Halibut in Puget Sound?

Hadn't planned to go out fishing but the weather sure turned for the better so I loaded up the yak and hit the water. Launched out of Picnic Point (just south of the shipwreck in area 9).  A bit tricky to launch there as you have to jockey through a couple of switchbacks on the catwalk over the train tracks. Plus there is always a group of shore cutthroat guys hanging in the surf.
The day started out with 1 to 2 ft swells from the wind (I love that SIK for this kind of chop) I paddled straight out to the South end of Widbey Island. About a 90 min paddle (Possession Bank).
Only catch was a 10Lb sea cucumber. I have to learn how to clean these things. Although, when they list this species in the regs they ask you to call the biotoxins hotline before harvesting (no thanks).
About 3 hours into the day the wind died off and the water was completley flat. No current, no wind, no fish just me and the sunshine:^).
I was treated to a stellar sealion snatching a large salmon nearby. He seemed to keep slapping the fish on the surface and that brought on the gulls too. Quite a show. Nobody told him that it wasn't salmon season. Another plus was all the seabirds migrating through the area. If you have ever seen one of these guys up close it's like seeing a football line man pooping four feet out of the water. They also don't give a hoot about kayakers.

It was a long paddle but definatley worth it. Might try to scout out a launch site in Cultis bay or Scatchet Head on Whidbey if I was looking for more fishing time.

Kurt

Sounds like a great paddle, congrats. Would be a lot harder in one of the SOT fish barges.

There are some launches on the S end of Whidbey, if you don't mind the cost/time of the ferry ride. One is S of the ferry at Possession Beach (S, SE exposure). There's another at Maxwelton (S-NW exposure)and yet another the NW corner of Useless Bay (S exposure). All are public parks.