Is anybody going to be heading out this way, or has anybody been out there recently?
I am thinking about taking a trip out there tomorrow but would like a report first...
Thanks for the help
David

LaPush has been rougher than a cobb. Got blown off the water yesterday in a 2600 striper. There has been lots of salmon out on the rock pile though. Going to head out on Tuesday and wednesday if weather permitting. Neah Bay charters have spotted lots of salmon around there. Just inside of the Cape. Shouldn't be to rough if you stay inside the straits.

Neah was rough today. My partner blew chunks and wanted to go.... had one fish on. Only out there for about an hour. It was bumpy. Also, met a real A$$hole at the boat launch. Apparently he was in a major hurry to get his bass boat in the water.... decided he needed the entire boat launch and everyone else was in the way. It nearly turned into a fight. Sometimes I wish Darwins theory of selectivity would do a quicker job weeding the clueless out. Thought for sure I'd hear about a Nitro bass boat capsized.

Pat- what are they seeing out there? silvers,kings???
elkrun- where were you fishing?

What is the best weather site or information for neah bay and the ocean? I dont want to make the drive to get my ass kicked by the weather.

Was heading to swiftsure, that was a no go. I am going to be fishing it tuesday through thursday. I will try to get after the kings, but will fish inside if its rough. I ended up fishing SW of tatoosh. Theres a shelf out there, its not a zipperlip, lots of boats. There was bait, i just didnt get the time I needed. It is always a crap shoot as far as the water goes. Do the smart thing if its bad, dont push it because you drove a long way.... not worth dying for.

http://www.nwboating.com/wx/coastal_marine_forecast.tpl

heres the site I use for marine weather. Good Luck.

I am going to try to come out tomorrow, and fish tuesday as well.
I'd like to get into some kings but might settle for bottomfish if it gets too rough.
The regs are confusing me a little bit, or it could just be the drugs i have been taking after getting my wisdom teeth out... where are the kings open? can we fish inside the straight for kings? or is that closed until july 1?

I have only been out there one other time. any reccomendations for where to head?

thank you

Just heard the fishery news over the radio that large schools of salmon have been reported out on the coast. Estimated to be largest in twenty years. Expected run thru labor day.

Kings are not open inside yet, silvers and pinks are. Depending on water conditions, and your boat, swiftsure bank is as close to a slam dunk as you can get. It is a big area, so you'll have to explore, but the birds never lie They have led me to the promised land on more than one occasion. Big Salmon sells maps with coordinates I think. If the water is bad, stay inside the strait, look for all the boats, they'll tell you where to go. I really like rockfish as a back up. They are generally easy to find, and readily take a fly. Anywhere theres rocks and kelp, theirs rockfish and lings. another decent are for salmon is around tatoosh, duncan rock, and the whistle bouy. These all run in a northern line off of tatoosh and are visible on a map. Hope that helps... I'll post a report midweek.

elkrun-
Thank you for the help... I just got a new Garmin GPS and have the Swiftsure cords. plugged into it. If I can, i'll go out there and look around. Hopefully the chop wont be too rough.
I have a center consol Grady White 17'. From what people have told me, I should be OK, as long as I dont push the weather.

I am going to take my flyrods, out there. I have my TypeVI shooting head on my 8wt and sould be good to go. Do you use big baitfish patterns for the rockfish, and have you tried poppers on top?

You should be fine as long as you know the limits of your boat and stay aware of the weather. I use chartruese and white clousers only. They work great and are easy to tie. I haven't personally used poppers, but topwater (from the board) is a fly fishing guide out there and uses them when conditions are right. He said you dont catch nearly as many fish, but the few you get are fun to watch strike the popper. If the fish are schooled up and in the top 30 feet, it can be amazing. They are like pirhana when they attack in schools. I really like it when the water is calm and you cast to fish you can see. Its also cool when you watch one run about 30 feet to T-bone you at a full speed. Look for the rips, watch the birds, the surface, and your finder. It should be a great year.

any tips for fishing salmon out at swiftsure? I dont have downriggers

also, how long a run is it out there for you?

