It was my last day fishing Area 7 Blackmouth for the year. Thanks to a recent boat purchase I got to enjoy the last month of the season and learn the Northern San Juans in preparation for summer Seasons to come. We left squalicum at 5:30 and were surprised to find some choppy seas beyond Bellingham Bay, obviously left over from Thursday night's wind. After a slow slog we made it out there and were fishing shortly after 7am. One of the first things we noticed was a lack of seals for the first time. Apparently the choppy seas had them sheltering somewhere else. Unfortunately it didn't matter, however, because for our first 4+ hours we saw nearly no sign of fish either, the fishfinder appearing as a blue desert more often than not. Finally, close to noon we were greeted by a rod bouncing and popping off the clip. I quickly picked up the slack line and easily brought in a small hatchery blackmouth, measuring just shy of 23". Not a big fish, but we bled it and got the skunk off the boat. We got one more take down around 2pm that didnt stick, and one small lingcod that followed my gear all the way to the surface before latching on during a bait check, but otherwise no action. I considered staying for the evening slack, but the sun was already starting to cast shadows and we were running low on beer, so we took a beautiful scenic route back to harbor over glassy water instead. I forgot to take pictures this trip, but it was yet another breathtaking day in the islands.

Hits came on a green coho killer and a glow hootchie with whole herring.

Fish checker had checked 8 boats and we had the 2nd keeper all day. The other fish he checked was 18lbs though, somebody got a really nice one.

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