Hi all, question for you... In the summer I fish the sound in a complete rig: run about / trolling motor / down rigger / etc. However, now that winter has come my boat is out of the water and its much easier for me to just launch a row boat off the beach.

My question is, what would you suggest for a guy in a row boat seeking black mouth? I know where they are (I can launch / row close enough to a nice spot with a hole where I caught blackmouth / silvers in the summer). I’ve used jigs (buzz bombs zingers, etc), and those are ok, but I’m looking for something better. I would prefer not to mount my down rigger on my row boat. Any suggests? Plugs with a weight?

thanks,

-mark

p.s. I prefer not to use bait. I will mooch in desperation though ;-)

Pt. Wilson Darts should be good. They make several styles to imitate different types of bait. Make sure you are using a stiff enough rod. Otherwise, you'll just be flexing your rod and not working the jig.

Clark-
You've got two choices as I see it. 1. Go for Chrome on a river. 2. Use the runabout. There really is no reason to winterize a fishing boat in the NW.
The problem is that blackmouth are predominately deep water fish and you will not find them hugging the shoreline like you will find with migratory salmon. The other problem, of course, is fickle weather. I have spent a lot of time on a 16 ft. aluminum boat with a 40 horse moter. It gets real small real quick.
Good Luck!

Clark:

I would not recommend blackmouth fishing from a rowboat. That said there are some places in Commencement Bay that can be productive and you need not make long runs to get there. The same is true of some near shore spots in Anacortes area.

In the early 1900 there were many boathouses on Puget Sound that rented rowboats to anglers, but I believe they were primarily summer and fall fisheries in near shore areas. I would not do it, but there was a time when I might have. At a minimum you want a PFD, a VHF radio and a damn good understanding of the tide/current patterns where you plan to fish.

Mark-- I admire your gumption--too many these days would rather take the easy way out and fish from something with a motor. The other posters make some good points about safety as well as cautions about tides, wind and currents. But since you know where you want to fish, and it's close to your launch, why not?

I fished out of a rowboat (and still do and will do more so after I finish my next boat) and recommend it for peace, tranquility, excercise and, in the case of blackmouth, a sense of accomplishment. There's a guy here in Port Townsend who used to fish out of a kayak and did fairly well-- but then you didn't see him out at Mid Channel, either.

Not knowing the size of your boat or freeboard or anything about it, I can't guess whether you'd be safe or not in your particular case.

However, IF your boat is safe for the water you're fishing, and IF you have common sense in regards to watching the weather and rowing in when it starts to turn dicey, rowing is a great way to fish for blackmouth, especially in harbors and protected waters.

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I think the deadliest method for blackmouth out of a rowboat is mooching a plug-cut herring. However, problems arise when a fish bites and your hands are on the sticks. I found this out the hard way after missing about 10 bites in a row before I stuck my first blackmouth. There's a learning curve that can be frustrating.

If I were to do what you're suggesting, I would probably run a herring off one of those small portable downriggers. Since the extreme bend of your rod will set the hook when a fish hits, it doesn't matter if you are rowing or not. And since a herring doesn't need much speed to be attractive to a salmon, you don't have to row your guts out trying to keep the flasher pumping. You might also look at some of the plastic herring helmets-- I know you can rig some of those with trebles, which isn't a bad idea for a quick-set reaction.

Also, not knowing you or your boat, I would think this mooch-trolling approach would be better than jigging since you will be better able to remain stable, especially if you stand to jig.

Other things I think you need are a depthfinder of some kind to find the bait and underwater structure that holds fish, and I would suggest very strongly that you buy either a very comfortable PFD or something like a float coat that you'll wear all the time. One last suggestion: bring along a pee bucket. I read on one of the Coast Guard's websites that most boating fatalities occur to men and something like 70 percent of those are found with their fly unzipped.

Good luck, and report back on your success,

Keith

Clark,
I've fished from a row boat before, and I find that jigging works best. The reason is that you don't want a lot of current or drift when you are in a row boat because it can be a bear getting back to the top of the drift. (For me, this takes mooching out of question)

If you know of a spot that is somewhat protected from the winter winds, I'd suggest going around high or low slack tide.

Bring an anchor so you can work different areas without drifting too off your hole.

Good luck - I use a Pt. Wilson Dart or Buzz Bomb. The 5" Buzz Bomb works great. I lost a nice 7# BM this morning on a green and pearl white 5inch BB.

Have fun!

Thanks for the tips. I prefer to row in the winter because I can sneak out there at first light and get an hour in on the water before work. Rowing is also nice exercise and peace and quiet time.

And not to worry on the safety issue. In the winter I row in a mustang jacket (built in PFD) and never more than light (1-2") chop (usually glass). This fishing hole is only about 50 yards off the beach, so I’m not mid channel or anything ;-)

The row boat is a 10' aluminum almost flat bottom. 46" beam at the oars.

-C

Clark,

There are a host of forgotten methods you could employ to catch blackmouth. One method you could try "row mooching" (like motor mooching w/o power) with a spoon.. I have a few books from the 30's and 40's that reference this method. You could change the spoon out with a Bait Buster or even a spinner.. . Technology has definitely put a different spin of fishing today, but my thoughts are, "if it worked then, it'll work now."

November kicks off sand lance spawning. Fishing 1-hour either side of a early morning high tide could possibly put you into some larger blackmouth feeding in shallows. Sand lance stage in 15-40 feet waiting for high slack, then run up in to the first couple feet of water, spawn, and return out into the staging area before breaking off. Down in MA13 I often fish shallow (above depths if the tides are right. My tactic is nothing more than casting a Sluggo or Senko with a 5/8 ounce sliding cone sinker.. Just like bass fishing... Run a single or double hook out the back end of the "worm." Jig and bounce along the bottom. This mimics the sand lance diving into the sand! Very deadly technique if you are on a spawning beach...

Just my .02 cents

Lucky guy...I grew up rowing a 6 foot pram aroung the bays of Whidby Island and caught many many salmon that way. I used to use a Canadian Wonder and 2 oz kidney sinker and go like crazy, then pause and let the spoon sink, then go like crazy until the spoon was near the surface again. Was deadly and fun. The fish would slam it as I began rowing hard, so the hook set wasn't too much of a problem.

Another suggestion for jigging that you may not have considered is casting as far away from the boat as is possible and freespooling to the bottom. Then pull hard a full sweep and reel in the slack, repeat three or four times and freespool to the bottom again. Do this all the way back to the boat.

Blackmouth are full of energy and will work much harder to get food than a lazy ol' King. The quick is the deadly. Good Luck and damn that brings back some fun times!