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Area 9 Admiralty Inlet Report
Washington

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Details

10/02/2012
56° - 60°
Downriggers
Coho Salmon
Herring Strips
Chartreuse
Cloudy
Flasher/Bait
Morning
10/02/2012
5
2635

What a difference a day makes. First, I have to give a big shout out to WL.com member “Berchu” who posted a comment on bbordeau’s Area 9 report of 9-30. His comment gave me enough motivation to decide to go out with JoAnn for one last try at salt water coho. Glad we did!

We hit the Edmonds sling at 6:35, opps, winter hours started today, opened at 7am. Got underway with a plan and as we left the marina heard a bounce and splash, looked back to see the cover to my manual Scotty was gone including the counter, into Puget Sound it went. Not a good start to the day.

OK, so my plan based on Berchu’s report was to start trolling north of Edmonds to Shipwreck, get there around tide change (LT 12:50) and head back with the afternoon wind at our tail. Initially we had a bit of an AM breeze and some chop that made things challenging, but it also gave me further keys to unlocking the coho. I had my 8 hp motor running full out and barely making 3mph into the waves, so I made an adjustment and ran 45 degrees to the waves/tide, back and forth to Shipwreck. I think this was part of the reason we had such good success today.

Running two rods, deep rod was 90-110 ft on the DR with a 14 pound can I melted last night. Shallow rod was 90 ft with a ten pound can. Both rods ran smaller flashers, one red, one green. Hoochies of varying colors (yellow glow shallow, green glow deep, and smaller sized) and herring strips cured with Nate’s Herring Cure. I kept the speed about 3pmh, up to about 3.6 at times, depending on wind and tide run.

Our first and biggest fish hit at 8:30am, 90 ft deep and JoAnn did a great job bringing the pig in. I’m guessing in the 12 pound range. You can tell me if I’m way off from the pictures. I would say we were in about 600 ft of water.

From the fish we had steady action all morning. Here’s the breakdown:

8:45 – lost one at 90 ft, red flasher
9:48 – 96 ft, caught on red flasher
10:30 – 96 ft – spooled! (more about this later) on a red flasher
10:56 – 86 ft – lost a fish on a green flasher
11:30 – 110 ft – caught on a red flasher
11:50 – 90 ft – lost on a green flasher
12:58 – 110 ft caught on a red flasher, limits!

OK, the spooled fish. I have never had this happen before and will be curious as to your thoughts. We had a routine bite, and I picked up the rod, feeling a average size fish. Suddenly, I feel total resistance, like the gear is snagged on the bottom – but it’s not, we are in 450 ft of water. I tighten the drag. I apply pressure with my thumb. I get a friction burn on my thumb. I watch the line go to the Dacron backing and break off. During the “run” I feel no head shake, nothing, just a steady “pull”. Now, my guess is my fish got intercepted by a seal or whale, something. Cause that was unlike any fish run I have ever experienced, including big kings. What do you think?

In conclusion, based on Berchu’s simple comment he made to another person’s poor fishing report, I was able to go out with JoAnn and get a limit of big, bright, October coho on the salt, when many people came home skunked. I’m not saying this to brag, rather, to me it shows what an amazing resource the people that post reports and comments on this site are. I just took the information provided, formulated a plan, and acted on it. With good results. And so I give everything I can share so that hopefully some of you get a chance to grab a few more of these beautiful fish before the run is done. The big pigs are in now and here’s your chance, so go get them!

Note - on the Vista picture, the upper right corner flag is the location of Shipwreck. You can see in the upper left corner the Lat/Long coordinates, although if you are fishing off shipwreck and due south a mile or so you'll be in the right area. We hit most fish in the 400-650 ft depth.

JoAnn declined my offers to take pictures of her and her fish, LOL.


