Sea Run Steelheads - 8 to 10 hour total trip

All,

So who's up for a really quick run at some saltwater steelheads?  From right now till the middle of Dec. is when I try to make a few pre-dawn trips over to Whidbey Is. to see if this is the lucky year that I can bag one of those Steelheads off of Bush point.  You could take your yak, but I probably won't as it seems to be more effective from the bank, if you can beleive that.  I'll take the Mulkilteo ferry at 6:00 and I'm open to just about any weekend except Thanksgiving.

Any interest out there?

Fishin-T

Keep us posted on your plans.  I'd love to try that fishery out!

-Allen

Polepole,

Give me a heads-up as to the first Sunday morning that you're GAF will be intact and you'll be in town; the sooner the better.  Speaking of sooners, Aaron from Tulsa says he'd be interested too and maybe even one more guy from over here at work.  If we don't have boats, we can take as many a 4 in one car and save ferry expense.  Since it's such a hit or miss thing, I usually try to make a deal at the beginning of the day to split what ever we catch and thereby increase everybody's odds of taking home some steelhead meat.  They usually run from 3 to 5 lb and IMHO it's the absolute best tasting fish flesh that there is anywhere.

Everybody that you see over there uses the exact same lure, tossed from the shoreline.  And I've got plenty of the complete rig if you need any.  I sure wouldn't mind to borrow that monster mooching pole for the occasion if you can spare it.  I haven't had a chance to get to the OE to get myself one yet.  Oddly enough, I've heard that the really stormy days are your best chance to hook one, so hope for a miserable day and bundle up good.

Fishin-T

Has the run started?  How long does it last?  Are any particular tides better than others?

-Allen

I haven't been in contact with any of the locals, but based on info gathered last year and the year before... They start to come in between the first of Nov and about the 15th, whenever the late fall storms start up.  These are the smallish hatchery fish and you can keep 2 a day if you should be so lucky.  They'll be around until about Dec 15, again according to the locals, but earlier is better.  I've been told that eventually, maybe Jan, the much larger naturals show up but you don't get to keep any of them and there's probably less of them to try for.

I've been told that they bite best just after dawn and also just before and during the high tide slack.  If you can put those two events together... so much the better.  Oh, and a storm is always the best thing too.  The boaters don't usually catch many at all compared to the shore fishermen, and nearly ALL of the bites are in about 6" of water, nearly right at your feet.  For real.  My fishing buddy last year hooked one, but I watched him lose it while he fumbled with his beat-to-crap old reel.  That was on a calm day, right at high tide, maybe one hour after dawn.

I'm probably going this very next Sun, if anybody is up for it.  Or maybe even by myself if I need to.  I usually don't worry about the tides, but just try hard to be there at dawn and take whatever tides and weather come to me on that day that I can get out.  I'm really excited about the prospect of bringing some steelhead meat home.

Fishin-T

All,

Okay!  It's a done deal then.  So far I'm meeting up in the Boeing parking lot with a buddy from here at work.  I'll be on the 6:00am ferry this Sunday, 11-12-06, and try to be in place to fish at about 7:15-7:30.

We'll have room for 2 more if anybody can make it.

Fishin-T

Go gettem T!

I can't join you on Sunday as I have to go down to Portland for a baptism ... I'm the godfather!  I think I'll try to stop the South Sound or Canal on my way home and give the chums another shot, hoping to keep a decent 1 for my continued trials and tribulations with smoking salmon.

I hope to be able to join you over there at a later date.

-Allen

Another date?   Sure, you bet!  I'm up for it just about any weekend from now until maybe X-mas.

Fishin-T

All,

Okay, so here's my report... Nil, nada, zip, not a nibble,... yeah, you get the picture.  Oh, yeah.  No pictures either.

I met my buddy, Bob, at the Boeing parking lot at about 5:20 and we were easily in line for the 6:00am crossing to Clinton.  We were geared up and in position by 7:10am.  Windy, no rain, not SO cold but plenty chilly.  The rips just off the beach were, well, ripping, and cool to see.  The wind picked up and was absolutely HOWLING by 9:30, and then it started raining too, so we bailed at that time.  No fish though, no joy.

If my buddy, Bob, hadn't hooked one last year (the one that got away) I'd swear we'd been fooled into something like a classic "Snipe Hunt".  Oh well, what are ya gonna do?   

Fishin -T

T,

Where there very many people out there?  See any caught?  I heard it's a bit early still.

-Allen

Must be early.  We saw ONE local and then ourselves.  That's it.  Nah, nothing at all caught.  The local guy said he saw one "finning" in that 6" water at the shoreline, but I never saw it.

Fishin-T