Last year we caught lots of kings using darts out at swiftsure, any color as long as it's white.
I hooked kings from 10' under the boat all the way to the bottom. You could also troll coyote spoons with a mooching lead to get it down.

JG has the right idea. This place is a buffet for all kinds of fish. Jigs might be the ticket for kings without riggers. Use buzz bombs in the top 40 feet of water and you'll get fish. pink/white. Hell, you could cast spinners and spoons and get fish consistently. It usually takes about 30-40 minutes to get out there depending on how bumpy it is. It has taken 2 hours before, but I was stupid to even attempt it that day. I like to think I'm smarter now...

I'll be out there tonight and tomorrow, and maybe wed. Am.
gonna try for swiftsure tomorrow.
I'll be my Grady 17'. Say hi if you're out there.
David

Jerry...I will be fishing Neah Bay all next week. I usually fish Skagway Bay around the rocks and do real well..a good area for darts or herring ..got two fish over 45# last year on Coyotes...yes they do work on big fish. Umatilla Reef is also a good spot...

Fished Lapush from Thursday thru Sunday and did very good on Halibut, despite the weather. Saturday was very rough, with most boats returning to port, but we stuck it out for these two halibut, one being 70 pounds and the other 55.
We also had the chance to meet fellow board member " StrikeZone", how did you guys do?

Stayed for the salmon opener and landed 24 and 14 pound Kings as well as our coho limits. Most everyone caught nice fish.

Steve Ng

Grandpa, The largest I got out of Skagway last year was 27 lbs. We also caught some nice fish around Spike Rock. Did you catch those big fish at Skagway? We are staying at Snow Creek thursday[the 3rd] to sunday[ the 6th]. We will also be fishing the Canadian side of Swiftsure for 'butts. We should hook up for a little info sharing face to face.

Grandpa, did you get to check out some of the new coyotes yet? They glowed the copcar [called nite rider] and also put a bright green stripe down the center [called super trooper]---they both fish pretty good- got them from Mike at Ted's.

It is only a ten mile run out to the rock pile. Been getting both kings and silvers. Kings are ranging from 15-35lbs and the coho are averaging around8-10lbs. Be sure that if you go out of there you take your GPS reading out at the first bouy and then one at the second buoy. It gets foggy quick out there and that is how most boats crash. They take there readings from the river and then come straight in. I like to slow troll a cut plug herring for the kings. Then troll a little faster for the silvers.

Jerry....I will be running the boat up to Neah Bay Saturday the 28th...I usually trailer but my friend has a 24' Seasport and he has no trailer so he has to run up by water. I said I'd join him for the run up...We are going to Port Townsend Friday night and get out early for the smoother water...I hope...We will be moored at the Neah Bay marina for the week...There will be a large contingent of us at the Cape campground behind the motel for the week as well. I have a partial stake in one of the motel rooms but will stay on the boat mostly... We will be having some sort of picnic on the 4th.....I would certainly like to meet up there ...email me and I'll give you my cell #..boat name is AudreyAnna....I usually have the VHF on scan all day.

The hawg kings were caught at Sekiu...2 back to back ,,,one at 10:00am and the second at 11:00am...both on Coyotes....one chartreuse and glowhite with a silver back and the other shiny dark green and silver 50/50..both 4.5"

I have so many Coyotes it is pathetic but always up for more...I bought some cool nickel and siolver plated spoons from Cabelas I want to try... I think I will try herring if I can get any good stuff in time. When the inside opens we will be fishing the Mushroom Rock area...I think 40# was the biggest outside last year...most of the fish are more like 15-20 though...What a relief to talk about fishing....whew!!!

