Today JoAnn and I got to fish our last saltwater trip of the year out of Edmonds. We had a free launch fee having filled up our punch card. The weather forecast was beautiful and I was excited to be pursuing coho in the salt again. Unfortunately, Mother Nature threw us a curve ball…

We arrived at 6:30am and the first thing I noticed was the Marina flags fluttering pretty strongly and a breeze that was not in Redmond blowing from the north. I rechecked my weather app – crap! Winds out of the north 8mph gusting to 12-14mph. And there was no indication that they were going to be tapering during the morning.

We launched, and as soon as we left the marina we were into rough waters and breaking waves. Now for me, it wouldn’t be an issue, but JoAnn is not hardcore, and comfort is important. It was definitely not going to be comfortable.

Low tide was at noon, and the tide had turned by 7am. Unfortunately the wind would favor us trolling south, while the tide was heading out north. Not ideal. I dropped our coho gear down to 50 and 60 feet deep to start. 8” flashers, one red with a glow magnum hoochie, one green with a green magnum hoochie. Both had herring strips brined in Pro Cure Monster Bite Bait Enhancer. I’ve been using this product with good success lately. Troll speed was really hard to maintain consistently with the chop, I had us running 2.8 to 3.6mph.

Our first fish came fairly quickly, trolling south at 60 feet deep. JoAnn reeled the bright coho right to the back of the boat when suddenly a wave rose our stern and in the process of dropping the boat down there was just enough slack in the line to have the fish come off. Darn it!

We continued down to just north of the oil docks and turned to troll north, with the outgoing tide, but into the wind. It was pretty miserable, the boat bounced up and down pretty hard. Again, nothing I wasn’t used to, but not what JoAnn signed up for. We hit our second fish around 8am, at 80 feet, with the green set up. This one I reeled and JoAnn netted. The boat was bouncing around so much she ended up with her foot in the motor well – wet sock and shoe time!

I tried a couple more north/south passes but it was getting too rough, so decided to just troll with the wind behind us. I saw a couple boats heading with us net fish. We got about two miles south of the oil docks when JoAnn informed me at 10am that she was getting nauseous and was done for the day. That was OK by me. It’s not a good idea to push someone that is feeling sick to keep fishing. So we called it a day with one nice 4 pound coho in the boat. My schedule doesn’t look good for any more saltwater coho trips; maybe I’ll hit lake Washington or the Snohomish soon. I will say, I saw a lot of fish marks today and I think there will be plenty of saltwater coho action left.

Gonefishing

9/28/2015 10:55:00 PM

Went to the Edmonds pier today and saw the waves and wind and thought so glad my friend and I weren't out in this... we'd still be trying to get home at 11:00 p.m.

Mike Carey

9/29/2015 7:21:00 AM

we saw two guys out in a 14 foot open, low gunnel aluminum boat. Scary. No 4 pound coho is worth that risk.

kokanee_slayer

9/29/2015 8:40:00 AM

We fished the same area Friday and it was a bit rough as well. Definitely would not risk it in some of the smaller boats we saw on the water. Took our youngest son out and although an adult, he isn't used to the Salt and was getting tossed around quite a bit. However, we did manage to scratch out a couple decent size Silvers and C&R'd a ton of shakers.

cobrar543

9/29/2015 8:46:00 AM

My wife is a lot like JoAnn, Comfort is primary, fish somewhere down on that list. and that's why I usually have to go alone.

Thor

9/29/2015 5:45:00 PM

Mike,

It's too bad your last trip on the salt this year had to include all the waves. Comfort and safety are always more important. My buddy and I have turned around a number of times when we discovered that the waves were getting worse and not better. Something that I have found helpful is an app called WindAlert. It has helped us decide a go / no go a day or two ahead of time.
Good luck on Lake Washington; I really like the video you did of fishing for coho there.

Mike Carey

9/29/2015 7:21:00 PM

Thanks, hopefully I can work lake washington into my fall.

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