Kayak Fishing around Sekiu

I and my family would like to try some bottom fishing around the Sekiu area.  While part of the fam doesn't like the notion of doing a vacation in a Spartan man cabin, I keep urging to bring some cush and allowing us boys to drop a jig for some bass or lings...  I would like to consult personally with someone who has done this already.  Any feedback?

Lots of places to fish from Sekiu out to Neah Bay ... slip point, clallam bay, the caves, kydaka point, any old roadside pullout, snow creek, jetty at Neah Bay, Makah Bay.

-Allen

So a common saltwater pole will do, with 12-25 lb. line, metal leader down to a 3/0 or 2/0 hook, on a jig of the local favorite is good.  Do you ever anchor or just drift?  What happens if you hook kelp?  Where do you fish in relation to the kelp beds?  Out beyond them?  Among them?  Obviously, we'll need a net should we hook a ling...  We'll have to take along a measuring device to determine legal length, but sea bass are fair game, unless I miss my bets...  Plus, removing a hook from a ling's mouth gets very hairy in a hurry unless one is working with pliars.  So all of that gets carried in the PFD.  I've located one PFD that is fishing friendly through our local kayak catalogue supplier.  I'm kind of thinking as I key this in in order that if you should desire to advise me on any point, please feel free. 

If you're fishing in ling territory, there are lots of ways to catch them.  Here is my take on it:  Use a 4 oz. lead head jig tied directly to your line.  Forget about wire leader.  Thread a minnow or scampi jig onto it, any color as long as its white or root beer.  Drop it down, bang it on the rocks a few times, reel up 10 feet and drop it again.  Remember to pinch the barb or you could get ticketed.  And the barb pinch makes for pretty easy hook removal.

Thanks, Deepcolor, and we'll pay specific attention to other regs from that area as well.  I have a feeling that they're going to be different than they are here in Grays Harbor and the ocean area around us.

Area 5, which Sekiu is now closed to lingcod.  Black rockfish limit is only 3 west of slip point.  Barbless hooks are required.

Area 4, west of the mouth of the Sekiu River towards Neah Bay is open to lingcod, rockfish limit is 10, and barbed hooks are legal.

Hmmm ... I wonder where you should fish.

-Allen

I won't be consulting any oracles as much as talking sweet to my spouse...  The last area is calling my name... 

Goin' to Sekiu tomorrow for three-four days, maybe even two of them on the Snow Creek Fishing resort waters, if the fam gets excited about it.  Definitely going to fish west of the Sekiu River so as to push the catch limits.  Yee-haw!!!!

Buena Suerte , 'migo.  sounds like you made good with the missus.[ FYI, that's called WAF= Wife Approval Factor]

I've been walking with her every morning on a two mile loop.  It makes us seem like we got our act together for the day and gets me some WAF points so as to cash them in on fishing time...e.g., last Sunday, I fished out of Grays Harbor with a buddy and managed to come home with two nice, fat silvers...that's what they were: two nice, fat silvers, but not out of a kayak, although we discussed the dickens out of the whole topic.  This Sekiu trip will be icing on the cake...

Good luck!
Looking forward to hearing how ya do!

For anyone interested, we went to Snow Creek Fishing resort.  It cost $5 a person for a facility use fee.  It was slammed because of the salmon season and everything happens before 7:00 AM there, so we launched a little after and made it out onto the kelp beds.  Staying near the kelp proved to be a bit of a challenge but with the Hobies and the Mirage drives, we'd drift across the face of the kelp and then return to our previous spots.  Long bouts of pedaling and short bouts of fishing.  The first day, I didn't catch anything because I was still trying to figure out how to stay near the kelp without using an anchor system.  I copied yaknitup's idea with an anchor and buoy with a loop on the top of the buoy to tie the Outback to but I never lowered my anchor...I hadn't finished molting my chicken feathers, yet, I guess.  Then, the whales came.  First they sounded right outside where we'd been fishing, and we'd moved to the larger rock areas west of the inlet there at www.snowcreekwa.com.  Then, they came to where we'd fished the kelp beds a little to the east of the Snow Creek inlet, where we'd been drift fishing.  I thought that I wouldn't prove much of a weight match to a whale so I gracefully ceded the area when a friendly one moved to within 20 yards.  I don't feed bears either, so anyway, I know they won't hurt me, at least, not on purpose...porpoise...whatever.

Then the second day arrived and we casually did too.  We launched around 7:30-8:00 and immediately went to the outer kelp beds.  See http://apps.ecy.wa.gov/shorephotos/scripts/photosearch.asp?id=CLA0428  First we drifted like we did the day before, and I caught two nice black bass before I really began to understand what I had to do to stay put and get into the kelp beds themselves.  I watched another larger passenger boat drift right into the kelp bed and drift onto the middle of the whole mass of drifting leaves and bulbs, etc.  The kelp held them in place.  I was using some jigs that are very hot on the north jetty in Ocean Shores so I couldn't use them in the same manner that the passenger craft was fishing.  But I learned something: (1) When the Hobie Mirage drive goes over kelp, it will get snagged up.  (2) You're better off shoving a pedal all the way up and paddling your way into the kelp bed so as to allow the kelp to hold you in place.
(3) Fish in a little hole somewhere and drop a (the guy whom I watched called it this) buzzbomb jig to the bottom. 
(4) Work it up and down with your pole and wait for the action.
He caught a couple of nice black bass and a ling, but threw the black bass back.  I almost asked him for them, but I had two of my own to deal by that point.  This was almost noon, so we headed back in and cleaned the fish on the docks there and had them for supper that night.  They were very nice.  My whole family got into the process and my daughter and I got within 20 yards of a gray whale.  I'll try to post some pics later.

A couple of concerns really riveted me.  What does a person do with all of these little tangle-prone tethers that one has to use to save gear?  I can always use the cell phone charger idea but it seems that I don't make into garage, yard, or flea market sales enough to find the right stuff.  Paying $16 for a curly tether really sticks in my craw, since I feel like I'm working pretty hard for every buck I earn.  Any ideas?  I don't want to capsize and drown because I'm wrapped in my tethers too tightly to break loose, or have that happen to my wife or kids. 

Alfonso,
have an ACE Hardware near you?? you can pick up 3/16ths nylon rope and small clips of your choice and make your own leashes for about $3.00 each.

i hang mine on a nail in the storage shed after i wash them down when i get back in off the water. and also WD40 the hardware to keep the corrosion down.

btw, member wetwhopper lives out near you if you'd want a paddling/fishing partner. i'm sure he'd leap at the chance to go out.

Thanks for the report AV. When it comes to leashes I think keeping them to a minimum will help you to stay safe. I only have one leash right now that's on my PFD that is attached to my pliers. I'm not afraid to lose them but don't want to fumble around for them. I used to leash my rods but after I lost a nice dino thanks to one, they got blacklisted.

Z

There was a couple who lived in Olympia outskirts who used to sell Ocean Kayaks.  The husband showed me a type of line that he would wrap around a chunk of pipe and then boil for 10-15 minutes and then he would take it off the pipe and it would be tightly coiled and he could crimp the ends into loops with a metal crimp-on.  I don't know what kind of line he used.  But that was really great for a tether, almost like a cell phone coil.  I got a phone cord from my classroom that doesn't merit use by anyone right now.  I'll use that also.

The lure the guy used in the middle of the kelp bed that he dropped to the bottom and pulled up sharply and let down within a distance of three feet or so with his rod was indeed an orange Buzz Bomb.  I searched them out in Ocean Shores today at Ace Hardware.