Offshore for Neah Bay King

The short-lived heat wave we had over the weekend provided a short weather window to get offshore for salmon. Most of us have heard the reports of outstanding salmon fishing off the coast but the ocean conditions have not been good at all so far this year. The swells were still big and tight, about 8 to 10 feet with a period around 9 seconds, square wave conditions. Using some intel from FG who has been offshore on charter boats lately and a bit of luck I found the right water about 12 miles west of Hobuck (the Hobuck canyon can be seen in the upper right in the still pic below). I caught salmon as fast as I could get gear in the water. I did the CnR routine on loads of pinks and coho, I was looking for a shot at the big dog and when it hit it was lights out. The fight went about 45 minutes pealing most of my line and towing me all over the place. This is why I kayak fish.

The standard warnings apply here: Offshore kayak fishing comes with a very long list of dangers and there are many ways to kill yourself out there. Don't guess at all. Know your limits and my limits are not you limits. 'nuf said.

Awesome!  Ocean salmon are so fun to catch.  Did you get a length or weight of that beast? 

Nicely done as usual. Thanks for the report and the pictures.

That's a good chunk of fish. Nicely done.

Yeah, you're better at this than I am. Nice fish.

This king was loaded with 8 and 9 inch herring. It is very productive offshore. With luck these conditions will move a bit closer to the beach in the next month.

The steaks were loaded with fat, and both egg sacks wouldn't fill a coffee cup. This fish was a long way from heading inshore to find a river. We're going to see some real bruiser fish move in during August.

... did you cut that fish with a hatchet or hacksaw? =)
But seriously ... that belly fat looks amazing! All the kings I cleaned two weeks ago had tiny little eggs and huge herring or big anchovies in their guts.

Learning how to properly use a set of fine point chop sticks made filleting fish redundant and a waste of my time. I hack it into semi-equal sized steaks and do all the detail work with the sticks. The bones add flavor. The skin gets fried up and put on eggs for breakfast. We even eat the brain and the eyeballs. I know....ewwwww.

I don't know how you have the patience to save those skins for breakfast.  That's usually the first thing eaten for me.  And ... suck them bones and get at all that sticky goodness!

Oh, nice feeshy, nice.

-Allen