Shilshole/Meadow Garden 12-3-17?

Good meeting you SmokeOnDaWater.  It was a little tough out there with the wind and waves.  I gave up soon after running into you and pedaled back through the marina.  Wish I had brought my Sabiki Rig.  The herring schools completely blocked out my screen on multiple occasions.  There's got to be a couple keepers in the mix.  I landed one undersize and the other shook off.  I had squid gear but the wind and chop made it difficult to stay on top of anything vertical.  I landed a couple surf perch earlier.  Thought about hitting it today but got stuck running errands.  Maybe Thursday.

Here's my report and pics: 

Full confession, fished GG on a motorized boat today. That said hoping some of the feedback may be useful for the kayak program. Caught 10 or so, mostly wild,1 keeper hatchery fish. All were near the bottom in 110-160', on Irish cream, white/cop car spoons or coho killers. And an Army Truck Hoochie.

Interestingly a lot of the strikes were where/when there were no marks on the FF. I spoke to a guy yesterday in Anacortes who had had good success and likewise all his were w/o marks. We targeted a lot of fish marked btw 25-70' but no action there. Most fish caught in vicinity of dropped pin in pic attached.

Did see a good bit of bait, birds. See attached pic from bait in stomach of keeper. Like Smoke's experience yesterday, conditions on the water were far worse than the forecast, which was pretty mild.

Thanks for the report.  I think I saw you out there.  Sounds like the fish are pretty deep.

Wish I had brought my Sabiki Rig.

Good reports and thanks.  I haven't used a Sabiki rig for years since I had my PB, and it might be interesting in a kayak any smaller than Brads land yacht, lol.  Here is a picture and a link to a pretty good description:


https://www.theonlinefisherman.com/how-to-fish/using-a-sabiki

When I used them before I dropped a weight inside a pool tube and wound the hooks/line around it until I could hook the pole swivel back through a hook.  If I did it on a kayak I think I'd secure it inside a 2 quart bag as the guy in the video is right, the hooks are a PITA, but they work well.  Would be a good way to catch a lot of herring and freeze them for later use. 

If the weather theory for Saturday is right, 8-10 winds out of the South can make for a challenging paddle in the GG area area as the wave wrap round the southern point and roll in, but it's something I'm going to take a look at. 

The tide looks like an early launch would be best.  If the wind is from the south, the flood tide might help hold you against the wind in the fish area Smoke pointed out, but might become a challenge later when the ebb tide combines with the wind to carry you north.
You can end up paddling 1.5-2 MPH to hold steady, but, it you're in the fish area and trolling, you'll have some bait movement, although expect a pretty flat line out behind.  By 10:30/11 fishing might be tougher than early.  Sunday provides a little later window in the morning, and Saturday afternoon also provides a low tide about 3 PM that might work, and could also be a bit warmer.  Have not fished later in the PM, but...if we're exploring winter blackmounth, maybe.

Hope this helps some newer folks get some ideas of how to look at the wind, tide currents and other factors to plan some trips.  Some good stuff to go over during the meeting on Sunday the 14th in north Seattle.  Look for Seattle Meetup post.

Will be watching the weather/wind on Saturday and Sunday.  Outside of cold, will be hoping for a wind from the Easter/SE.  With the tides smoking between a low of -1.1 and a high of 12.7 Saturday morning about 8:39, have to wonder if that will push a bunch of bait south around the corner of Meadow Gardens into the Marina entrance hole?  Sunday will be a little later high providing a bit more time.  As a rule I'd done better on an incoming tide there (and most places). 

Sa  6      Low   1:24 AM    -1.1   7:57 AM     Set 11:01 AM      81
      6     High   8:39 AM    12.7   4:34 PM    Rise 10:37 PM
      6      Low   2:47 PM     5.1
      6     High   7:51 PM     9.2

Su 7      Low   2:13 AM     0.4   7:57 AM     Set 11:29 AM      71
     7     High   9:23 AM    12.5   4:35 PM    Rise 11:46 PM
     7      Low   3:51 PM     4.4
     7     High   9:05 PM     8.4

There are a lot of small fish but I've heard some are growing close.  Watch for wild fish that must be released:  Page 117: Nov. 1-Feb. 28 CHINOOK - min. size 22". Other SALMON species - no min. size. Daily limit 2 (combined). Only 1 hatchery CHINOOK may be retained. Release wild COHO and wild CHINOOK.

