Five years has been WAY too long to decide to return to this angling paradise at the NW tip of the NW-most state in The Union. My last trip there was in 2009 when I first put The Marshmallow on my old boat.

Fast forward to 2014. Not on call, no Daddy duty, and a 3-day Memorial weekend. So when Team Achewter invited me to join them on the year's first Neah Bay shakedown, how could I say no? The view from the roadside overlook validated the wisdom of my choice to partake.



Capt Achewter motored us out a couple hours to the promised land in search of deep dwelling denizens. We lowered our goods to ungodly depths and started bouncing away. We found some nice lings, but some little brown Ornamental kept coming up with spiky orange basketballs with bulging yellow eyes. Thank God for down riggers to descend the poor critters back to more amicable depths. The first halibut came to Papa 'chewter's magnum jig… which he promptly passed off to 'chewter Jr. Finally! A flattie for the box!



Didn't really take that long to subdue 6 of 'em to find three decent keepers. We also managed to stuff Achewter's brand new 135 qt coffin with four lings and a Johnny bass, releasing a few smaller lings along the way.



We motored back to shallower waters to top off our ling limit, but we found more greenlings and snags than keeper lingcod.



Regardless, the setting was stunning and the wildlife viewing was well worth the price of admission.



Huge flocks of murres appeared to be well fed when we arrived.











As much as I begrudge sea lions ( esp the thieving lazy bastards lounging by the hundreds on boat docks up and down the Columbia River) I gotta admit it was kind of refreshing to see them in their natural environment.



Bonus for me was also seeing sea otters in their natural marine habitat… a far cry from the Seattle Aquarium. Couldn't help but feel a bit voyeuristic as these guys were rather busy doing what it is that otters do.









Other wildlife that we observed but couldn't get close enough for a decent photo were eagles, puffins, oystercatchers, blackfish (porpoise), and grey whale.

Snapped a couple of dockside glory shots of my hosts before getting' busy with filleting all the groceries while my compadres took off to get their 5th wheel trailer out of storage in Sekiu and get it situated in the upper level campground.





Faddah and son…..

Day 2 was dedicated to filling the box with fish tacos…. in other words, time to load up on some Sebastes on the rock piles.

I got a GOOD lesson on targeting these critters in 'run and gun' fashion, moving from one rock pile to the next, and using the on-board electronics for deadly surgical precision.

He yelled, "We're right on 'em without missing a beat.
He said, "Drop yer lines down to 42 feet
If you don't screw up, it won't be long
Someone in this boat's gonna sing FISH ON!"

OK Cap'n…. so check out Drake's jig falling into the strike zone. He clicks it into gear, and pops the rod once...



FISH ON!



It was fun to witness the interaction between father and son on the water (something I will NEVER have the good fortune to experience)…

















So the oft-asked question is, "What lure works best?"

These?



Or these?



When the screen looks like this, does anyone REALLY think it friggin' matters?



This guy could care less...



Finally a cool-looking "catch" that put a pretty good bend in my rod, but no fight whatsoever….

A few more scenic shots of the wild rugged landscape shaped by wind and waves.

Tattoosh:









Cape Flattery







Seawater cascading off the mussels as a wave retreats:


Arches thru the arches:


Private little cove:






This rock formation looked like a BOOT:




...

A bit disappointed in how these pics posted to PB. The tagged images look rather washed out. If you want to check out the more vivid hi-res images, click on the pic you wanna see. That takes you to PB where you can click the zoom icon on the lower right of the pic. If you've got a big screen, click the zoom icon again on the enlarged pic and you'll be able to see the full clarity of the original pic prior to uploading.

Sure miss fishing out there.

That's catchin'

fp

Nice haul!

I've only been there twice, but I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. The fishing is great, and the wildlife viewing is spectacular. In addition to the critters featured and mentioned in this thread, I also saw gray whales right next to the boat both times. My personal favorite sighting.

Great post, Doc, and nice work finding the fish, Cap'n' Achewter.

Photoshopped!!!! Where's the wind and the rain?

I was up for our annual trip for the ling opener. I love that place. The Cape management has gotten a bit more chaotic, but it worked. It would be nice to go up for Halibut one of these days, but I imagine it's not as quite as it is in April.

Nice haul. Any reasons you prefer Snow Creek to staying in town?

Art and Drake are fun to go fishing with. Don't forget to bring frosted animal cookies with sprinkles.

Awesome report Doc! Im certain you have been totally enjoyed the eats this week too. man we are lucky to live in this state.

I really like that jellyfish shot too.

Awesome trip and pics, doc.

Those shots of the finder look pretty epic.

Take care,

snow creek is off the res and it feels like your going home to me.
I can hang out in camp and have a great time.
A lot of the Makah don't want you on the res.

Thanks for all the help doc.
One trip down 6 or 7 to go. Then its albacore and B 10 time. Summer in the NW doesn't suck.
halibut is open at CQ. Friday and kings and razors open on the coast.

Doc,
Thanks for a great fishing post!!! Looks like a great time had by all!!! Now I might have to stop by the house and have lunch sometime!!!

Joe

definately one of my favorite places to fish, with 2 of the guys I like to fish with most! Most memporable event was showing up at 7pm or so and the gracious Capt. Achewter taking Dogfish and myself out to get back-to-back kings under a full moon. I remember it being a little dark on the way back in......



willy

That was a great hit and run on fish. Thanks for reminding me of that.

Awesome job Art, Doc and Art JR.

Art...swing by the shop this week if you have a chance. I have a couple of questions for ya. If not I'll pm you when I have a few minutes.

As always cool pics doc. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane as it's been about 3-4 years since I used to rent cabin #4 a few times a year. Cool place to hang out and bag some groceries. I miss it since I sold my 18.5 campion and don't wanna beat up my sled.Good luck,

SZ

Grew up in Sekiu and never got tired of the fishing in that area!
Back in the 60's we got some huge Halibut out there,(75 to 150 lbers) I am sure there are still some around.

Nice!

Enjoyed the depth finder images.

Stroll down memory lane is right.... like it was yesterday, SZ.















I wouldn't worry about dragging your sled up there, Bernie. As you can see from the pics, I did the sled thing exclusively... with both a pump and a prop.