New to the Board

Sounds good, Kallitype.  I'm not sure where the launch is that you're talking about, maybe you could drop a point on Google maps for me?  I've fished Southworth - and Dolphin Pt many times, as I grew up on the Kitsap Pen, but I'm new to fishing the tacoma areas.  Look forward to it.
My wife is due to give birth here in the next 1-2 weeks, so my availability will be touch and go for the next month. (will miss the best of the king fishing)  But I should be good to go for silvers!

I go to the NOAA site coosbayyaker listed below, and click on the "point forecast." Then I scroll down the page, where there is a box of additional related links, in the lower right hand corner. Click on "Hourly Weather Graphs" (I think its called) and you get the next several days broken down into hours, in a graphical format. This is pretty accurate for the day ahead, but loses accuracy farther out. I just check it in the morning for where I'm going to get an idea of what the wind is going to be like. Helps in planning trips.

Almost forgot, Welcome to the board, Hooknose! I'm a newbie here too. Great forum!

I just checked the wind report, and it looks very favorable for a couple of spots I know. Gotta go!

Good job on your first trip on the sound. Must have been exciting releasing that shark!! any pics, that would be cool.

I use thess sites for forecasts generally:

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/

Regarding wind forecasts... I find the iwindsurf.com site pretty good.  They have a thing they call a 7-day metrogram and it's much more detialed than the NOAA forecasts and usually pretty good for the next day or so..
Here's the metrogram for Florence, OR

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=208&siteID=267&Isection=Forecast+Graphs

It gives you hourly speed and direction of winds.

here's a screenshot..

  The l;aunch was a sketchy gravel one about 1000 yards east of the slagpile, oldtimers used to fish there a lot to avoid the crowds at the Point.  There's a shelf that comes up about 200 yards east of the slagpile> Moving east the bottom  comes up from 200 to about 120, a long flat area then drops to 300 feet.  The ebb pulls fish out of Commencement Bay up toward the slagheap, on the flood things move back toward the bay and out, that dropoff holds bait and kings.  I lost a tyee there last year when one ran so fast that I burned my thumb on the spool, tightened the drag and popped the line.
   August 1 is the opener for Commencement Bay, lots of big kings are stacked in there --unless the rain has pulled them upriver. 
  Point Defiance is at the mouth of the Tacoma Narrows, is a great spot for summer kings and winter blackmouth, ther is a big backeddy to the east of the point on the ebb, and the "Slagpile"  (home of Tacoma Yachtclub) is another good spot.  Early AM trolling in front of the boathouse has yielded many good kings in 80-90 feet of water. Lots of boats, tho, and lots of "meatliners" (Alvey reels with wire line) who seem to be older guys. Also a great mooching spot, the boathouse usually has live herring at $4/dozen. ONly downside, besides the crowd, is the dogfish.

  When it gets to wild at Point D, I head over to Gig Harbor and take a break from combat fishing.  Point Monroe usually holds fish, and you probably know the area much better than I.
Congrats on the new baby, better stock up on sleep!!!

Thanks for the info, very interesting.  It looks like Marine Park is fairly close, tough to tell how easy the access is to launch a boat - I'll try to look into it. 
Actually, my dad and I didn't fish much south of Southworth.  When I was a  kid we would do just fine right close to home - no need to go too far! 

I went and looked at the slag pile launch today at lunch, definetely a doable launch just to the south of the slag pile. Decent parking area with no signs indicating any time limit.  Mostly big rock down to the beach, but there is a foot path semi-cleared through the bigger boulders.  Would be easy for 2 guys helping each other make portage.  And it would put you right on the slag pile.
I've attached a link from showing the parking area.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=rwg7414srkbr&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=12597509&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

WOw---way kool map function!!  Commencement bay opened to fishing onthe 1st, fishing was very slow for kings, maybe 5% (or less) scored.  Did the recent rain pull the fish up the river?  It seems to have pulled in a pretty good squirt of nice-size hatchery kings.  Here's my fishing buddy Rob with a 32inch king from Vashon caught in my 15 foot Arima over the weekend. The eggs were mature.


  I picked up a nice male king yesterday morning, about an inch shorter then Rob's -- did not get it weighed but estimate 18-20#.

I've probably seen you out there before, I've seen a couple 15' arimas at both southworth and dolphin pt areas. 
Looks like you and you're buddy have that area dialed in.  I get out so infrequently it's really tough to be doing anything but guessing.

I never fish Southworth, rarely at Dolphin, usually at Dalco, Gig Harbor and Pt Defiance.  The Arima has the name "Serenissima" on the bow (Italian for "most serene", what they call Venice, my favority city in Italy).  Have not named the Revolution yet, but I found an eagle wing feather on the water in Quartermaster Harbor while in the Revo last week, and that suggests some ideas! My wife suggested I call it "Sick Leave"...
   Dalco has been tough this year.  It's a 1/2 hour paddle/pedal from the nearest place I can beach launch, so have mostly been fishing it in the Arima.