Might even try jigging a sabiki for live herring and trying to drop them down.  Kind of exciting having one hit a live herring with an open bail on the spinning reel or thumbing the Okuma.  Lol, you don't have to wonder if you'd had a hit.

If the wind is less attractive, might head to Sammamish and try for some illusive (for me, but not for lead/line Brad! cutthroat. 

So, if anyone is interested, I’ll plan on a 7 am launch off GG on Sunday. I’ll plan on hunting in the backwaters neat the beach until about 11.

I'm in... I'll have to see when the expected winds are, generally anything 7 and below and it's great there. Once it hits 7, it turns into a bit of a washing machine. Last time I was out like that I stayed somewhat close to the marina and came home with a keeper.

Possibly looking at a sunday morning trip as well.  Going to bring the sabiki rig if I do. 

Any tips on successful live bait rigs for salmon? 

I had bought some circle hooks+leaders (owner mutu) in the summer in anticipation of doing this but never got around to it yet.  Was planning on putting a light weight above the leader swivel, lip or dorsal hooking and letting them go to meet their maker. 

I've just used a double snelled 2-3  hook on a 3-4 foot leader.  I try for a bottom lip hook with the top hook and let the back one trail.  Doesn't always work so I go to a 45 degree plug-cut  behind the gills to get some spin and then mooch.  If I hit dog fish I switch out to jigs pretty quickly.  Might be a couple others, if you have a radio try channel 71. 

I've just used a double snelled 2-3  hook on a 3-4 foot leader.  I try for a bottom lip hook with the top hook and let the back one trail.  Doesn't always work so I go to a 45 degree plug-cut  behind the gills to get some spin and then mooch.  If I hit dog fish I switch out to jigs pretty quickly.  Might be a couple others, if you have a radio try channel 71.

How big are the dogfish? I'm trying to convince myself that I won't care about the rain tomorrow if I'm fishing, but catching a new species might be enough to convince me. I know I'll be releasing most of the blackmouths, so if the dogfish are bigger I wouldn't mind catching them.

Them dogs tend to run from 18” to 48”. I’ve tried eating them many ways and would appreciate tips if any knows how to get a good meal from a filet. If you haven’t caught one, be a bit careful when handling them. They are flexible like a snake and have barbed tails that I’m told aren’t fun to be poked by. Kind of rare to get them on metal, but live bait can be a magnet.

Oh, well. I'm not going to be able to make it anyway. I've been working 16+ hours a day on a big incident for work since Thursday and it's going to keep going at least through tomorrow night. Good luck to those who get to go tomorrow morning!

Them dogs tend to run from 18” to 48”. I’ve tried eating them many ways and would appreciate tips if any knows how to get a good meal from a filet. If you haven’t caught one, be a bit careful when handling them. They are flexible like a snake and have barbed tails that I’m told aren’t fun to be poked by. Kind of rare to get them on metal, but live bait can be a magnet.

It’s not just the tails with barbs.  Watch out for the fins as well.  DAMHIK

It's been dark for hours now, and I'm still doing work stuff. Where are the fishing reports and pictures of the catches? 

Jason, you know my count, NADA but a shaker and flounder (jigging about 30 ft in 120 fow?)  Four guys fishing hard and unless the hardcore had luck in the middle of the sailboat races it looks like 4 kayaks fished the area hard with nothing to show.  Checker had only a few fish for the weekend and those came from Jeff Head, Kingston or the oil docks.  Good meeting everyone and the weather cooperated much better than anticipated.  Have a good one.  Hoping the other guys are still cleaning fish

Nice to see another Trident 13 yak on the water!