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I have been fishing salmon all my life. I have been fishing Puget Sound Blackmouth for about 20 years. I know a little about how to fish but one of the most important lessons I have learned during this time is how to take information from several sources to create a style of fishing that I can use. This is one of the themes I have tried to apply to this site and everything I write whether it be on-line or in print. My goal is not to teach people how to fish but to share information so that my readers can create their own technique.
To that end when I find something on-line or in print that can add to the conversation I like to share it here. This is an incredible collection of videos by my friend Mike Jamboretz of Jambo’s Sport Fishing explaining in great detail how he fishes Blackmouth in Puget Sound. These videos were created by Mike and Doug Saint-Denis of Ridge to River Outdoors. There are four videos in all. Try to watch them in order. I did but I have been back through them several times as they are packed with information.
Enjoy!!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Well it is late but I here that guys are catching kings right now in front of the Harbor. Usually when they are late like this they are running by so it may not last long. Get your green gear, find something that floats and get on it!!!
Read up on how to rig stuff on the where and how page here
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
While we are planning some great Blackmouth fishing in December. We also are tying to get ready for off season projects to get the boat ready for Halibut in the spring and Tuna in the fall.
“Three Ladies” is a 2530 Parker powered by a 7.4 liter Volvo duo-prop. She is a great offshore boat. That said, we are running on 12 year old electronics. My Furuno radar and fish finder still work well and my old Garmin chart plotter can still find my favorite spots out there. But, I can’t get charts for the GPS, the old Furuno LS6000 fish finder is only a single frequency and doesn’t work well at trolling speed for tuna. The radar is the hardest upgrade to justify. I am telling myself it is a big box on the dash and the advent of HD radar makes it seem like a dinosaur.
My goal really is to replace all these things with a single unit solution. I have done a little shopping around at the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle on November 18th and have narrowed my list down to two names. Furuno and Garmin.
First off all of them are made oversees. I couldn’t find anyone manufacturing marine electronics in the US and if any of you know of one let me know ASAP because I always like to give US companies an opportunity to earn my business. Furuno is made in Japan but they have a facility in Camas Washington which is relatively close and there is at least one guy on BloodyDecks that can help with customer service. Garmin is made in Taiwan but has a facility in Salem oregon and actually employes 3470 people in the US (as per last years annual report). J&G Marine is qualified to do warranty service for Garmin and if I have them install it they can double the warranty. I’m still shopping and expect to make a decision in January by the Boat Show.
I will also be redoing the brakes on the boat trailer. Comparatively this is much less complicated. I will go down to South Side brake and buy new brakes and backing plates for about $100 each and put them on the trailer.
I will be interested to hear who is doing what for winter upgrades. Please leave a comment here or drop me an E-Mail and let me know what your doing.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
I was out yesterday and caught a small humpy. The trick with humpies is to bleed them right away and put them on ice. Unfortunately I didn’t have any ice so I cycled the water in my cooler a couple times and kept him alive till I could clean him at the dock.
I filleted him, put him on ice and BBQed him tonight with some pineapple pepper sauce we got at Costco. It was great!!!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Those that know me will not be surprised that I love to run plugs. I have in my arsenal several different colors but I have two favorites. One is, the old standby, Tomic 140, white with a pink head, everybody should have a couple of these. The other is a two tone green, dark on top light on the bottom. This story is about the second.
In May, 2004 I did a trip up the west side of Vancouver Island with some guys. On the way up we stopped in couple places one of which was Ucluelet. In Ucluelet there 
was a little tackle shop on the water. This place was great. Like all old tackle shops they had a lots of things that work for salmon but all the really good stuff was in the front by the counter. As used to be the case in many coastal shops there was a bucket with old plugs the commercial long line guys had used and discarded for a buck a piece or 5 for $4. These buckets can be a lot of fun to go through. The trick is to find the ones with teeth marks in them, those are the ones that really work. So I picked out a few that looked good including this goofy two toned green thing.
In June of that year I tied up the green one and a couple others. Here is a short video I did on how to rig these plugs.
Up to this point I had had very little success catching June fish in the Gig Harbor area (White River Kings). The first time I ran this green plug it caught a nice 14lb Chinook. This plug has continued to be a consistent producer for me (especially in June). I had to call Tomic to get more made because I couldn’t find them in stores here. They advised me that this was not a color they did for the general public. It was a custom color they did for a long liner in Canada but they would make some for me. So I ordered a dozen. A couple years ago I ordered another dozen after the company changed. The colors are not an exact match but it still works well.