Comments

knotabassturd
10/2/2012 5:29:00 PM
IMO seal. They can stay under and run quite a ways. Nice cluster of fish from the salt! Maybe not quite 12 on the pig but not too far off IMO and they all look darn nice!
knotabassturd
10/2/2012 5:33:00 PM
Hmm, going over those pics again you may be right that looks pretty close to 12 :-) Either way a real nice cluster of fish. B runs? Would be great for anglers to have the initial general lighter weights this season be followed up with some piggier "B"s...
BentRod
10/2/2012 5:45:00 PM
Wow, nice day on the water Mike! Crazy about the spool. Wonder what it was. Probably a seal, but who knows. :0
afk
10/2/2012 6:06:00 PM
Wow! Great day out. Thanks for the report.
RiverChromeGS
10/2/2012 6:29:00 PM
WoW! big coho! awesome day Mike!!
RiverChromeGS
10/2/2012 6:31:00 PM
by the way if the fish felt average at first, SEAL 100%! DAmn bastards!
schu7498
10/2/2012 6:58:00 PM
Too bad you didn't have your go pro down there to catch what it was!
Joseph1499
10/2/2012 7:06:00 PM
Great job. Had a very similar day fishing yesterday in a similar spot. The only difference was the water. No bounce at all. Went 5 for 7 with a 3-4lb blackmouth released. Largest of the Coho was 6.5lbs. Still hitting the cookie cutters. Did have one very large take down with some big head shakes and then one big tug and the fish was gone. Someone trolling in the opposite direction indicated that a seal won the battle. I have caught 90% of all my fish on green flashers or purple haze flashers with primarily green splatter back and glow hootchies. Have limited in my boat on 9 out of 11 trips.
Mike Carey
10/2/2012 7:40:00 PM
the fish weighed 9 pounds on a scale I had at home. We fisherman always exagerate. :-)
Regarding the flashers, I did go with the smaller size D/T the depth, I wanted to limit drag. DId not seem to make a difference.
MotoBoat
10/2/2012 7:47:00 PM
That sounds like a classic seal or sea lion fish grab Mike. I have not had a seal/sea lion grab a salmon.........knock on a graphite rod..LOL! But have been followed by so many the last few day's. There little dog like heads pop up everywhere I look, while trolling. And last week, two sea lions showed up on top of the big floating buoy. That sits in 85ft of water, just West of the Northern exit/entrance out of the Shilshole ramp/marina.
Anyway, when a seal or sea lion takes the Salmon. They "MUST" surface at some point to BREATH, and eat the fish. Your only hope is to chase the beast. Keep your line as vertical as possible, then circle. When the animal surfaces, you hope they let loose of your fish. Also, when the wind is as you experienced. Running the big motor is a option, and gives you way more control. Places more body weight, forward instead of aft. Keeping the bow deeper in the water for better tracking/less steering corrections. It helps to know at what speed your big motor idles while in gear. Mine 85 horse, two smoke. Does 2.2mph at 800 rpm. So for coho, it takes a bump on the throttle, say 1100 or 1200rpm to reach 3.2-3.6mph. Going to eat more fuel, but the pleasant factor makes the wind almost enjoyable. Still have to net in the slop (rough water) though. Nice day of Coho catching. What size were the other fish? They look to be of respectable size too. Hard to tell in pictures.
MotoBoat
10/2/2012 7:55:00 PM
I thought, based on the picture. That the fish weight was heavier than the 9.5lb I caught today. But each picture, the fish looked a different weight. Pictures, so deceiving. Based on the 12lb guesstimate, I thought the other fish, lined up at the ramp were 8 or so lbs. Fine job out there Joanne. mike gets no credit for today's catch. It all goes to Jo!...........LOL!!! She did all the work. "Yea, that's the ticket".
Mike Carey
10/2/2012 9:18:00 PM
Ya, JoAnn did catch the two big fish. I'd say mine were 6-7. Its all about being the guide, right? I did briefly consider running the big motor. I like being an arm's length away from the rods though.
The Quadfather
10/2/2012 9:23:00 PM
Any GPS that says, "Quad" on it, works for me! Your neighbors must love you.
Idstud
10/2/2012 9:40:00 PM
Great report glad the fish were in the mood to bite. This ship you pictured its the USS Ford in case you wanted to know. I would have to agree with seal but most the time they want to show you the fish you lost and surface.
Red beard
10/2/2012 10:38:00 PM
I've seen a seal get caught out in hood canal off our boat, we broke it off on purpose but still nuts! This actually sounds more like a purpose of whale, nice catch today!
Berchu
10/2/2012 10:52:00 PM
Thanks Mike - sounds like an awesome day! I'm glad I could help :)
steeleywhopper
10/2/2012 11:02:00 PM
Maybe snagged a old shrimp pot line.
Matt
10/3/2012 8:30:00 AM
Seal or sea lion, definitely. Sounds more like a sea lion since you couldn't turn it at all.
bbordeau
10/3/2012 11:24:00 AM
Awesome Day Mike!!! Its so true about throwing it all down there in terms of info - even a slow day for someone may help someone else avoid wasting gas. This forum has helped me in countless ways to improve my fishing so I'm really happy to see others benefit from my experience. Along the lines of the spool, two weeks ago in mid channel off Shipwreck, we hooked into a real fighter. I had visions of something in the 15 lb range. Turned out, it was a white dodger - we were in 400 ft of water. Strange things happening!

Good luck out there everyone!

Brian
tele_maniac
10/3/2012 12:34:00 PM
Great report Mike! Thanks for the details and pictures.
BARCHASER10
10/3/2012 2:03:00 PM
Were you near Picnic Pt. just south of the Shipwreck? There is a big old nasty bull Sea Lion that has been hanging out there since August. He bit the tail off of one of my silvers last week. I've seen him take fish from other boats twice.
oneshot
10/3/2012 3:01:00 PM
nice fish catching!

i hope some of those big ones are headed into my rivers!! oh and they bite! :)
OFFDAAHOOK
10/3/2012 4:53:00 PM
epic ..mike you havin so much fun it should be outlawed hahahaha
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709