what an incredible day on the water.

well folks, I don't guide on the salt (yet...), but i do love to fish it. today was an absolute blast. I went out to Area 7 for the first time today, and man was it worth the drive.

After waking up at 4, I zipped up north to meet up with Rmrauscher. Rmrauscher and i then hopped in the same rig and headed to Anacortes to target some feisty blackmouth.

we launched around 8:15 and headed straight for Strawberry Bay. we spent about 3 hours throwing the tackle box at them, without even a bump to show. Eventually, we ran to a little cut just north of the Bay (probably considered part of the Bay) and I hooked up with a barely legal blackmouth while trolling an OG-2 lure with tinsel hoping to mimic a candlefish. The fish wasn't hooked bad so we released him to grow.

The wind picked up pretty bad for about 90 minutes so we continued to fish in the little cut to stay protected as much as we could. After the wind settled back down, we ran to Eagle Cliff and in about 15 minutes, Rmrauscher hooks up on a Silver Horde "Herring-aid" while dropping the downrigger ball. after a good fight we boated a nice legal salmon, about 5 pounds. this guy was bleeding so we put him in the box.

about 45 minutes later, i decide to try a special lure: a double God's Tooth spoon from elgin fishing. essentially, this lure is two God's Tooth Spoons (yes, the kokanee spoons) linked with the split-ring in the middle. I put a large 1/0 hook on the back to complete the setup. after just 30 second, my rod gets absolutely crushed and i am into a big fish. When i went to grab my pole, somehow i released my drag and let out about 50 feet of line and tangled all up! somehow the fish was still on, and after a fantastic fight he got off just a few feet from the boat. man it was a gorgeous fish though!

after an hour of nothing, we called it a day and headed back to the launch. what a fantastic day on the water!

I just to take a second to talk about the God's Tooth Spoon. Not only is this spoon deadly for kokanee and trout, they are killer for salmon in the sound. There are two ways to link them, and both ways provide an interesting and killer action even with a large hook. The versatility in this spoon is incredible. if you don't have any, you need to add them to your tackle box. send me a PM and i will send a picture of how to rig them for salmon.

Happy new year to all, tight lines, and stay safe out there on the water!

~Paul

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