rollin out past the kelp and that the Dall's porpoises are in hunting them heavily. My folks are coming this weekend to visit, so the boat is leaving without me. Phooey.

Biz has been veddy veddy goot. And yours?

A little trick about fishin CQ my Dad taught me. The swell always comes out of the west. Be it Northwest or true West. If you get the swell coming from your right going to the left, you are facing south. At least you know your headed towards the beach somewhere. Just hope you have enough fuel to find where you need to be after you find it. With the currents and such who knows where your starting from. It's worked for me in the past when I was stupid enough to venture out without a compass or GPS. Good Luck....