Posts Tagged ‘South Puget Sound Fishing’
Well it’s been a long cold winter but spring has sprung and it’s time to get ready for LaPush Halibut.
I took a trip up recently to fish lings and rockfish just to get back out on the big ocean. It was a great day. Got our lings and a couple seabass, had great ocean conditions and even saw some transient Orca whales. I am including the video link, even though it is crappy, because these big guys were running and you don’t see that all the time.
I spent the winter upgrading the boat, pics to follow, and taking classes for my OUPV (captain) license. Exams were successful and I am now officially Captain Kerry W Allen. I am a Navy veteran, I have worked for the federal government for 25 years and I finally have a marketable skill. The jury is still out as to whether I will start chartering this year or next. Oh, and no I can’t marry people.
The new regs are out. Area 11 will be closed for Salmon during May but Lings will be open May 1st through June 15th. 26 to 36 inches.
We are planning several Ocean trips this year for Halibut, Tuna and maybe even a Salmon trip or two out of Westport. I will start sending the newsletter again soon to keep everyone up to date on what’s Happening.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
We are a little ahead of schedule.
It turns out the decision to rent a garage for the project was a good one. I have been able to dry out some old holes and patch them. Got rid of some old hardware and filled the holes from that also. I have learned to apply gel coat and fiberglass, both of which will be useful skills in the future.
We installed a new satellite ready am/fm radio and speakers, a new Garmin 400c fish finder for the cockpit (this will use the existing p66 transducer from the old Furuno), a through hull (B60) transducer with a 12 degree tilt. This last required me to drill a 2 3/8 inch hole in the bottom of my boat. SCARRY!!! The big brain behind all this is a Garmin 740S touch screen GPS/Fishfinder combo unit. All this stuff is ready t plug in turn on and go. I am still awaiting a fuel flow sensor and an adapter for the 400c so it will talk to the transducer.
As soon as the fiberglass patch on the top is complete (outer layer on the bottom)
we can mount the 10 hole rocket launcher and the led deck light. Patch should be done Tuesday and the rocket launcher will go on this weekend. Then it’s wash and wax and let go fishing!!!!!!!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
One of the cool things about having a blog is it gives me a way to check in and forces me to get things done. So here is the update for this week:
Replaced brakes and bearings on the trailer. I had to run new brake lines for the axles and still need to bleed them. I may put new leaf springs in too. Haven’t decided yet.
Rocket launchers are on order and I am waiting till the boat show to purchase electronics. I purchased a new troll housing for the go-pro this year. That should make for some great tuna video. My friend John picked up a couple Tica Rod and reel combos (Chinese but for 60 bucks they are disposable). I still plan to purchase some new Avets for bait fishing but that is also waiting for the shows.
The overall theme in all this is to clear the deck and cabin of clutter so we can cover it in blood.
I will be interested to see what others are working on this winter. Please drop a comment with your projects and pictures. I know my friend Steve is replacing the deck on his boat and Tom is always working on something.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
WDFW gave us a little Christmas gift and opened crabbing in area 11. It will remain open until the end of December. In the last couple weeks we have caught good numbers of fat, hard shelled dungeness. The bodies on these winter crab are are jammed full of meat where in the summer a lot of them are soft and in the molting process. 
This is a good time to use those Tuna scraps you have left over from the summer. If you don’t have that Turkey legs, Salmon carcasses or heads will work and in a pinch you could even use good old Puss in Boots cat food.
Oh and Sportco has a great deal on crab pots at $15 for a nice box whith an opening top. Crabbing in Quartermaster Harbor has been a great time for the kids and I. We’ve even gotten some of our friends in on the fun.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Here’s a fun thing I found on-line:
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
I don’t know if others experience this but I seem to have a lot of smarty pants type people around me. I was supposed to go crabbing with my friend YT (pronounced whitee) on Sunday but I worked a little overtime so I didn’t get the boat back in the water. We were going to drop some pots at Quartermaster Harbor and troll around for a couple hours get some fat winter crab and go home.
Today is monday and I see YT and he says “we only got three crab” in that “ask me what else happened” kinda voice. So I say “but they were big fat nice ones, yes?”. He couldn’t hold it any more and told me he caught a nice 23lb Blackmouth while soaking the pots. Needless to say it didn’t take much prompting to get the rest of the story. 
He was fishing on the west side of Point Dalco, in about 100 feet of water. he was running a hot spot on the downrigger ball, with about a 4 foot leader, and a coyote spoon about three feet behind that off the release. I will try to post a pic of this rig in the future.
Good Job YT
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
I almost missed it but winter crab opened today. 
