Area 13 advise? Summer Nookie, rocks, and more!

I'll be on Anderson Island in one week and wondering what advise, if any, you guys might have to offer.  I'll be in East Oro Bay where I know there has always been a good amount of Dungeness and clamming to be had.  This year, however, I'll be getting more serious about fishing.  It was this same trip a year ago that got me hooked on getting a kayak for fishing...

According to SalmonU, I'll be at a great spot for targeting Summer Chinooks. Just a short paddle around front of Cole Point and I should start finding fish.  Downside, of course, is that I won't have sonar (not in the budget till a week later ).  I will have my line-counter reel, which should be some help. All i really have to go with i found here: http://www.salmonuniversity.com/pss_nisqually.html

I figure I'll be mooching some plug cut herring off the point, bouncing off the bottom with ~6oz of lead.  This method I'm familiar with since its what we use for Springers in the Columbia.  I was also thinking of picking up a small dispy-diver and a couple white/green spoons as well...  Really dunno what I'm doing, but it sounds good.  I know that sonar would be nice, but, hey, they've not been around forever and people have been catching fish for a LONG time... Should get by without.

I see season is closed for Lings, oh well.  But how about rockfish?  Any general advise for them? I've got an ok collection of .5-1.5oz jig heads and various grubs and what not... Anyone fished the area before for these?  Would be nice to have something to go back on should salmon fishing prove a bust.

Yo - The Nothing - I live near the Nisqually boat launch, and just bought the kayak to start fishing, so I no nothing, however will pass along what little I have heard in
Area 13 which is south of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.  A Puget Sound South map exist with contour lines indicating depths. Will be glad to fax you the area around Anderson Island if you wish.  A boater told me that he uses for mooching
a "Reaper", which caught a legal salmoln about a week ago. No idea where to purchase this.  Two sources for you may be Zittels Marina 360-459-1950 Johnson Point which is about 3 miles from Oro Bay, have some fishing tackle etc..  Also Narrows Marina (253) 564-3032 just south of the Narrows bridge about 9 miles by motor boat from Oro Bay. They usually have live herring etc, also fishing tackle.
Horde makes a Coho Killer that can be effective, one motor boater I heard of fishes this all year around.

Searun cuts are a year around catch and release (CR) fishery, sometimes you run into salmon along the way.  In the past with a motor boat I have trolled flies on a fly rod with success at times - clouser minnow style, brown over white or green over white.
Cuts will at times take a dry fly that is tied to create lots of commotion on the surface.
Have caught the occasional silver at times this way also. Main point on cuts, they are either there or not, if not, move to new spot, they may be there - trolling seems to be the most efficient way to find them.

Basically am very much a newbie and learning.  Hope to be of much better help in a year from now. The currents can be strong here and crab pots lost.  One person I talked to uses 28 lbs of lead in the pot to keep it in place along with two buoys.

Licenses do get checked in these waters.


Perch are said to be viable, have no idea what they look like except for the fisheries pictures.

I have a pretty full work schedule next week however if you want to try to hook up, the south end of Oro bay is about a 2.5 mile peddle from the Nisqually boat launch.  This may be too ambitious on my first or second day out in the Revo -- do not know, I  can check the tides.  Someone else may have much better info for you.
Take care, holt

Thanks for the heads up!  The crabbing is done in the bay, off current, and, I didn't tell anyone, but the crabbing is usually AWESOME. 

I want to say there is a bait shop right next to the ferry dock in Steilacoom, its not showing up in google though. As far as live bait goes, I've never used it (well, worms and sandshrimp don't count), so i wouldn't even know where to start.  I'll bring a good supply of frozen green label (works well for crab and salmon).  I have the NOAA south sound chart, so I suppose i'll work on getting a better idea of the distances from the bank to deeper water.  I'll be using my line-counter to double check that.

I'd call 2.5miles a long paddle for someone starting out (so am i), but you're pedalling, so that should help

As for the "reaper", I'd imagine the guy was talking about a spoon (planned on picking up a few), which would narrow our results to these particular spoons http://www.badgertackle.com/servlet/the-Reaper-Regular-Spoon/Categories

I don't remember of the "cabin" has wifi or not, but i'll try to at least use the wifes iphone to check in here while i'm there.

