Non-Fly 2023 - Dirtbag PS Salty Salmon Fishing

[ThatGuyRyRy]

Might as well start up the talk here.

Last weekend fished up in MA 9. My inlaws have a family tradition of going to Jetty Island so I convinced them that I could ferry them on the boat instead and heck, I could go fishing with my Dad early before they got there.

Ran up just short of Possession Bait company and started hooking fish in the bait balls boiling. Caught 1 shortly king and then went on a change fast and furious bite for 6 pinks. Rounded out the morning with another four coho all with the fin and then a real nice 15 lb king.

Had to go ferry the kids so I dropped my dad off ate some lunch and then took out my sister in-law and my mother-in-laws boyfriend. We had no stop coho action when we got back catching 3 keeper coho and numerous wilds and lost fish at the boat. I lost count guys. Got ny sister in-law her first salmon and the boyfriend his first fish in probably 15 years.

We mainly fished riggers with ace hi-flies. Actually 1 rod caught probably 90 percrnt of the fish. I think this was due to the leader. This summer I was using 50 lb seagar to try to input a lot of action into my flies which worked really well for me before this day. However, almost all the fish came on 30 lb leaders.

I also bucktailed a clouser in the afternoon which got a ton of action. Most of the fish were smaller resident sized fish on this rod.



Fishing the derby down South this weekend with the kids. Haven't heard anything good lately but might have to pull out all the stops and do some mooching and jigging too since it will be a full day fishing.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Family fishing time, love it!

 

[dep]

looks like an Arima based on colors and materials. loved my Arima when I had it. let me see if can down load my Elliott Bay king.

 

[dep]

from the bay on Saturday. and it looks like 10 opens up again.
pushing 20lbs

 

[ThatGuyRyRy]

Well Gig Harbor Salmon derby was a bust for us. We caught about a 10 lb fish early morning but it had an extra fin. It may have been enough for us to make it to the top 10. We moved around following the bait and it sounds like the winning fish came from our spot that produced fish so we should have just stuck around.

We did take the kids over to Cutts Island to finish off the day once the current was blowing, which is always a fun day.

Went way faster than 9 hours of fishing usual did.

 

[ThatGuyRyRy]

Just got to finished fishing MA 10 for some late night pink action. But missed the pinks! I heard it was real good this morning but they didn't show up tonight. Instead ended up with three kings to the boat. Missed that opener by two days .

Overall went 4/8 with 1 pink. Got a friend's kid with his first salmon ever that he got to take home. Beautiful night and couldn't ask for a better way to cool down on a hot night

 

[Evan B]

My cousin did alright in area 10

 

[Wanative]

Dirt bagged this coho in area 9 and released a smaller wild one on the fly

 

[ThatGuyRyRy]

Did a quick morning trip through the tide change this morning with the kids. Littlest one got her first salmon which she "reeled up herself". Went 1-4 on pinks and a king that was just short.

Got out before the rain hit and went to our preschool open house. Opting for salmon burger for dinner which she of course helped prepare.

 

[speedbird]

I’ve been killing it on dirt bag gear this year. Started my season at the end of July, when I put my friend on her first ever salmon in Area 10, and what a fish that was!



(The costco bag was not an appropriate sized killbag)



32” by 20”, but I measured girth just behind the dorsal, not in front of it, can’t say why I messed up like that. I think 21” is a more accurate girth which puts this fish at around 18lbs. Biggest fish I’ve ever had in a boat I was driving from Puget Sound. My friend and I started fishing early in the morning. The only non shaker of the day was a 3lb super skinny rezzy. At around 1 I called back to her while she tended the downriggers (Surprisingly efficiently for someone who had never heard of a downrigger before that day) and asked her if we should ”head back because I doubt we’d catch anything by now”. She didn’t hear me so I didn’t repeat myself because I never *actually* want to head back. That was the perfect decision, because less than five minutes later I hear her call “fish“ and I look back and see the rod going. The rod looks like it’s still in the downrigger clip so I go to take it out from her and it absolutely is not. I hand the rod back to her and make a turn into deeper water so that we can focus on the fight rather than avoiding shore and other boats. At one point the fish swims into the other line but thankfully doesn’t tangle. My friend struggles to take line from the fish. It was hooked on a Tekota 300. I have mixed feelings about that reel, the double paddle makes it incredibly difficult to put power on the fish, and even bringing a flasher in has crazy resistance. The fish comes up to the surface and we see it. My first instinct is that it’s a 20 plus pounder and now my heart is really pounding,. For having never fought a fish this big before, (This is her third ever fish besides a stocker rainbow and a sculpin) my friend is doing a really good job not horsing it in. Watching the fish splash at the surface is something else. It’s been over ten minutes and she’s getting tired, I now have to worry about landing the fish as my netting skills aren’t the best. I‘m encouraging her to keep it to the right side of the boat and to keep bringing it in, but it’s clear she is struggling. First netting attempt fails. Second attempt I reach as far as the net allows me to while still having a good grip, and through a miracle, get the fish in the bag. The hook going square into the corner of the mouth, and the fish being played long enough are probably the two main reasons we landed this fish. I am glad it was a hatchery as I am not sure if a wild fish would have energy to swim off fine. I am mildly jealous it wasn’t me who fought the fish, but putting someone on their first salmon and making it a fish of that quality is a reward of its own.

