fishing with the kids
I commissioned my friend Tammy Derwick, the mermaid expert, to make me an image. My original goal was to make a graphic for the boat “Three Ladies” but as it evolved it became much more than that. What we have ended up with is a beautiful hand drawn portrait of my wife and daughters in mermaid form that we have framed and hung in a place of honor in our home.
I think you will agree Tammy does fine work. You can contact her and see more of her work at bethemyth.com.
Next we will start to work on a nice wrap.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Yes boys and girls it’s time t o go a hunting the elusive wild dungeness crab. I get asked a lot where to go for dungees in this area. Here’s the deal. If you check out this map on Google maps you will see an area in Quartermaster Harbor that I like to crab but people crab all over that area. there are also crab in several other areas like Olalla, Ruston and north of Point Richmond. Use some kind of oily bait like cat food or Tuna. Turkey legs work well but I like to use my Salmon carcasses from the fish I catch. This keeps me from buying bait and allows me to transform more of the salmon into an edible form.
You also want to make sure you only keep legal crab.
For Dungeness it is males only and 6.25 inches inside the points. Males have a narrow triangle on their belly. like this:
Here is a helpful guide in the Reg book:
I’ll be out first thing in the AM. good Luck and Good Fishin’
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
I think every father that loves the outdoors dreams of one day sharing that love with their kids. For me that dream became a reality Saturday when I was able to take my twin daughters Kristina and Jessica offshore for the La Push Halibut opener.
Taking children fishing has its challenges and with daughters it is a little different because I didn’t want to put any pressure on them to be tom-boyish or tough just to impress me. Beyond that Kristina is diabetic so that raised challenges of it’s own.
On the drive up to La Push we talked about safety issues, diabetes issues and how things were going to work. We stopped at Fat Smitty’s because everyone should experience that at least once. I also got to share with my children some of the most beautiful scenery in the State of Washington if not the country. When we got to Lake Crescent they were awestruck. And they loved the Olympic National Forest. But nothing could prepare them for the drive into La Push. When you come around the corner and see Smith Island with the sun setting behind it. Even Kristina was rendered speechless, and that is no small feat.
We took a sampling of all of our diabetic supplies. Being six to eight hours away from a hospital means we had to be prepared for any contingency. Thankfully, the only issue we had was when her Blood sugar got a little low and her tummy was a little upset so she couldn’t eat. she was able to choke down a little juice to bring the blood sugar up and later, after she caught the first fish on the trip, the queasiness went away and she was able to eat.
We chose to have both kids wear the scopalamine patch. This was their first 
ocean trip and we wanted to do everything we could to make it as pleasant as possible. When we left La Push the kids were very excited by the first few waves and seemed to really enjoy the ride out. After sitting at the corner for a few minutes both kids got a little queasy, Jessica got a little upset about this which made it worse. Once she settled down and was able to eat a little and take a nap she felt better. Toward the end of the day we were able to have a nice talk on the bow, sitting in the sun and giggling a bit.
Kristina caught the first fish, She said it was easier than arm wrestling Tristan. I don’t know who Tristan is but he must be pretty strong. Jessica caught the last after she got over a little bout of seasickness. Patti, my terrific wife, caught one about 40 pounds and hooked up two others. The weather was perfect and the ocean conditions were as good as they could be. It was sunny and 70 degrees. Patti caught the big one in a bikini (I Win).
I had the best crew on the planet. My friends Kevin and Jeff agreed before we went that this day was about the kids and they both made sacrifices and were very helpful to them.
Jeff pulled up several lings and was getting a little frustrated by the end that he couldn’t hook a halibut. It was funny to watch him cuss about catching a 20 pound ling.
We got all our halibut. We decided not to go out to our ling hole as this would be harder on the kids but we did catch a few in the halibut spot. The kids each got to real in a few and Patti was a halibut machine. we even caught about a 15 pound Chinook Salmon that we successfully revived and released.
Final count was 6 Halibut, 8 Ling Cod, 1 Chinook Salmon, a pipe jig, a spreader rig and about 800 feet of spectra line we snagged off the bottom. Oh, and a sea cucumber, I think. 2 kids completely worn out, 1 happy wife and the proudest father ever.
MY FAMILY ROCK!!!!!!!!!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Guys are catching Kings right now in all the usual spots. Now is the time we wait all year for so get out there and get some!!!
This one was Jessica’s first salmon and was good for 19th place in the Gig Harbor PSA derby last Saturday. The winner was a 25.42 pound hog caught near Nisqually by Russel Stone.
I was out tonight and there were several fish caught, including one that I broke off for my other daughter Kristina. Sorry Babe.
Anyway this is a great time to go fishing so get out there in anything that will float and get some!!!!!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
This is a little tidbit I got from the Seattle Times. It could be good to know if your planning to fish pinks this year like I am with the kids.
• The Puget Sound Anglers of Lake Washington meeting is 6:45 p.m. June 9 at the Community Center at Mercer View, 8236 S.E. 24th St. on Mercer Island. There will be a seminar on pink salmon fishing in Puget Sound and trout fishing in Lake Washington in preparation for the Lake Washington Trout Derby on June 11. Details: 425-823-0704.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
This morning we (the kids and I) set out to catch them a nice salmon. As is usually the case they crawled into the cabin and went to sleep as soon as we started fishing. This is fine, the important thing is we are together and they love to go so it’s all good. We fished from 6 til about 9 with nothing going on. We fished deep, we fished shallow, we tried spoons and hoochies and the clown shoe. Not even a bump. This guy was in by the beach and said he had one and just as he said that he caught (and lost) another so we decided to try in a little shallower in front of Half Cabin and about 45 feet on the rigger.
Within about ten minutes it was FISH ON!! I woke the kids just as the fish broke the surface. I handed the rod to Kristina.I was slowing the motor when she said it was too heavy for her, I told her just keep reeling and…pop…it was gone. She was very sorry but I explained to her that we got to feel it for a minute and see it for a second, we could be happy for that.
Overall it was a great experience for all of us. We learned that whatever else happens just keep reeling. A good metaphor for life really.
Good Fishin’ To Ya’
Kerry W Allen
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Gig Harbor Fly Shop
Gig Harbor.com