Willapa Bay Wednesday

  Upnorthtex will be arriving in Raymond tomorrow and we will be getting together for some tackle shopping then off to Tokeland Wednesday for some Willapa Bay salmon.
 
   I haven't fished out there this year (yet) but have been seeing a lot of activity at the boat launch in South Bend. The folks I have talked to report quite a bit of success---- so we will be giving it a try. Hope the weeds aren't too bad this year.

  Will be reporting back shortly. Any other Washington folks want to join in --- come on down. High tide is about 11:45 am which means we will want to be on the water about 9:00. Daily limit 6 combined. Up to 4 adults may be retained, Release wild Chinook. That is a pretty good limit to shoot for---and I want more..........

Be ready for strong currents and big eddies

Go Art!! Get that salmon!

I'm heading down today (albeit not in a kayak) and I'll give you a report tonight sometime.   It was red hot 2 weeks ago, but slowed down quite a bit last week.  Hopefully it's turning around. 
Deepzoom says high tide at Willapa tomorrow is 1:02pm, but I haven't used that site too much yet, so I don't know the accuracy.

Deepzoom is accurate

Good Luck,guys!  I'll be watching for your success report.  Take some photos - even the blurry ones are fun.  I want to see if Art's smile will be bigger than the salmon he's holding in a photo!!

We fished the incoming tide (in a regular boat) off Tokeland.  Caught about a 10# king right off the bat, so we focused there.  Caught a small silver and lost a nicer fish.   I think we were suckered into focusing there by the quick bite, and it really slowed down, even during the tide change. 
Heard of a few limits coming in from off of Washaway beach.  I think we should have gone down there, although it looks to me like you really have to watch the conditions down there.

  Glad you got into some fish TomT.   Did they hit right out of the Tokeland marina ? Be curious how far out you were....
  Washaway Beach is not a good place for a kayak to fish. The jetty the Corps of Engineers put in there accelerates the current way too much.
  Art and I will be more inside looking for fish that are "dipping in" following the bait. Hope we can find some willing biters. Need to get upnorthtex his 1st kayak salmon.

The first hook up we got was right around the corner from the marina, out by the first navigational marker.  There were a lot of boats fishing from there, on up towards the first point (towards the ocean).  Lot's of bait, and bird actively feeding in the shallows.  Fished mostly water 25-50' deep. 

  Thanks Tom
 
  Hope we are as lucky   

Just got a good report from there, 20lb king today 7lb silver and lost 3 right at the boat.

   Well.....
 We got on the water about 10:00 am . Tide was definitely still coming in , wind was between 10 and 15 mph . but the water wasn't frothy at all.
 Put out herring in a bonnet as soon as we got into 20' FOW. Lots and lots of weeds. Guess that why it's called "Weedy Willapa". Even with golf tees out front you still needed to check your bait every 5-10 minutes---and it was usually covered.
 About a half hour before slack high we found an area that was fairly weedless. Started talking about heading back in soon....BAM. Art gets nailed.
 Fast fish swam around him several times, made a few nice jumps, then ................gone 

 It looked like he had a steady pressure on the fish the entire time. Didn't get to see how deeply it was hooked. Might have just been a surface connection that let go. But whatever happened------ fish off 

 Put fresh herring on and started to head back toward the marina.... within 5 minutes.....BAM ....FISH ON (my pole). Peddled like a madman for a short time before I touched the pole. Grab it from holder and after a short sweet fight.....7 lbs Silver in the boat. Nice little hatchery buck. Yeehah.

 At least Art got the 1st hook-up. So I guess I was a good host this time. It sucks that the fish came unbuttoned but that is just another part of the game.

 To avoid all the many weeds in the Willapa we are going down to the Big C tomorrow to give it a try down there. It will be worth the few extra miles to be fishing clean.

 Here is a shot of the silver . Picture taken at Washaway Beach. Still need that new camera...

Nice!

Great job Mark getting Art into the fish, sorry art you didn't get to land it. Hope to see you hook and land one first hand on Saturday and if I'm close I will definitely lend an assist. Look forward to fishing with you and having you at or campground early next week.

Got out alone today on willapa bay, first Wa fish not a salmon but about a 4ft shark. Good sleigh ride but nothing to eat. Art