Hi Nothing
I'm a life long Anderson Island junkie, and recently got into kayak fishing which goes well over there as you know.   
Right around the (south) corner from Oro bay is Lyle Cove, a well known south sound hot spot this time of year.  I haven't fished it myself in a while (I mainly fish around the northwest area of the island--Amsterdam Bay, Devil's Head, Eagle Island, etc.), but I have fished there a lot in the past.  I've had luck mooching off the bottom with plug cut herring for kings, and picking silvers up casting marabou jigs into the frequent tide rips.  The inner part of the bay is shallow, but there is a shelf a ways out where the best fishing is.  The currents can really pick up there off Lyle Point, nothing you can't paddle through but something to be aware of.  Another spot in paddle range (weather permitting) is the green can off the mouth of the Nisqually.  I've heard of guys having luck there picking up kings by bouncing Point Wilson darts right off the bottom during this time of year. 
I think the General Store on the Island has frozen herring, but I can't remember for sure.  Also, don't overlook Lake Josephine if you want a chance at some big rainbows or bass.  Lake Josephine is off limits to power boats, which makes it even more attractive.  I picked up two nice rainbow there in June (right in front of the restaurant), and spooked a few bass.   I fished the salt on the Northwest side of the island with light tackle this weekend, and picked up a nice resident silver (about 17"), but didn't raise any cutthroat.  There was a ton of salad in the water, which didn't make fishing any easier. 
Good luck.  Let us know how you do.
-House

Thanks for the info. I fished Florance for a few hours last year and hated every minute of it because of the PB out and about.  This year has been a salty year for me (at least, trying to be) and I'm looking forward to getting more serious about it and hitting the Sound for something more than crab.

Gonna try to stock up on herring before I leave. Still haven't gotten around to getting my WA temp tags anyways, since the wife hasn't been with me to get her shellfish tags at the same time.  I can hit up Fisherman's and get it all just as we head out of town. Better yet, I can conveniently forget, and "...gotta stop at Cabellas now"

Had a great weekend!

I got to the island Thursday afternoon, and didn't start fishing till friday.  To make a long story short, I ended up with a blank Salmon CRC. I tried first thing friday morning of Cole and Sandy Points, then again Friday off Lyle Point.

Now, let me tell you about Lyle Point and Lyle Cove.

Now, House lives on the island, and could tell you more, but that current he mentions, whoa, on Friday, on the incoming tide, was a killer.  So deceiving the water can be at times!

I started mooching as I left Oro Bay by Cole point, heading south along the mouth of the bay and Lyle Point.  I laughed at a guy in his Thunderjet.  I watching him pull pots in the bay and didn't seem they had much luck.  As they pulled out to head home, they ride past me, running on their kicker motor (smarter than other jet owners on the sound i notice!).  They look my way, give me a wave, fire up the main motor and give it a good drag racer's rev.  Heh, even I got a good laugh at that.

 As I continue on my way, I see the G1 can by the Nisqually Flats and I keep thinking about heading that way.  There was a boat or two over in that area, and I was itching to try jigging in that area.  I knew, however, we still had people arriving at the cabin and that the party was going to be picking up soon, so I decided to turn around when I got down to the 5M "2" marker. House mentions the current can pick up here, and I found that to be a slight understatement

I'm fishing at about 80', the best I could do with the gear on hand.  I get down the the "2" Marker and decide to take a long turn to port towards deeper water and make my way back to the cabin. After a short while I'm trying to figure out what has made this turn so tough?!?  Yes, I have a T15, but I also have a rudder, and tend to be able to turn quite with a little aid from that.  I look up and I find that I've been pushed nearly a half mile PAST that 2 Marker! Uh Oh...

I look down and take a good look at the water and realize that the current is cookin pretty well.  Even with a good strong paddle set, I'm not convinced I'm making any headway.  I decide to take the time/distance hit and bring my line in.  At this point that extra drag is not helping me.  With the gear on and buckled in, I head to shallow water.  I choose a NE direction to help make up some ground at the same time. 

I have a rough go at it.  I constantly felt like I was getting nowhere.  I was using the G1 can on my right, and what looked like a paddle shop on Lyle Cove on my left as references.  I was slowly gaining ground on the current, and figure if I can't pull it off for some reason, I can always get into the cove, radio the wife and ask for a pick up.  At this point I hadn't radioed in to say whats up, because that would send me further back, and cause too much worry.

