Just in case you haven't heard, the MA 10 blackmouth opening has closed for the season. Was able to go out only twice, most promising day given weather/tide conditions was on a friend's boat that developed main engine issues near the farthest planned point of the trip, so we limped/trolled our way back on the kicker which then developed steering issues, still managed to see encouraging signs for upcoming coho seasons (marked lots of rezzies around, some decent sizes also for the time of the year) mainly on the east side. Second day, less than ideal conditions, too sunny, calm, decent tide, shorter outing but functional boat, released two clearly keeper size nice blackmouth, plus one barely legal, did not bother to measure any of them, quick slack line release by the boat as I was not keeping any that day. All blackmouth on jigs and on the west side, did not see a lot of bait except deep. All 3 took the jig on the drop, which is always exciting reeling fast till connecting to the fish! Looked very lively even with the sunny/calm day with quite a few followers and refusals close in. Lost a large fish that had a brutal take near the bottom, not on the drop, hook pulled. Also lost my favorite jig of all time, still mourning it, the thing had very little of the original color left, banged all around, but seemingly improved it's ability to catch fish as years went by, isn't it weird how some lures/flies just work while others apparently identical or in better shape won't?
Wish I could have been out more but other things kept me occupied, it was a crazy winter in several fronts, the couple times I went out, even if with issues, kept me going...
WDFW announces that blackmouth fishing off Seattle, Bremerton, Shoreline and elsewhere will close as Marine Area 10 encounter limits have been reached. Year-round piers remain open, as does Area 11 to the south.
nwsportsmanmag.com
