Puget Sound

Way to much going on in the water were I wanted to fish today, so just drove around and enjoyed a nice day while looking at birds, beaches….and ice.
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Likely no lawn mowing or shrub trimming going to happen today. 😂

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SF
 
Kashf said:
Can someone more knowledgeable than me tell me why a trawler is allowed to have its nets out in puget sound? I called it in to the non emergency hotline and Wdfw told me they were “testing gear”. There is no way they were illegally targeting anything considering how blatant and obvious their ship is but I find it peculiar that they pulled their nets and left as soon as the officer told me they got in contact.
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@Kashf When I was commercial fishing in the 70's and 80's we were allowed to test our seine after hanging/building it in a specific area of Bellingham Bay.
1 set was allowed and required was to let the tail end of the net go at the end of the retrieval to free any salmon that were trapped.
The penalties for keeping fish while testing were severe enough to dissuade the Captain/owner from doing it.
 
Wanative said:
@Kashf When I was commercial fishing in the 70's and 80's we were allowed to test our seine after hanging/building it in a specific area of Bellingham Bay.
1 set was allowed and required was to let the tail end of the net go at the end of the retrieval to free any salmon that were trapped.
The penalties for keeping fish while testing were severe enough to dissuade the Captain/owner from doing it.
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Really cool info
 
jeradjames said:
Which rod did you pick up?
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Orvis Helios 3D (blue). I casted one a few years back while smallmouth fishing with a buddy in Michigan. It was a cannon. I’ve been using a 5wt Scott Flex for about a year and decided it was time to look for a more powerful rod from the beach. The current sale on the Helios rods was hard to pass up. I had an Outbound Short line that I’ve used a couple times sitting around that I tried today. I was impressed with the set-up but will likely go with the SA Sonar titan line. I have always wanted to try it for the beaches, but they do not make it in 5wt. I love tinkering with gear.. anyone else running a set up they love (line and leader specs encouraged)?
 
WolverineSRC said:
Orvis Helios 3D (blue). I casted one a few years back while smallmouth fishing with a buddy in Michigan. It was a cannon. I’ve been using a 5wt Scott Flex for about a year and decided it was time to look for a more powerful rod from the beach. The current sale on the Helios rods was hard to pass up. I had an Outbound Short line that I’ve used a couple times sitting around that I tried today. I was impressed with the set-up but will likely go with the SA Sonar titan line. I have always wanted to try it for the beaches, but they do not make it in 5wt. I love tinkering with gear.. anyone else running a set up they love (line and leader specs encouraged)?
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Which Sonar Titan are you thinking of getting?
SF
 
Hit a few beaches with @Kfish this morning. Solid fishing, especially at the first two stops. Overall, 7 or 8 SRC landed, plus a rezzie. Lost a few more. It was nice to get into some consistent bites compared to the last couple of salt outings. Cold to start the morning but not bad by the time we wrapped.

Obligatory icy rod shot. Forgive me, we don’t see this much in western WA :).

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Some of the fish. The first one was actually pretty long. Snakey guy though.

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Fly the day.

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Stonedfish said:
Which Sonar Titan are you thinking of getting?
S
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Looking at the 6wt full intermediate. I’ve been using the SA Frequency full sink intermediate for awhile which is superb at the $60 price point, in my opinion. I’ll either stick with that line in a heavier size for my 6wt or try the titan.

I fished a state park in MA13 today and went 1-2 on the incoming tide. On the board for 2024! Lost a slightly smaller fish at the net two casts before landing this fish. This is one of the better fights I can remember for an SRC for me. Brownish sea run bugger stripped slow was the ticket!
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WolverineSRC said:
Looking at the 6wt full intermediate. I’ve been using the SA Frequency full sink intermediate for awhile which is superb at the $60 price point, in my opinion. I’ll either stick with that line in a heavier size for my 6wt or try the titan.

I fished a state park in MA13 today and went 1-2 on the incoming tide. On the board for 2024! Lost a slightly smaller fish at the net two casts before landing this fish. This is one of the better fights I can remember for an SRC for me. Brownish sea run bugger stripped slow was the ticket!
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Nice job!
The Sonar Titan full intermediate sinks very slow compared to other intermediate lines. It seems to have a coating on it that takes some time to wear off or breaking in the line, then it sinks better. Nice line for cutts in areas without a lot of total movement. Doesn't sink fast enough for my liking for areas with lots of tidal current, especially some good coho beaches. Just my experience with it. YMMV.
SF
 
Stonedfish said:
Nice job!
The Sonar Titan full intermediate sinks very slow compared to other intermediate lines. It seems to have a coating on it that takes some time to wear off or breaking in the line, then it sinks better. Nice line for cutts in areas without a lot of total movement. Doesn't sink fast enough for my liking for areas with lots of tidal current, especially some good coho beaches. Just my experience with it. YMMV.
SF
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I’d heard that when I was having trouble getting that line down. Stripping it through a folded-over magic eraser seemed to do the trick for me.

Probably was hell on whatever marketing term additive they put on the line, but it sinks ok now. Have that titan taper in several flavors, and it’s a good one. Float/Int from the beach, III or V or VII from a boat. Would still sell them all for the old Airflo 40+, though.


Edit: Forgot to mention that I had one of the I/3/5 or whatever that kept hanging up on the bottom in 30' of water as I stripped the fly in. @Nick Clayton and I were baffled. So not all of those lines have a sinking problem.
 
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Jake Watrous said:
I’d heard that when I was having trouble getting that line down. Stripping it through a folded-over magic eraser seemed to do the trick for me.

Probably was hell on whatever marketing term additive they put on the line, but it sinks ok now. Have that titan taper in several flavors, and it’s a good one. Float/Int from the beach, III or V or VII from a boat. Would still sell them all for the old Airflo 40+, though.
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It was suggested to wipe it with an alcohol wipe to get the coating off by a shop owner per SA.
Steve Godshall mentioned to me about using steel wool to remove static on an intermediate that didn’t sink, so you magic eraser is in the ball park.
If I’m fishing in heavy current for src which isn’t often with that line, I always stick my rod tip underwater to assist with the sink rate.
I’d love for them to make a full type 2 Sonar Titan or just a I/3 rather than the I/2/3.
SF
 
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My first beach was one that rewarded rezzies consistently the last two years at the same tidal movement today. So far, this year it’s been a flop.
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The views are just too good though not to keep trying.
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I had a watcher too.
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Onto the second beach and found another angler. Cracked a beer and watched him for 15 minutes, he was stripping fast w/o penetrating the water column. As he left he told me of his fishless afternoon and the fly used. I changed tactics and went deep.
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It was rezzie-ville, landed 3 fought 6, one that was considerably larger lost at the net.
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They really loved this lead eye sculpin, and I did too after seeing all the movement it made.
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And a sunset to top off the day 👌
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Today‘s sunset was a magnificent 360 degree deal! Great photos of it. Anyone else get any?
 
Matt B said:
Today‘s sunset was a magnificent 360 degree deal! Great photos of it. Anyone else get any?
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@Matt B you are right. Last two nights had great sunsets. The sun sets so fast easy to miss the vivid colors. I did post one above from a couple of nights ago.
 
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