Anyone having any luck at Neah, Seiku, or Angeles? I'm thinking about heading out that way to fish some bucktail flys. Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Also is there a good place to launch at Neah Bay?

i don't know about sekiu or port angeles, but neah bay has been good, although i've been fishing mostly in the ocean area which just closed. as for launching at neah bay, there's a good ramp at Big Salmon, which is just west of the marina. the cost to launch is $7.

cb

About how far is neah bay from big salmon?

That's the main launch in Neah Bay. Theres a tackle store there and it is just a short run out to the Straits to fish.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

Some folks have mentioned "buck-tailing", is this the method that involves fishing the same way you would for marlin or sail fish for these silver? One person has told me that you pretty much want to look for bait, get your boat up on a plane, and just let your line back past the prop wash and hold on tight.

Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks

dropped in at Big Salmon this morning, we had a great time! We hit 28 Coho altogether on flies. Ended up keeping two nice hatchery fish.

After fishing the Hoh R. on Sat. we fished for silvers out of Sekiu Sun. The best depth range for most fishers was quite deep for what I'm used to for these fish ... 30' to 40' deep or even deeper were getting strikes from the silvers. I figure this was an exception and not the norm for the Straight? I've read before of shallow trolling success up there, like we have down here in places such as the bouy 10 fishery at the mouth of the Columbia R. What's the usual variance in the Straight Jeff & others? And why is it closed off for Kings? Can't even fish close to shore out there. You can keep Kings in most of the rivers, so it doesn't make sense. Maybe some agreement with B.C. to protect Frazer R. stocks or something? Nice area to fish! - RT

I'm headed that way with my boat and two boys this weekend. Usually go to Neah, but would like to stop at Seiku and avoid trailering the last 50 miles. Any thoughts on whether the silvers are that far east yet? Also, the kids want to camp,is there a decent campground near Seiku. Thanks in advance for the help.

Chip,
There are 5 places to RV/camp at Sekiu. Olsen's, Van Ripers, Curley's, Straitside and the Coho. None of them are extravegant. Neah Bay is only 18 miles past Sekiu and the last 8 or 10 is fairly winding road. In Neah Bay I stayed at the Cape, it has a nice campground and is the ONLY decent place to camp in Neah Bay. I was at Sekiu for 5 days at this time last year with my Dad, we brought over 100 fish to the boat that week, what a blast!!!!
RT,
The 30 - 50' range is normal for the straits. The reason for the king closure (I think) is that the "endangered species" that are listed for Puget Sound all pass through here to get home. Once the WDFW and the tribes get nooks' into the mass marking program, this area should be open to retention of fin clipped kings to. Hope this helps ya out Chip.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

My buddy Steve and I fish Sekiu this past weekend, we did all right and had a good time. Fished each day from 6am to 10:30am, hooked and released 10-12 natives on saturday, including 1 King, kept 1 hatchery. Our ratio of natives to hathcery were 7 to 1. Sunday was about the same, we did release one nate that was 8lb to 10lbs, a very nice fish. We tried all different spots, from 4-6 miles out to 1-3 miles out trolling north/south. Have to agree with salmonhead, the 30' to 40' range is the ticket. Olson's doesn't have fresh herring, all they have are frozen. When they thaw they get real soft. We used rock salt to brine them up, but still found them soft. Anyone have any suggestions to toughen these little morsels up? My partner had some success with a bucktail, but we had more bites with cut plug herring.
Anyway, I'll be out there again Sept 7-10 and Sept 22-24, I'm in a 16ft Livingston w/70hp Yamaha and the words Warrior on the side. If you see me there, say "Hello". Maybe we can swap stories and even a brew.
Sept is usually pretty good out at Sekiu and I'm looking forward to it!

Kev



[This message has been edited by Kev (edited 08-22-2000).]

SH and Kev - Really appreciate the info - SH, I can't believe it's only 18 miles from Seiku to Neah, last time I pulled the boat out there it seemed like 100. Maybe the two kids battling in the back seat and the tailgating log semi had something to do with that!

One last question - do you think I'll have a problem getting a slip in Sieku for this weekend, and do I need to call in advance. I'll post a report next week.

Chip

Hey Chip,
Glad to help. You probably don't need reservations, but it never hurts to call. The launch at Olsen's is the best and they have a lot of moorage space. Last year Curley's had fresh bait. We used tube flies only and just smoked em', even picked up a couple of nice kings with the flies (yes they went back in the water). Hope you come back with some good memories and fish stories.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

Fished the Sunday afternoon with RT at Sekiu. The place was virtually vacant for the normal silver crowd. I would expect that to change now that fish have shown up. Average size is still small, so if you want the bigger ones go Neah.

Yes I agree with the people that thought the last part of the trip from Seiku to Neah wasn't very fun. Thats a long, very long winding road. Not to mention I drove that sucker in the dark, My fishing partner mentioned to me on the way back " luckily you keeped us on the road, cuz theres no shoulder". I was up the whole day/night before with no sleep, drove in from Seattle in 5 hours, fished for 5 hours and drove back home just in time to hit rush hour. I was bushed! Then had to completely wash my whole boat, inside and out with soap because I'm a little protective of my jet sled when it comes to saltwater. So I was awake many hours before I slept and that from Seiku to Neah was not nice!

HOWEVER! the fishing was well worth the trip. Someone wanted to know if the Silvers had made it into Seiku yet, and Most likely they have. Considering those fish are known to travel up to 36 miles a day, and Sieku only being 18 miles down the strait from Neah.

We stopped in Port Angeles for lunch on the way back home and talked with the guy that runs the marine center by Burger King. He said that all the guys that stopped by on the way back from fishing out of Port Angeles didnt see many silvers yet, and that they are just starting to show there.

My thinking is that by the time area 9 opens for Coho on Sept 1st, they should be in there really good, also they have a tendancy to put on some more weight before they get there which is a good thing.

But as for Neah, We hammered all 28 coho right on the surface trolling very fast with green/white, blue/white coho flies. Look for Coho stirring up the surface chasing bait and head right for them. Its great to watch your fly get slammed by a coho right on the surface, they really hit them hard. Its funny to watch 4 or 5 fish making a wake following a fly and bumping eachother out of the way to get at it. I couldnt even drink my coffee, it went cold on me. 28 is what we brought to the boat, we lost quiet a few more.

Have fun if you go out there! And my advice to make your trip all the more better, get some sleep! Camp there overnight, DON'T do the day trip like I did! THAT SUCKS! The best advice I can give is take some coho flies, people were looking at us wierd and wondering why we were fishing for Marlin ( trolling fast )until they saw us nailing them, then all the sudden they were shutting down thier kicker motors and firing up the main!

Tight lines!