It was Saturday, August 13th, 2005. My grandson, Jason, my son Don and neighbor and good fishing buddy, Steve launched our boat at Port Orchard at about 7:30 AM. Tide was the reason for the 2 or 3 hour delay at the launch ramp. At low tide there is simply not enough water to launch a 21 foot boat at the Port Orchard ramp.
With Donald at the helm, we headed up the channel on the west side of Bainbridge Island, passed under the bridge at Agate Passage, and northward to Possession Sound – also known as Humpie Hollow on odd numbered years. The boat ride went quickly over the flat waters of the peaceful, scenic Port Orchard Passage.
As we arrived (Area #9) there was a heavy overcast and it was quite cool. It wasn’t long, however, before the overcast cleared and temperatures gradually rose into the high eighties. We used stackers on our two down riggers and soon had rigs in the water. Our choice of enticements were small white flashers and pink hoochies with a small herring strip attached to the hook. We also all were using steelhead rods instead of the heavier salmon rods. Most humpies are fairly small and are more fun to catch on a lighter rod.
It wasn’t long before Jason hooked up and we landed the first fish. It was immediately dispatched with a sharp rap on the head, the gills slashed to bleed it and was placed into a 5 gallon bucket with some cool salt water to bleed out before being placed in a large cooler filled with ice. We learned years ago that proper care of these fish maintains the best quality possible.
We trolled north, with the tide. All of sudden all four rods bent down and popped out of the riggers. Four fish hit at almost the same time. Who was going to net the fish? Son Donald thought maybe he could handle the net and his fish at the same time. It was a team sacrifice. Donald lost his fish but the other 3 fish ended up in the cooler. We caught a couple more fish before the action died down.
We decided to fish nearby Possession Bar. We dropped the rigs on the bar and picked up a couple more humpies. These were big males, probably a pound or two larger than normal fish. We also caught a small coho that made it into the cooler. Of course, we also discovered the big doggies again. These are large dog fish that come up a long ways from the bottom to sniff out that small strip of herring.
Steve’s rod suddenly popped out of the down rigger and jerked violently. The powerful fish stripped off line as he plunged to the depths. After quite a battle, a huge, beautiful king salmon surfaced. He was admired briefly and carefully and gently released while still in the water. He seemed grateful as he gave a powerful thrust of his tail and dove into the depths. (unfortunately Kings are not legal to keep in this area or he would have ended up with the humpies.)
We also caught 3 shakers that were also gently released off the barbless hooks. All in all it was a great day on the water with plenty of sun, plenty of cool refreshments, plenty fish and a whole lot of camaraderie on "Lake Puget", a big, beautiful playground for folks lucky enough to live here in the great Northwest.

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