Grandpa,
I will be up that way on the 5 th and 6 th, just not sure if we will fish Sekiu or Neah Bay, I have never been to Neah Bay and do not have a large boat, I doubt I will make the run to Skagway or Tatoosh unless it is really calm. Were you running flashers with your Coyotes or just alone. We ran cop car and chartreuse and glow coyotes about 6-8 feet behind hotspots at lapush last year and had good success, but I feel like the flasher may have killed some of the fish fighting action. Anybody try fish flash and a spoon? Any way I will hope for good weather and maybe see you all out that way.

NEN

Nookie

I started using 6' of leader behind the large Hot Spot soon after Coyotes were introduced to the market years ago. I used to consistently catch big Kings near Scatchet Head on Possession Bar that way...Seemed like the inside rod on tight turns would do the trick..that is because it slows down on the turn and flutters ...The longer leader length makes for a slower and larger circle for the spoon to travel behind the flasher. I also use the smaller Hot Spot with a shorter leader and have success. At Sekiu on the 5th I would fish with a green and white 4.5" Coyote behind a green large Hot Spot with 6' of 30# leader..I use P-Line Fluoroclear...fish in 50-80' of water close to shore and run the gear at 50' down....I also like to use the commercial Hot Spots with the Sampo ball bearing swivels on both ends..hard to find but much better...I got mine at Seattle Marine Supply near fishermens terminal in Seattle............Now if you don't catch a hog King this way I'll be surprised. Good luck ...................

well I got back late last night from neah bay and although my girlfriend got sea-sick we did have a good time and caught some fish.
We mostly trolled herring behind a 4 oz mooching weight. Caught most of our fish at about 15' which was really nice. Tons of 10 pound kings and 3 pound silvers, although one guy on the Satin Doll charter caught a 23 pounder and I saw a guy get a fish that was probably 30+ right off the westside of tatoosh.
I also got one King on a silver spoon that I was just trolling around after running out of bait.
I was trolling at about 2 knots for most of my fish, although many fish hit as I let my line out.

Thank you guys for the replies to my origional post. They made it much easier to be successful out there.

How fast do you guys troll:?

Gramps,

My friend Parker trailered to LaPush Sunday - the bar was closed. So he went to NB and got turned back at the slot by Tatoosh. Now he's thinking about a bigger boat.

I don't want to hear any whining about rough water and how you should have trailered your boat when we run on Saturday.

From the Trib:

Lots of silvers and kings reported in the ocean off LaPush, and at Neah Bay, a charter skipper reported many kings 5 to 15 miles southwest of Tatoosh.

Jerry G, come to NB on the 4th for fireworks and big potluck BBQ.

NEN,

I'm sure you've read about this trick somewhere before, but it's one that I've been using for quite a few years and it REALLY helps the fighting the flasher problem.

I run a full-size green Hotspot off of 15' of 80# Tuffline with a good Sampo ball-bearing clip swivel used to clip it directly to my downrigger ball. About 8' above that, i hook on a stacker release, and let back my Coyote spoon about 4' further back than the flasher. I'm using a ball-bearing swivel and a bead-chain about 5' in front of the Coyote and that's all that's connected to the rod. I find that the flasher draws the curious fish in, and the action of the Coyote by itself is enough to entice the strike.

It's a hell of a lot more fun to fight the fish without having to fight the flasher too! Give it a try sometime, you won't be dissapointed!

thanks for the tip Jerry on the coyote spoons. Since I just lost my 3.5" copcar that worked all winter, I just got the 4.0 glo version of the copcar and the one with the green stripe. For BM and chinook, the spoons work best for me by far.

Yah 4salt, I have tried it and don't know why I do not do it more often, I never noticed more or less fish either way.
Thanks

NEN

NEN,
Last September in Sekiu the coyote/Coho Killer/Freak spoon (take your pick) behind a large fish flash was a great ticket. Didn't affect the fight near as much as a flasher does. Will be using this setup more this year down my way to see if it works as well here in Oly and Tacoma.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

Thanks Jeff, Thats is exactley what I wnated to hear. I will post my results with it too, of to LaPush 3 AM Friday, please no wind.
I love this board sometimes.

NEN