My brother Chad and I fished the Sekiu Derby last weekend. The Sekiu Derby was on April 3rd and 4th. The borders for the Derby were North to the US/Canadian Border, West to the Sekiu River, East to Pillar Point. The Hours were Saturday daylight-6:00pm, Sunday daylight-12:00pm.
While the fishing was good, the catching was bad for us. All we got were a few shakers and some bottom fish.
We left Seattle around 7:30pm Friday night and after a long and boring drive we arrive at Olson’s in Sekiu around 11:30pm. We get checked in and launch the boat then tie it up and go to our cabin and get to sleep at 12:30am.
Saturday April 3rd Day One:
We get up at 4:30am make some sandwiches and get all our gear and go to the boat. We run to the green can at Slip Point to check what direction the current was running and found it was going East to West. We ran to Pillar Point so we could troll with the current. We trolled from Piller Point to Slip Point without any hits. We then run across the bay to the Caves to troll west towards the Sekiu River. We get to the Sekiu River without getting any fish. We then turn around to head East back towards the Caves. A few minutes later we get a double on. It turns out to be a couple of rockfish.
We get our lines back down and 10 minutes later my rod gets a hit. I start reeling the fish and it does not feel like a salmon so I’m thinking I have another rockfish. I get it close to the boat and look over the side and see a large white thing under the water. I’m thinking that I am not using a white flasher anymore (I was earlier in the morning) I’m using a green one. I get it closer and it turns over and it’s brown on the other side. I caught a small Halibut.
We get our lines back down and continue trolling East. Just past Kydaka Point Chad’s rod get a hit. We get it to the boat and it’s a small Blackmouth about 24 inches. When we get to the Caves it’s about 1:30pm and we decide to go in for the free lunch.
We go back out around 2:30pm and start trolling East. We get about half way to Pillar Point without getting any hits. By now we are kind of bored of trolling for salmon, we have been on the water for about 9 hours today with only one small salmon. We decide to try to catch some rockfish for a while. We move to the shore until we get in 30-40 feet of water and start casting our lures. We were catching small Black Rockfish and Ling Cod on almost every cast. It was a lot of fun.
We were not paying attention to the weather like we should have been. The wind had really picked up and there were a lot of white caps. We decided to head back to Sekiu and then realized how bad the sea conditions were. The wind was very strong and the waves were really big and our boat is only 16 feet long. We were going against the wind and current. All we could do was 7-10mph. It was a long and scary ride back.
Sunday April 4th Day Two:
We start at the Caves and troll West. First thing we notice is there are a lot of swells today. About half way to Kydaka Point the swells seem to be getting bigger. Also about this time I’m not feeling too good. I remember something about when you start to feel seasick you should eat something so I get a bag of chips and start eating them. At about Kydaka Point my rod gets a hit. I get the fish in and it’s a 22 inch Blackmouth. We turn around at the Sekiu river and head back towards the Caves. By now there are big swells and I’m really not feeling good. I tell Chad to take the wheel and I go feed the fish all the chips I ate for the next few minutes. Chad is laughing so hard he can’t keep the boat going straight. We get back by the Caves and we have had enough of trolling around so we go to catch some more rockfish. We run across the bay and at Slip Point Chad yells out that the VHF antenna is gone. I stop the boat and look, my antenna mount broke right where it threads into the antenna. Chad looks over the side and the antenna is still there hanging by the cable. We get it in the boat and decide not to go very far because we don’t have the main radio anymore just the backup handheld. We go just past Mussolini Rock. We fish around the area for about an hour. We only get a few rockfish, we were disappointed after catching so many the day before. It’s about 10:30am now and I’m starting to feel sick again so we call it a weekend.
It was a fun trip overall. I’ll be back there for the summer Kings.
Damon
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The Winning Fish
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