 

[speedbird]

I spent the rest of Chinook season trying to beat that fish but it just didn’t happen. Took a couple friends out to Possession Bar the next day and could not keep the Resident Coho off our hooks. We fished for two hours before work and had a fish on every 10 minutes or so, plenty of unclipped fish, and a few undersized Blackmouth. The only Chinook of the morning was a mature but very small 22.5 inch hen. I would have assumed it was a Jack if it was a male, but she had tons of eggs. After Area 9 closed, I went out to Jeff Head and hooked into a nice fish that I would guess from the fight had to be at least a 12lber, but lost it after I gave it too much slack. My idea was to let the fish run rather than shake it’s head on the hook but the slack let it get off. No other fish that day. The next time I went out I was able to get on my first Chinook of the year, a smallish 8lber with an extremely full belly. For whatever reason, all the Chinook I caught this year have been on a 4” Herring Aide Kingfisher spoon. My Gibbs Delta Cookies and Cream goes untouched except by silvers. On my last Chinook outing two weeks ago, that same setup absolutely killed the pinks. I’ve discovered that when smoked well, pinks rival the other salmon in eating quality and easily beat the farmed Atlantic salmon you get at the grocery store. My last gear trip I targeted pinks using the old standby squid, but my coho/king flashers. Probably hooked into over 15 fish but lost like 10, maybe I horsed them in too quick used to the coho and Chinook who will punish you if you let them sit, or maybe their soft mouths make them easier to loose. It’s also pretty likely that trolling with 6oz mooching sinkers made it easier for them to escape near the boat, as they can use the weight as leverage to shake the hook. I would have preferred to jig or fly cast to pinks, but when I’m out on a boat I’m usually with friends or family, and it’s hard to convince folks that “catching less fish but having more fun” is a good idea on a fishing trip. I don’t really mind, when I am fly fishing it’s a more meditative experience, and I prefer to be alone on a beach than with a group while I do it. Our boat club membership is a family investment and even though I’m the captain I’m there to make sure everyone is having a good time, since it’s not only my boat. I’m considering purchasing a small skiff to take around beaches on good weather days to get that solitude out on the water. Unlike many folks here I really enjoy downrigger fishing when fishing with a capable crew; It feels like an exercise in crew resource management. One person drives, one person brings the fish in, one person nets. Like clockwork, and when it’s hot your communication skills should be sharp. I’ll definitely try to sell friends and family on mooching when the Ocean Coho stackup, as my limited experience has been that trolling when they are staging like that is just taking yourself away from the fish for no good reason

 

[speedbird]

Two really nice ocean coho, one rezzy, and 3 for 4 on pinks today in area 9. Don’t feel great about the ocean coho, in an effort to have more successful releases on mark selective fisheries I gave up the double hook mooching leader commonly used to troll around here in favor of a siwash stinger on a swivel, with a slight bend added. The first fish took the hook so deep I literally couldn’t see it. I elected to cut the line rather than spend a whole bunch of time reaching down its throat making the injury worse. I swapped out to a setup with no bend, but the next fish still ended up with a hook in its eye. Most of the pinks also ended up badly hooked.

Does anyone have suggestions for rigging trolling gear as humanely as possible? Double hooks were almost impossible to take out, and would really damage the fish if it bit both. I am using the smallest Siwash hooks the shops carry, 2/0 and 3/0 still really messed fish up.

I also question the logic in making Area 9 a mark selective Coho fishery when the vast majority of fish in that area are Wild, and most anglers on the water will be using gear that leads to a very high mortality rate.

 

[Bakerite]

I have been fishing with a very experienced downrigger guy and put a clouser on behind the flasher just to try it. Biggest fish of the day and outfished his hoochie. He is now after me to tie him clousers and I have been on it. Small pink ones for the pinks, but we have caught coho too. Green, blue and purple over white all have worked as well. I haven't had a fish take one deep yet.

 

[speedbird]

I have been fishing with a very experienced downrigger guy and put a clouser on behind the flasher just to try it. Biggest fish of the day and outfished his hoochie. He is now after me to tie him clousers and I have been on it. Small pink ones for the pinks, but we have caught coho too. Green, blue and purple over white all have worked as well. I haven't had a fish take one deep yet.

Tying some tonight and will fish them next time. Might try one without the flasher to see how it does, more action than a hoochie. How big were the clousers he used for that?

 

[Bakerite]

Tying some tonight and will fish them next time. Might try one without the flasher to see how it does, more action than a hoochie. How big were the clousers he used for that?

I have tied them in a bunch of sizes. 4 to 2/0. They all have worked, small might be better. 4's for the pinks.

 

[SurfnFish]

I have been fishing with a very experienced downrigger guy and put a clouser on behind the flasher just to try it. Biggest fish of the day and outfished his hoochie.

fly fshing friend trolls in the salt with 4" Clousers tied with a trailer hook behind flashers, swears by them...

 

[Pink Nighty]

fly fshing friend trolls in the salt with 4" Clousers tied with a trailer hook behind flashers, swears by them...

Do they keep the dogs off?

 

[dep]

looking to fish on Sunday in area 10. any large ho's in the area?

dp

 

[speedbird]

looking to fish on Sunday in area 10. any large ho's in the area?

dp

Probably a few but the photos I am seeing posted of Area 10 show fish that are only slightly larger than the remaining Pinks. My guess is larger rezzies or Salish Sea Coho (Fish that left Puget Sound but didn't go to the big pond)

 

[Chucker]

looking to fish on Sunday in area 10. any large ho's in the area?

dp

Yes