Lings 5/1?

Anyone heading out for the ling opener May 1st?  I've been shorebound for too long this year and need to get my salt on!  I'm down for most anywhere from Seattle to Hamsterdam.

I'm in. I'm a ling noob.

A friend said he saw a bunch of big ones at Edmond's protected dive area. I have no idea whether the outside boundary is good or not.

I've heard the same thing, the problem is that the weather you are in the MPA area is really in the eyes of the beholder.  If I recall the areas surrounding the MPA aren't that large.  It is easy to cross the imaginary line and hard to defend to WDFW even with gps tracks.

The artificial reef in West Seattle has an MPA near it as well but the fishable area is a huge swath to the south.  I would suggest this spot, but it is fished out; when the spearfishermen come up empty-handed and pissed-off you know it is time to move on.   I'd love to try out by Hat Island but I'd need a Hobie Adventure to even consider the trek from Port of Everett.

Anyone out there know about the ling fishing around Biz Pt ???Come on Northern Boys.High tide is around 3:00am 7.4 & low around 10:00 0.4. Good structure, launch areas,tides,etc? Help out a buddy with PTFD
(previous traumatic fishing disorder) and break loose with the cure. It would be greatly appreciated. Had a place further south in mind but not sure if I want to go there. Also. How about the tip of Camano Head launching from ramp at Camano State Park?
Rich

Where are the MPA and Marine Preserves listed?  I see Marine Preserves listed in the WDFW pamphlet for the MAs but they are not detailed.  On a chart I see a "Fish Haven" listed 1.3nm SSE of Alki Point, but it is not marked as no fishing. 

I'll be at my normal spot at Sucia on May 1st.  We used to have quite a flotilla of yak fishers on May 1st when HBH had his righteous mothership - ahhh the good old days.  If anyone has a boat and has plans to be there too, I'm happy to share what I know about that area by PM. 

Great pic, Deepcolor. Anybody else out there that might have room for 2 yaks to be ferried out, please let me know by PM. I'd be humbly in your debt.
Rich

The San Juans have the best populations of lings in the Sound area. SIT tourers frequently launch off the north side of Orcas to access Sucia and Patos. It's 3-4 miles, if I remember correctly. It can be dead calm, or pretty darn snotty. Have to be aware of the weather and tides. There's a bunch of reefs between the launch and the islands, that I've had success on over the years. Study your charts.

The next best area with numbers and size is probably Possession Bar, off the south end of Whidbey. It's probably at least a mile and a half from the nearest launch. I remember a launch south of Clinton at a county park, and another over on Useless bay. A couple years ago I saw posts of folks that launched near, or at, Picnic Point. Which would be best would depend on tides and weather. The best fishing is offshore a ways, out at the reefs. Again, it's pretty exposed, so shouldn't be taken lightly.

Great point about Sucia PS.  Plenty of tour kayaks cover that water from North Orcas to Sucia in the summer.  There's a great webcam at Smugglers Villa that looks out over that gap.  The viewer controls the camera.  Click on the sixth thumbnail at the top for a great view over to Sucia.  I'll second that it can get snotty so the crossing should not to be taken lightly, but in flat water, would be an easy distance.

The webcam is here:

http://www.smuggler.com/new/smug-cam.html

I was curious about distance so I measured on Gmaps Pedometer.  2.58 miles from the north side of Orcas to the cut between Little Sucia and Fox Cove.

Haven't fished for lings yet, but I'd like to give it a try next month.

I'm an experienced paddler, but I'm still getting my bearings on fishing in the sound and acquiring the appropriate safety gear.

Are there a couple more protected spots to try for lings where you still have a halfway reasonable chance of hooking up? For now, I am willing to compromise quite a bit on the best ling water for safer areas.

Thanks.

Are there a couple more protected spots to try for lings where you still have a halfway reasonable chance of hooking up? For now, I am willing to compromise quite a bit on the best ling water for safer areas.

Thanks.

That's tough because of the habitat that lings like, and the pressure they get.

They like rocky reefs, which tend to be in exposed locations where sediments don't build up, and they like areas with a good current so that they can grab stuff being swept by. Kelp beds will sometimes provide the ambush sites they like. The obvious spots close to launches and populated areas get hammered.

Saratoga Passage, between Camano and Whidbey islands might provide some action, probably no lingzillas. There is a kelp bed at Lowell Pt., which is just south of the launch at Camano Island SP. The bottom drops off pretty quickly to the south of the point. (You can launch off the beach at the south end of the parking lot and avoid the ramp charge.) Camano Head is a good 6 miles from there, so I probably wouldn't try that. I think there might be beach access over at Tulalip Bay, which would be a lot closer to the reef that runs from the Head down to Hat Island. Langley, on Whidbey, is also closer, and has water access.

Over on Whidbey, at Useless Bay, there is a small county park (limited parking) on the west side. There are more kelp beds around the corner to the right, at Double Bluff. It's more exposed, but on a calm day with small tides it's a fairly short paddle. Don't bother if a strong south wind is blowing.

Good luck. It's tough when the fish seem to be just out of reach. I highly recommend getting some immersion gear before trying any real salwater action around here.

I've never fished it, but Bowman Bay looks pretty fishy with good beach launch access from the park.  Anyone fished Bowman for lings?

Yes, and "search" is your friend. http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,4344.msg44467.html#msg44467

The launch is pretty protected. Years ago, I broke off two in quick succession, fishing during slack in Deception Pass. (I had launched out of Cornet Bay.) It's pretty open when you get outside of the bay.

The tides/current on Sunday look pretty friendly for a ride out on the ebb, and return on the flood. http://www.dairiki.org/tides/daily.php/dec/2011-05-01

Yes, and "search" is your friend.

Maybe.  But really, "search" is like a handy neighbor who's somewhat boring.  "Conversation" is more like a friend.  And "sarcasm" is kinda like an annoying cousin. 

Good info on Bowman bay.  Much appreciated.