I just gotta keep going. 

As I pass over the shelf that House mentioned (one big shelf! almost a 30 fathom drop!) the water gets pretty turbulent. Boils all around me, and a large 5' diameter whirlpool.  I just stared at the 'pool and made sure I was going away from it, instead of towards it.  I doubt it would have cause me any problem at all, but I wasn't in the position to test that out.

After about 20 minutes of hard paddling, I finally find myself 20' or so from the bank. The water is still moving fairly well, but is a lot more manageable. As I pass between the bank and the 2 marker, i noticed the 30 feet of ripple behind the post. Man that water moves.  Feeling better in more comfortable waters, I take a more relaxed paddle and radio back to the wife to let her know I was on my way back (i'm smart, save the horror stories for when i get back!).

I don't know how long it actually took me to get back to Oro Bay.  But my body was screaming. Naturally, I couldn't pass the crab pots without taking a peak.  More body revolts, but I didn't care!  Had to find the crab! More female dungies (the story of the weekend) but a couple good sized red rocks worth boiling.

I rebait the traps, and head back in towards the cabin.  Its not too long of a distance, but it feels like forever.  I even took a few 30 second breaks on the way back.  Fortunately where was one of my big Hawaiian friends waiting for me to bring the boat up.  I knew I wasn't going to manage.

One, of the many things I learned on that outing: That cold beer at the end of a paddle could never taste any better.

other things i learned this weekend:
-its VERY easy to over dress.
-no one else seems to fish that area, just crab
-i LOVE my T15, but wish it weight 50 pounds less (maybe its me that needs to do the loss)
-towing a dead 50 pound harbor seal off the beach to a burial at sea is a hard paddle (and likely suicidal in waters further north).
-i need more rope for my pots around full moons.
-i would SO do it all over again in a heartbeat.

oh yeah, how about some pics!


puttin around the bay, dragging around some herring...



the only fish you'll find in the bay (by the dozens!)


good thing I brought 10 pounds of fresh bristol bay sockeye with me to the cabin, or I would have starved us all on saturday when it was my turn to cook


demonstrating the Ocean Kayak Prowler Trident Barcalounger

Yeah, I know this thread is a year old and all, but thought I'd bring it back up to the surface anyways

I'll be back on AI in August. I don't figure anyone has any additional info they learned in the last year, do they?

Actually.....

There are a ton of flounder to be found around the island. Not to mention mooching/jigging for kings. Start just outside Thompson cove for flounder, and work your way West. If you fly fish there's a healthy population of sea-run cutthroat to be had as well. That's a c&r fishery, but a blast on a 5 or 6wt.

http://www.salmonuniversity.com/pss_nisqually.html

I paddle the Nis Delta and Anderson Island quite a bit. Let me know before you head out that way if you want some co. I just live right down the road in Lacey, and plan to target kings in and around the delta starting at the end of July. hopefully I'll have figured out the how to's and wheres by then.

I'll have my DR ready to go again by then, and getting after some Chinook and Coho in that area.  Some of the rivers are open by then as well, and the Puke (Puyallup) might be crowded on weekends, but weekdays are great and tons of fish to be had.

Haven't had any luck other than crabbing after 2 summers there.  I'm definitely hoping this year will be different.  I see I turned around before getting to Thompson last year.  Of course, this year I'll be better prepared for what the tides can do around Lyle Pt there.  The SU article you linked is pretty much my only source of info to go by all this time.  Seems trolling with the tide is the suggested method, though they don't exactly say...

The flounder are all over, but I seem to do best on the south, or south west side of the island. There are a ton in the river mouth, but they are really spread out, and in a bunch of salad. That combined with the current make fishing them around the island a lot easier.

From what I understand for the kings you should troll with the current at about 2-3 knots. I found this article online, and plan to rig my trolling gear this way.

http://blog.theoutdoorline.com/post/2010/05/31/A-new-Spin-on-Herring!.aspx

The look/idea makes sense to me, and it seems less likely to tangle. I'm new to downrigger fishing period much less from the yak, so we'll see how it actually pans out. I also plan to jig and mooch out in front of solo point down to the green can. Hopefully I'll have it figured out by mid Aug, and will be able to spread the wealth.