olympic penninsula
If your a regular reader you know this year I have been learning to fish Tuna.
So I get on line to the great offshore guys on Bloodydecks.com and learn from people that have been doing it for a while. 
One of the things I learned was that because it has been a fairly small market it is hard to find good tuna gear here. Until now.
Many Washington anglers will be familiar with Bo Palmer from Defiance Boats. Local Gig Harbor folks will know that Tiderunner Boats were once manufactured and sold here. And by a long and winding road Tiderunner is now part of the defiance boat family.
So I get on line and see that Bo has opened a new store out by the Bremerton National Airport in Port Orchard. Guys from Bloodydecks that had been there say he has everything I need for tuna. And they are the guys that know. The wife and I decide it’s a nice day for a road trip so we jump in the car and off we go. 
From Gig Harbor you can get there taking 16 to hwy3 through beautiful downtown Gorst (gateway to Belfair). but we decided to take back roads for fun. On the way, out in the middle of nowhere, We hit this road construction that turns out to be another perfectly good intersection our wonderful state of Washington is screwing into a roundy round (Pet Peeve).
We get there and The store is great!!
Bo himself helps me find the things I need and explains to me how to rig and use the gear. Now you know that when you go to a store asking what do I need for this fishery usually the salesman will grab a hand full of what ever costs the most and say you absolutely need this and a dozen of those etc. So I did a little homework ahead of time. I knew going in I needed x-wraps, clones and live bait hooks. Bo explained to me which hooks to buy, how to use weights to keep live bait underwater and even helped me find some purple x-wraps that were in the back. What he did not do was try to sell me a bunch of crap I didn’t need. I was also able to find some salmon stuff I had been looking for but was sold out in other places.
Bo even helped my wife pick out a kick ass birthday present for me. 
Overall the store was a bit of a hike. For me it is about the same distance as Sportco in Fife or Warehouse in Silverdale (but those places don’t carry much tuna gear). Prices were about what you would expect. The big difference for me is that this is a real fisherman’s store. 
It has all the stuff you really need without all the extraneous crap larger stores have to carry. I can see this becoming a regular stop for me when planning any type of fishing.
Thanks Bo
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Did you ever have one of those things you tried to explain a bunch of times and then someone comes along and explains it better than you could no matter how hard you tried. Well, I just had that experience. below is the most comprehensive article on salmon trolling techniques I have ever seen. Please take a look. You may want to bookmark it, I did.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
The trip this week started with a stop at Fat Smitty’s. I’ll be doing a separate post on that but it was a great way to start out.
We got to LaPush. set up the boat. my Yachters finally showed up around 6ish so we decided not to go out but instead they tightened up some stuff around the boat. I give these guys a lot of crap about being boaters and not fishermen but they are great to have around. I don’t take the boat stuff seriously enough sometimes and these guys are great at straitening things out.
Again we were unable to get moorage but Billy really has that place running like clockwork so launching was actually kind of fun. We set out about six and the water was almost dead calm. it was about a four foot swell with about fifteen seconds in between. We made about 20 kts out and reached the Southwest Corner a little before 8am.
We did our first drift where we caught last week with no success. we made our next drift about 200 yards east and hit four small halibut at one shot, all of which were released hoping for larger fare. Our next drift produced nothing and we started to get a little concerned. I talked to my buddy Todd and he said anything anyone was catching was smallish so we decided to keep the next few we caught.
On our next drift we had four fish on at once, all of which were boated and immediately we had another three on at once two of which had to be released as there were only five of us (Jared hates me now because he had to hog up three fish and I only let him keep one).
We went across the canyon in search of big lings but didn’t find them there. We returned to the Southwest Corner and tried a little shallower to no avail. The weather started to get gloomy so we headed for the rock pile for one last attempt at lings. Here we ran into my friend Paul that told me herring was the trick, and gave me a little. We tried the herring and had a couple strikes but couldn’t hook anything up.
Overall it was a great day on the water. We returned home, cleaned fish, retrieved the boat and headed out in record time. We stopped at the Seven Cedars for a terrific dinner buffet including a peach flambe over ice cream. WOW!
Here’s hoping we get one more opener in June but if we don’t this was an experience I will remember all year.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
The 2011 Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby (or Gardner Derby as it has been called for ever) is over and Guess who won.
photo from gardinersalmonderby.org
This years derby was great but not without some controversy. it seems a decision was made at the last minute to include area 9 and allow people to run fish up to Port Townsend to be weighed. The decision was made on the 17th and publicized on the derby web site. The argument is that if more people had known they would have fished there especially on Saturday with the north wind blowing people out of the straits.
The fact is these guys are all volunteers and they are trying to (and succeeding at) put on a great derby so don’t be to hard on them. All in all it was a good event with lots of prizes and a good time was had by everyone that wanted to. Good Job guys!!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Here is a link to a great article on Olympic Peninsula and Northwestern Washington rivers by Matt Schubert.
They might be putting on some color as fall salmon season winds down on the North Olympic Peninsula, but I’d be blushing, too, if droves of voyeurs looked on while I tossed out pickup lines.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Read more here.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
The first razor-clam dig of the season is tentatively scheduled to begin early next 
month on five ocean beaches, with additional digs planned through the New Year’s holiday weekend.
In announcing the initial digging schedule, fishery managers emphasized that final approval of all scheduled openings will depend on results of marine toxin tests that show the clams are safe to eat.
“As in years past, we are announcing the proposed digging schedule so people can start making plans,” said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). “But no dig is confirmed until we announce the results of the toxin tests.”
For the first opening, Twin Harbors is scheduled to open for four days of razor-clam digging Oct. 7-10, with additional harvest opportunities planned Oct. 8-9 at Long Beach, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch.
Read the rest of the story here and watch for update on www.gigharborfishing.com
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
It’s spring and in my corner of the Gig Harbor area, as well as the rest of western Washington, bear sightings are becoming more and more frequent. WDFW has put out some good information on how to handle these encounters on their web site.
“The majority of bear problems begin when people either intentionally or unintentionally feed the animals”.
So please don’t feed the bears. read the rest of the report by clicking the picture.
Good Fishin’ To Ya’
Kerry W Allen
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Gig Harbor Fly Shop
Gig Harbor.com