Heading out West. Where to put down roots?

Hi guys and gals

I've enjoyed reading posts on this site for awhile but this is my first time posting.

I've been wanting to get back to Washington ever since I was stationed at Fort Lewis quite a few yrs ago.

Things are finally falling into place and Pretty much anywhere in the Puget Sound area is open but I'd like to move to an area where I can be close to good salmon/steelhead fishing in rivers etc but also yak fishing for ling and Halibut in more open water.

My wife has some family out there in Grapeview but they don't fish.

Can you folks recommend an areas/areas where I might put down some roots and spend my retirement years doing what I love to do (catch fish).  Thanks in advance.

BradS welcome, may I suggest the Olympic Pen Port Angeles, Sequim area. Good fishing and nice weather.
Besides I could use a fishing partner that can work on short notice. Check it out, I just moved here not to ling ago and I love it.
Matt

Matt

Thanks for the welcome .   In looking at a map it looks like lots of open water there and probably good Halibut fishing.

Do you usually have to deal with any surf or swell when launching in the Strait?  If so, how much?

Windy up there?  Do the winds usually come from one direction during the good fishing seasons?  I have a P.A. sail for my yak and I was wondering if it might be useful.

Any rivers nearby with salmon or steelhead?

Sorry for all the questions, I've been wanting to go out there for a long time and I'm getting pretty excited.  Thanks.

Brad

I just moved here not to ling ago

Hah!  Someone has fishing on their mind.

Matt hit the nail on the head.  That area is my answer as well.  You have salmon, lings, butts in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  And you have steelhead in the Olympic Peninsula rivers.

-Allen

Oh and welcome BradS!

Yes, there is some good halibut fishing.  There usually isn't too much swell/surf. There are some beaches that get surf, but you can always find one that doesn't.

To reach halibut, you need to paddle a bit offshore, a mile or more.  There are some shallow areas that the butts are known to come into as well, but those are closely guarded secrets (that I don't know).  For lings, you can fish the edge of the kelp just which is sometimes just a 100 yards offshore.

For rivers, see the Forks area.  The Sol Duc River, Calawah River, Hoh River and Bogachiel River are all quality rivers.

Wind is typically from the NW.  During the spring season for lings and butts, the weather can be finicky.  During the middle of summer, you get some nice greasy flat days pretty regularly.

What is a P.A. sail?

-Allen

Hey Brad!

The other two answers so far are right on with me too.  I'd live in P.A. or Sequim if I had a job that could support my wife in the style to which she's become accostumed, if you know what I mean.

To me, if I could live on the Olympic Penn., a really big advantage would be the Coho ferry over to Van Couver Island from P.A.  There's just about any kind of fishing you could want over there and it's hard to beat too.

As for the winds on the Straight, they tend to die down right about Memorial Day or so and they can show up on any given day, but mostly they stay calm clear till about October.  Unruly surf on the straight is almost never a problem once summer gets fully under way.

Fishin-T

Allen

Thanks for the info.

A P.A. (short for Pacific Action) sail is a pretty cool sail that mounts on a kayak or canoe and really helps eat up the distance when you've got a long way to paddle, especially when the wind is up and giving you trouble or when you're tired at the end of a long day of fishing etc.

I haven't used mine much yet as my yak (Cobra Fish 'N Dive) doesn't track really well so I had to come up with a lee board for it.  Now that I have a lee board I plan to use it a lot more this season.

You can check out the sails at www.pacificaction.co.nz/

One more piece of info about Sequim.  It's in the "Rain Shadow".  What is the Rain Shadow you ask?  See this  ... http://www.komotv.com/weather/faq/4306627.html

It's interesting to note that Port Angeles averages 27 inches of rain a year, while Sequim, which is about 10 miles away only get 18 inches.  For reference Seattle gets 37.

Hmmm ... I wonder if I can move to Sequim?   

-Allen

Fishin-T

That place is sounding better and better.  I know what you mean about the wife, thank GOD I've got a great wife that really supports my fishing, gets me out of the house as well so we're not in each others way.  She spent 11 yrs in Alaska before we got married (Anchorage area) and loved it so she'd probably like that area with the mountains etc. and she said she'd go anywhere I want to go, but she's real happy it'll be somewhere in Washington.

How much of a tidal fluctuation do they have up in that area?  We get from 3-5 ft here but being much farther North I assume that there's a lot more, and stong currents as well?  Are those rivers tidal rivers or do they run continuously in the same direction (I don't know much about river fishing as you can probably tell)?

It looks like the p.a./Sequim area is going to the top of my list.  I'll just have to see about some tactical considerations as well, like distance to nearest Hospital in case of emergency, affordable housing etc.

I sure do appreciate this fine web site and the kindness/generosity of you folks in sharing this much needed information.

Brad

Currents are usually not a problem in this area as the Straits are pretty wide and don't channel the current so much.

Add Port Townsend to your list.  It's just a little to the east of Sequim/PA and on the edge of the Rain Shadow.  Each of these 3 towns have their own character to them, so you might as well check them all out.

Median home prices in 2005:
  Port Townsend: $172,400
  Sequim: $176,200
  PA: $155,400

I guess PA gets slightly dinged as it's still in the rain.

-Allen

I would have to say that those median home prices have changed a bit since 05. But you can still find some good deals. In Sequim there is nothing really under $300, its the hot ticket right now. But by all means look. By the way P.A. gets 24" of precip...
I am still trying to figure out the fishing scene here. I figure by the time my kids are out of school I should have it down. The youngest is 3.
It truly is a great area. If you like clamming and crabs and mushroom hunting you'll like it here. (I just found my first white truffle, now to find my second)
Matt

I stand corrected.  Thanks Matt.  Note to self ... don't trust everything you see on the net.   

-Allen

Matt

About how much drop in the water level do you have there when the tide goes out?

Since you mentioned clams, Do you have goeducks (giant clams) or regular sized there?  Soft shell or hard shell?

You sound kind of discouraged with the fishing, what happened?

Is it cloudy a lot there in Port Angelis when it's not raining?  The reason I ask is that my wife gets sun poisoning if she gets much sun.  We're not crazy about rain, especially if it rains hard, but we like cloudy.

Howdy Brad!

If sun is a problem, the O.P. is still a good bet. Fog is common, especially if you're near the water. But often, you can just drive a little ways to find the cloud cover you want.

Do the rivers run more than one direction? The lower areas of some them are tidal estuaries, but almost all of them head up high in the mountains at the center of the peninsula, and have considerable drop. Some of them are known for whitewater. The rivers on the west side are some of the best in the Lower 48, for steelhead and salmon.

Tide levels are up to mother nature, they vary. Today was a minus tide of .09 so I went claming and got some horse necks. brittle critters, I kept breaking shells. There are goeducks but I have never dug one. I am going to go out tommorow to see if I can gather some cockles. There are minus tides through the weekend.
I not discourged with the fishing, there is just a lot of options that I don't know where to start. And between baseball games for the boy, keeping my 3 year old entertained, and spending time with the wife I find a little time to fish that I have to manage wisely. We have some nice weather the last couple days and I hope to get out this weekend for something. Anyway, so far I like living here.
Matt