The cool thing about winter crab is the shells are harder and they are packed full of yummy meat. Check out the map pages for where to fish and there is some good info on the wdfw website also. The season will be open 7 days a week till December 31st but make sure you check the regs.
From WDFW: Waters reopening to sport crabbing Oct. 8 at 8 a.m. include marine areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu), 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island, and Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner), and a portion of Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) north of a line that extends from Olele Point to Foulweather Bluff.
Marine areas 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island) and 13 (South Puget Sound) will reopen for sport crabbing at 8 a.m. on Nov. 21.
In each area, crabbing will be allowed seven days a week through Dec. 31.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
this is a link to a story that impressed me about cold water rescue. Though the temperature of the water in the sound doesn’t change that much from season to season in the winter there is a greater likelihood, if you go in, you will be in for quite a while as there are fewer people fishing.
I will be printing this out, laminating it and keeping it on the boat.
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
It’s the end of October and that means some great fall fishing is coming to a close and with it goes the retention of wild kings and the ability to keep two Chinook. The good news is blackmouth season is upon us. My personal favorite Puget Sound fishery is blackmouth, or local kings, so I get very excited about this time of year. We are back to releasing wild Chinook (adipose fin in tact) and only keeping one Chinook but there are still some chum around and local coho to fill the two fish limit. And we will have winter crabbing in area 11 this year starting November 21st seven days a week til December 31st.
There is nothing like a crisp clear winter day, where the sun is out and the water is perfectly flat. There is very little competition for these fish so I am usually the only boat out, or one of just a couple. If I’m lucky I can get my buddy James or one of the other hard cores to go. We fish Blackmouth mostly at the tide changes, and hour before to an hour after. I’ll fish the Girl Scout Camp or Point Richmond on the in and Point Defiance on the out. Or Gig Harbor on either tide. There is a hump just north of the harbor that holds fish on the leeward side.
I troll between 2.5 and 3 MPH but will go slower if I’m running fat plugs like the Tomic Tubby’s. I usually run spoons or hoochies in green. I also have a couple Tomic Plugs one white and one green that work really well for Blackmouth. For instructions on rigging these check out my youtube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe. And you want to run this right on the bottom. usually if you run your downrigger ball the same depth as the water, or even a little deeper for the angle, you will usually be close enough. These fish are sitting on the bottom and feeding up.
Don’t forget to wear a life jacket when fishing in the winter and let someone know where your going and when you’ll be back. Unlike the summer, there aren’t a lot of other people around so a small mistake could be disastrous. Good Luck
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Regular readers know this year I have focused on learning the Washington Coast Tuna fishery. I have learned a lot of lessons that I will use in the future but there was one lesson I was able to bring with me from years of winter blackmouth fishing that helped me out there.
Often when fishing Blackmouth, or really any time fishing in the fall and winter, I find that I am the only boat in the area. 
This situation happened to me when I was Tuna fishing last week. I had planned to go with a couple other boats but as is sometimes the case the other boats decided to go the following day so I found that I was the only boat going. Rather than cancel my last tuna trip of the year I decided to go and use what I have learned from winter blackmouth fishing and make sure several other people knew where I was going and when I would be back. I even told them if I was not back by 3:30 start looking for me. When I pulled in to Westport about 3:15 I checked in with the people I had coordinated with but if I hadn’t they knew to start looking.
This is very important on the ocean as it can be challenging at times just staying on the boat. This is also important in the sound where the water is not always so challenging and is easily underestimated. Every year we read in the paper about a guy that went fishing alone one day and washed up on the beach a couple days later. I was out blackmouth fishing on a dead calm day a few years ago, caught one and stepped out on the swim step to net it. There I was out by myself, on the swim step trying to negotiate my nine foot rod and a four foot leader, the long handled net and the boat. Fish goes on way net goes the other and I scare the crap out of myself thinking I’m going over. later, it occurred to me that if I did fall overboard the boat would keep going without me and I probably couldn’t swim to shore.
Lesson learned. It’s always a good idea to let someone know where you are going and when you’ll be back, especially when you will be out by yourself. This goes for Puget Sound or offshore or even your local lake. And always wear a life jacket, especially when fishing alone in the boat. accidents happen and a little preparedness can make the difference between being the guy in the picture or the guy in the paper.
Also remember that Boaters licensing is being phased in in Washington state. For details check out this link:
Graphic courtesy of BoaterExam.com – Get Your Boating License Online!
Good Fishin' To Ya'
Kerry W Allen
Gig Harbor Fly Shop
Gig Harbor.com