My tuna trips have turned into an excuse to take my boat out for sablefish (black cod)
Annual favorite fish of the year thread.
- Thread starter mcswny
- Start date
My tuna trips have turned into an excuse to take my boat out for sablefish (black cod)
G_Smolt
Legend
Exquisite. I longlined in the pre-IFQ years when we started our sets in 1800' and continued out to the 600-fathom line. Even with an 80lb kedge and a shitpile of sash weights it took the gear about 30 minutes to hit bottom on the deep end!
At the right time of year, you can find the juveniles (<15") on the estuary fringes, eating pink and chum fry. I had a guest catch one at the 10' tide mark in a river one year...voracious little fellas.
On the cooking front, and if you haven't done it yet - try smoking a skinned fillet lightly at low temp, then finishing in the oven, preferrably sliced and flaked out over chunked potatoes. Got a friend named Sven who calls it "Norwegian Fly"
G_Smolt
Legend
Does WA allow the use of slinky traps? If so...two birds, one stone, or something.
Tough to pick one. Lots of cool experiences in 2025.
Tons of these guys. It’s nice having them so close in western Washington.
Bass - becoming a springtime tradition.
What’s now become an annual AK trip. We’ll see how long that lasts. Lots of places to fish in this world.
Salmon…beach and boat, love it all.
My first two double digit fly caught coho. Back to back fish on different days.
Pinks.
Blackmouth and kings.
Chum
A trip home to fish a river that got me hooked.
Oh, and tuna…
Bring on 2026!!
Tons of these guys. It’s nice having them so close in western Washington.
Bass - becoming a springtime tradition.
What’s now become an annual AK trip. We’ll see how long that lasts. Lots of places to fish in this world.
Salmon…beach and boat, love it all.
My first two double digit fly caught coho. Back to back fish on different days.
Pinks.
Blackmouth and kings.
Chum
A trip home to fish a river that got me hooked.
Oh, and tuna…
Bring on 2026!!
G_Smolt
Legend
Ah. Yeah, I keep forgetting that.No idea. I live in Oregon
But I also don't know what a slinky trap is.
Re: slinkies
Bro. Greatest thing ever. We (AK residents) can fish 2 per person, and they hoover. Hooks for blackcod are sooo 1990's.
The skinny on slinky pots
www.nationalfisherman.com
Fun in the salt, one of a few good days on the sound with Ira. This cabbie was a bonus while targeting flounder on light spinning gear.
And a coho that had broken off somebody and was cruising around pulling a flasher. We chased it down and got it in the net. Keeper + bonus gear!
A mixed species day with Billy in central WA.
Fun thread!
And a coho that had broken off somebody and was cruising around pulling a flasher. We chased it down and got it in the net. Keeper + bonus gear!
A mixed species day with Billy in central WA.
Fun thread!
My favorite fish of the year might be the hog that you tied into in that ridiculous pocket of fast water between the logs...I know we have a few more weeks left in 2025, but I'll kick this one off early.
What was your favorite fish you caught this year? Share stories, photos, or whatever. And bonus points if you throw in some apostrophes in all the wrong places.
I'll start. It wasn't necessarily 1 singular fish, but 2 days of fishing with @Gary Knowels on my favorite creek in the Cascades.
Thoughts of the hatches and dry fly fishing we had these days will get me through the winter.
I'm 100% planning on going back there right after school gets out next summer, this time for multiple nights.
I fished less this year than any year in the last decade. Life was busier, priorities were different, free time was allocated to different hobbies.
I'll submit 2:
This small, pretty rainbow
Because it came from here
This hefty lake cutthroat, because I REALLY needed a win at that particular moment in life
Well crap, this brookie just because @mcswny said it didn't exist where I pulled it from
I'll submit 2:
This small, pretty rainbow
Because it came from here
This hefty lake cutthroat, because I REALLY needed a win at that particular moment in life
Well crap, this brookie just because @mcswny said it didn't exist where I pulled it from
The fact this isn't a bass is going to surprise people
End of season. 80 feet of water. Hunting pods of slurpers. A crazy belly flop jump. A 20 minute battle. An awkward landing in the pouring cold rain on a muddy beach. A hug and a goodbye. I hope she thinks of me like I think of her
End of season. 80 feet of water. Hunting pods of slurpers. A crazy belly flop jump. A 20 minute battle. An awkward landing in the pouring cold rain on a muddy beach. A hug and a goodbye. I hope she thinks of me like I think of her
Not many fish photos this year. I made a two-week trip to Montana and a highlight was fishing Georgetown Lake. Used to fishing lakes with sinking lines, but the part of the lake that I fished was relatively shallow and weedy. Caught this one on an olive jig (copied from @Billy) that was hanging out by a dock. Floating line and stripped fast.
I don't have a photo of this one but the circumstance makes it special. Baker Lake with Salmo for a couple of days. Now, if you know Salmo he is adverse to rising early. Something we have figured a work around for when in Montana. But at Baker you have to be on station pre-dawn...at least when you go with me. He's a gamer though and we made it happen, getting up at an hour that was usually my bedtime in days gone by. So under headlamp light, the first thing out of the boat is the lead line. I set it in the holder and turn to start setting the downrigger line when the first rod starts bucking. I grab it and from behind me Salmo goes "In the fucking dark!"
Maybe you just had to be there...
Maybe you just had to be there...
Oh man, yeah that might be it. That was chaotic. It could have gotten ugly if I slipped.
shots fired!
My tuna trips have turned into an excuse to take my boat out for sablefish (black cod)
the first time you eat perfectly cooked butterfish....
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Home. . . <sigh>
My tuna trips have turned into an excuse to take my boat out for sablefish (black cod)
Butter...garlic....lime...honey.......sublime!