The moral of the story is “when you find something that works use it!!!”.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
This has been by far my most popular post so I decided to re-publish it at the beginning of this season. I hope it helps.
That title ought to get some weird search engine traffic. I’ve posted a little about using Hoochies for catching salmon here in Gig Harbor. Since the invention of the downrigger trolling has become the most common way to fish in the Gig Harbor area. Hoochies are by far the most popular artificial lure in the Gig Harbor area for trolling due to their versatility and the wide variety of colors, patterns and sizes. I am going to show you a couple different ways I rig hoochie rigs for Gig Harbor Fishing.
First I tie all my own leaders. This way I can tie the hooks closer together or further apart depending on what species of salmon I am fishing for, bait and strike tendencies etc… I often like to put a couple glow beads in between the hooks. Also, tying my own leader ensures that I have no one to blame but myself if one breaks off. I’ll do a post on tying leaders for Gig Harbor Fishing soon.
Remember too that a hoochie by itself has no action. It just kinda
lays there. You have to run some sort of flasher or dodger.
My friend Jerry used to do real well with a white hoochie behind a silver dodger. Some people have success running Hoochies behind Les Davis “ford fender” Flashers.
I like to use green hot spot flashers with the glow on one side and the Mylar removed on the other.
The first Hoochie rig I will share with you is one that has worked well for me this year for Chambers Creek
cookie cutters. These are 15 to 18 lb fish that are passing Gig Harbor on their way to the Chambers Creek hatchery to die. This is a glow needlefish hoochie with a green, blue and purple salmon fly in it. This is a great example of an experiment that actually worked so don’t be afraid to try different things. I tied this one on a 38” leader of 40lb test mono with 6/0 owner hooks close together and two glow beads between them.
The other hoochie rig, and by far the most popular fishing in Gig Harbor is the green glow hoochie. Gig Harbor guideline number one is: any color as long as its green. I will usually tie this on the same leader rig as the other. Two owner 6/0 hooks close together with two glow beads. I’ll typically run 36” to 42” leaders for Kings and shorter for Coho 32” to 36” on a green hot spot flasher.
Some like to run a piece of yarn inside to hold your favorite scent product. Some like to run a twinkle skirt or a glow head insert. I’ve had pretty good luck with just the hoochie but try stuff. Experiment with it and make it your own.
Here’s a video I made on hoe to tie the rig for your hoochies:
Experiment and send me a note to let me know what type of hoochie rig works best for you. I love to hear from people having success fishing the Gig Harbor area (or any other) and as always welcome your questions and comments.
Good Fishin to ya,
Kerry W Allen
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
My friend John Keizer just did a great, if a little long, video on tying spoons with micro hoochies. I cant wait to try this.
Check it out here: 
Also check out his other videos on the Salt Patrol Website here: 
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
I attended a Northwest Tuna Seminar today at the Seattle Boat Show. The three hour seminar was put on by Captain John Keizer of saltpatrol.com. I was again impressed with John’s ability to make everyone feel comfortable with the concepts involved. One of the most important things in any offshore fishing is to know where you are going before you leave. John was very thorough in explaining where to get the proper information to make good decisions on where to go. John’s seminar also included information and examples on such things as terminal gear, rods and reels and how to choose a bait tank. Of special interest to me was his explanation on how to make the transition between trolling lures to swim baits to live bait.
There was also tons of information on Electronics and safety equipement. He even told us which hooks to buy.
Overall I would recommend this seminar to anyone even thinking about maybe someday going tuna fishing.
Thanks John
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Did you know that the WDFW has an interactive map of Beaches where you can harvest clams and oysters. of coarse you have to follow the regs and check with the Health Department to ensure it is safe but click the picture and check out the interactive map.
Good Fishin’ To Ya’
Kerry W Allen
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
My friend “area 10 Ben” just sent me a message that he and his friends are catching good numbers of kings up in area 10. Up near Dolphin Point and Southworth Guys were catching limits just a couple days ago so hopefully some of those fish are headed this way. Cookies and cream Kingfisher3.5′s and green hoochies trolled about 75 feet deep have been the hot ticket for these fish. I will also be running my new favorite 3.5″ TNT. Maybe September is lookin’ up.
For demos on how to tie these rigs check out, and subscribe to, my youtube channel here.
Good Fishin’ To Ya’
Kerry W Allen
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Gig Harbor Fly Shop
Gig Harbor.com