Here we go again, I need to spend more time reading the regs when fishing an area out of my usual haunts… Sunday we decided to hit Point Defiance again. After another 1:00 curtain call we were in the water at Point Defiance by 4:00 am. While tied up at the dock I decided to get everything rigged so when we rounded the corner, we would be ready to go. My plan was to hit the Slag Pile for an hour or so then head down to the mouth of the river.

Gear down at the Slag Pile we were immediately on a fish that turned out to be a 23 1/2” chinook. Knowing that it was legal we decided to release it anyway. With a freezer full of fish, no point in Keeping barely legal fish. The next hour or so the bit was ON! We had solid action on a mix of nice sized shakers and 22-24’ chinook. We lost a nice fish on an unsuccessful sleeping beauty hand off. A short while later one of the riggers pops and we are into a serious fish.

The fish did the one bite downrigger release and was headed out of town. We maneuvered the boat out of traffic and settled into a tug of war with a beast of a fish. The fish did multiple runs and was jumping all over the place. It didn’t dawn on me that it might be a coho until it was in the net (The read the regs part…) the fish was a very large wild coho, probably pushing 20+ pounds. Just out of a MA 7 habit, after a picture or two we quickly released the fish. It wasn’t until we got home that I realized that we could have kept it. All is good though; that was one fish you want to keep in the gene-pool. The Slag Pile bite finally went slack so we decided to move down to the river mouth and scratch around for a while.

When we arrived, there was about 30 other boats with the same idea but the rumor on the street was that the fishing was really slow. Not easily discouraged we were gear down in no time. We had been on the troll for about 5 minutes when I raised one rigger to a meter mark and wham-o we were on. It was another feisty one, jumping numerous times with a couple solid runs. Finally, we had the fish at the net and with one last jump the fish left the hooks in the net and headed out of town. There were 2 guys that trolled right behind us when we lost the fish and I am sure they thought I was going to strangle my deckhand and wife. In years of fishing together and hundreds of fish in the box it was the first fish lost at the net so not really a big deal. OK, I may have let a four-letter word slip out…

The gear was simple, an 11” flasher by a squid or herring. The squid was white or glow with a green stripe on a 42-inch leader and tipped with a herring strip. The whole herring was in a helmet and tied on a 60” leader. I chased meter marks most of the day and all of our nicer fish were hooked between 30 and 60’ in 45-240’ of water. Our trolling speed was 2.4-3.2 mph. All the larger fish were hooked on herring.

We fished the area a while longer and decided to head for the Gig Harbor shoreline for an exploratory visit. We set up about a mile north of Gig Harbor and trolled with the tide all the way to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Again, more shakers and one solid take-down but nothing for the box. By the time we got in the vicinity of the bridge we were thirsty and famished. After we got the gear stowed, we set sail for the Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor.

The Tides staff helps the patrons get docked, has an excellent menu and a decent selection of tap beers that they deliver in a growler. The dock waitresses take your order and serve you boat side. The food arrives hot, is served on real dishes and was excellent. The whole experience made our day and we’ll be back. We probably overstayed the dock limit but we got to talking to our dock mates and time slipped away from us.

After we left Gig Harbor, we fished Owens Beach for a bit and after more shakers we headed for the trailer. It was a fantastic day; lots of fish, calm water and a great meal. Just before we headed in, we crossed paths with a boat that I recognized; but without my glasses I couldn’t quite place the faces. Soooo that said, hi guys and I hope that you put a few in the box.

---