2008 June Fishing Neah Bay, WA

[TD]

Got our first fishing in after the 130NM trip to NW corner of Washington. Got some nice halibut and king salmon.

[jcollins]

Good lookin fish captain!

[RobS]

Did you go out just for the hal-i-but? Bad joke - I know, must get that quite a bit in the PNW. Surely don't want to piss off the guy in the white shirt

[TD]

Rob--I see you did pretty well on strippers and fluke. Are fluke like sole or are they another flat fish species? How big was the stripper?
The guy in the white shirt is number 3 son, Tommy, I think he was born to fish. Just got his BSME and has to live by ocean somewhere. He was runner up a couple of years in Big 12 hammer so he does my heavy work. His halibut was 50#, but his mother caught the most and biggest salmon.

[RobS]

Your pictures remind me of pics from my father's recent trips to a fishing camp in Ketchikan.

I have a BSME as well, graduated Manhattan College in 1993.

The bass was 38", mid-20's on the scale (I know it looks bigger in the picture )

Regarding fluke, here's more info than you need

Fluke

A number of different species of flatfish or flounder are found in coastal and ocean waters along the entire Atlantic coast of the U.S. Three of the most common flounder species in the Northeast are the Winter or Blackback flounder, the Summer flounder or Fluke, and the Yellowtail flounder. Flounder is a lean white fish with firm, delicate flesh. All flounder species have a similar body shape, and both have eyes on one side of the head which allows the fish to rest on the ocean bottom and look upward. The side of the fish that has the eyes is generally pigmented with color variations from species to species and at different times of the year. The eyeless side of the fish is generally lighter to white in color.

Winter or blackback flounder primarily live in shallow coastal waters during the colder "winter" months of the year. During the summer, they migrate out of shallow water to deeper and cooler ocean waters, and they move back to shallow coastal waters when the water's temperature begins to drop again. Winter flounder are most abundant during the colder months of the year, and during their seasonal migration in the spring to cooler ocean waters and again in the fall as they move back to coastal waters. Large winter flounder are commonly referred to as "lemon sole" in many markets. The terms "sole" and "flounder" are often confused, and are really two biological classifications of flatfish.

Summer flounder or fluke have a migratory pattern opposite that of winter flounder. Fluke migrate offshore to ocean waters 200 to 500 feet deep during the colder winter months. During the warmer summer months they move inshore to shallow warmer waters. Fluke are commonly a favorite target for summer recreational fishermen who in recent years have caught more fluke than commercial fishermen. Fluke is most available in commercial markets during the summer and during its seasonal migrations. Fluke is one of the larger flounder species, and it is commonly used for sushi. "Because of the size and high quality of fluke caught here on Long Island, we have established a respectable business for sushi, both here in New York and in Japan," explained Bill Milligan, owner of Milligan Seafood Company in Southampton. "Much of the fluke larger than 4 pounds is used for sushi."

[TD]

Thanks for the flounder info. Your summer flounder sounds like our halibut habits. Keep your pictures coming.
We were fishing in 350-500 ft of water last weekend. I did fish for, I think blues off the tip of LI in the 70's. We were catching 2-4 on there spreader setups. Didn't take any home to eat. Also, I bought my Albin at Mattituck a little over two years ago, but don't know much else about LI other than Sean Hannity lives out there.
We are leaving today for another fishing trip. We leave our boat at a dock at Neah Bay [190 mile drive from
Seattle by road]which makes it handy all summer. Hope to have some more pics in about a week.

[JackK]

Reeling in 50# fish from 350-500' of water must be a blast! From the looks of your son Tommy - a pretty good workout! Great pictures and great fish !

How heavy are the jigs for halibut? We use a 3 way setup with 2 to 8 oz weights for fluke fishing in 40 - 70 feet of water. If you can't hold bottom, you can't catch fluke. Is halibut similar?

Tight lines,
Jack

[TD]

We use 2-3# pipe weights with scampy or power bait. It is sometimes tough to stay down if the tide current is high. We back up the boat if needed. A 50# halibut will peel line off of a reel that you would have wrap oround your hand and barely pull off--so they are some work to pull up and go wild if you pull their head out of the water.

[TD]

Went fishing for couple of days over the fourth--have some more pics. Nothing big, but still good eating salmon, halibut & ling cod.

[Anthony1013]

TD -

Sounds like an awesome trip! Is your boat still up in Neah Bay? I am thinking about making a run up to Neah Bay from Lake Union later this month or August. I'm hoping the warm water gets in reach so I can run offshore for some Albacore.

Thanks for the report!

Anthony
28 Albin "MadMoney"

[TD]

I will be at Neah Bay just about every weekend plus until the end of August. I can show you some spot to fish for salmon, bottom fish and halibut [when it is open]. We do most of our halibut fishing in Canada off swiftsure bank.
My son is a tuna fishing nut so if you go to bloodydecks.com and click on washington you can read his posts as cornfed. We are leaving for Neah Bay in about 2 hours so will give more info when I get back.

[TD]

Yes my boat is still docked at Big Salmon at Neah Bay.

[Anthony1013]

TD -

A good friend of mine was thinking about running his Riviera up to Neah Bay for a month... have you had any problems leaving it there? If he doesn't commit, I want to take a week off, run up there and try my luck.

Best of luck and we can't wait to hear the report!

Anthony

[TD]

Anthony,
Just got back this Sun pm from Neah Bay. I have left my boat at Big Salmon about 2 1/2 months each summer for the last three years and have never had a problem. Biggest thing that has happened was Seagul and/or bald eagle S***, but it hasn't been that bad. If you are going to be there a month ask Joey for monthly rate. Let me know if I can help with anything for your plans.
I will post this last weekend pics on another post.
Terry

[TD]

Fishing was slowest so far this year. Went to Canadian Swiftsure west bank for 5 halibut and 4 ling cod. Only got one 25# salmon at Renfro[Canada]. Hope the next run comes in over the next couple of weeks for more salmon fishing.