Blackmouth fishing in Puget Sound

[Gmschuler]

Blackmouth or King (Chinook) are salmon that do not go to the ocean, but rather they stay in Puget Sound. These fish will get to be from 5 to 10 lbs with the occasional larger one. They are not migrating back to a specific river but they are always looking for a meal. I know they need to be fished within 15 feet of the bottom. Does anyone have any special location or tackle they would be willing to share. The season will go until the end of November in area 9 and then close until January 15th. This is a winter time fishery and weather will factor into planning trips. I hope to go this weekend. I will let you know how we do.

[Binford]

I had the very same question I asked over on the Glasply forum. Here's what I was told on Nov. 2:

Area 9 Blackmouth opened today. Find a bait ball and go at it get down on the bottom cut plug and a 11" flasher have been my best trick in the past but I would love to hear what others have used.

I hadn't fished the Sound since the early 70s (when I was 7!) and sure didn't know what I was doing then. So my son and I went out a few months ago when the Coho were running to get shown the ropes, as it were, with a friend from Poulsbo who wrote the above comments.

And another said, "A guy I know who fishes A9 recommends the west side of Whidbey."

Wish I had more to share, but I have to figure it out myself first!

Good luck!

[whwells]

This question can be answered fully by member Mark regarding the Pugent Sound area of concern. He is active in the NW Group and likely will attend the Seattle Boat Show pre rendevous. Mark is a 28te engine box owner and a serious fisherman. Will check with him that he plans to attend the dinner following the boat show. I have fished with him and know he does the winter blackmouth salmon catch.
whwells "Howard"
2006 35te Sportfisher/Flybridge
2004 Osprey Piloyhouse 22

[whwells]

Spoke with Mark V. He is an expert on Blackmouth Salmon fishing around Anacortes, Wa. area. Says, unless something comes up he will be at the Pre Rendevzous meet at or following the Seattle Boat Show.
Whwells "Howard"

[Gmschuler]

Believe it or not it's already January! I did not get out blackmouth fishing in the late fall but area open on January 16 th. I will make it out at some point. Johns sporting goods has a wealth of information that I have been studying. I did make it out in early December to do some crabbing. It was 26F when we left the dock, but warm inside. We set 4 pots and had lots of crab on board, unfortunately everyone of them was soft shell. For those of you on the east coast these are not blue crab they are dungeness and soft shell is a non keeper.....bottom line no crabs for our effort.
The morning at 0 dark 30 I was fishing for squid. We got around 30 or so. We may eat them or freeze them for shrimp bait not sure yet.
See you at the boat show.

[Gmschuler]

It is February 27th and I finally got the chance to go blachmouth fishing. I did my research and chose Pilot Point. That is 2 miles south of Point No Point. This is a good fishing spot during the incoming tide. With a low tide at 9:15 AM this would be easy to get to from Seattle. I took my brother Vince, it happened to be his 71st birthday today. We arrived at Pilot Point at 9:15, right on schedule. The trick with blackmouth is that you must fish right on the bottom. We used downriggers with U/V flashers with a White Lightning spoon. The depth we were trying to be at was 140'. As it turns out that is easier said than done. We did two or three 2 mile runs with no luck. On the next pass I changed to a Cookies N Cream spoon with a Tail Wager. Within minutes I had a fish on but it was sub-legal and let it go. Put the gear back down and within minutes had a nice fish on. A few minutes later we had a 7lb blackmouth on board. We changer Vince's gear to the Cookies N Cream and on the next pass he pulled in a 5 pounder. Washington State Game Department lowered the limit to one blackmouth each, so with that we had our limit and headed back to SEATTLE. This was the first salmon fishing trip in my 31TE. The trolling valve worked great and I was able to troll at 1 to 3.5 knots with no problem. The Garmin 7212 was great to work with. The water was flat and the sun even came out for a few minutes. It was a great day!

[Pitou]

Sounds like a great day Greg!

[RobS]

Happy Birthday to Vince and what a fine way to spend it. Thanks for the pics, the "Perfect Water Today" shot is a beauty !

[whwells]

Black Mouth Salmon? Is early May a good time for the salmon out of Anacortes, Wa?
whwells "Howard"

[Gmschuler]

Unfortunately the salmon seasons will come to a close in area 7 on April 30. It will open back up on July 1st. At that point we forget about the Blackmouth and switch over to the ocean returning Kings followed by the Silvers.

In the mean time there is a May Halibut and Lingcod season. All I can tell you is to look at the regs as to where and when you can fish. And Spot Shrimp is open in May as well. It too is a limited season so you have to study the regs.

I am planning to shrimp, halibut and lingcod in May

Let me know if I can help!
Fish On. <*}}}}><
Greg
Blue Heron

[Gmschuler]

My YouTube on Shrimp

http://youtu.be/xeyq4X-kml4

I will have to learn how to imbed the video and not just the link

Greg

[MadMoney]

Blue Heron - Was that you trolling for Coho off Shilshole on Tuesday night? I came by just before sunset and was chatting to the Grady White CC, I was in the 28' Albin.

Anthony
1999 28 TE MadMoney

[Gmschuler]

Yes it was! We are at Shilshole P-15. No fish Tuesday night, but I was out Wednesday morning and I picked up a nice 10lb ocean hooked nose. That is the biggest one this year for me. Most have been 5 to 6 pounds.
So we're you out fishing or on the docks? My last boat was a 27 Grady White. Great boats. I have had this Albin for just about a year now and we love it. Fishes good travels good sleeps good, I guess it's all good.
I will be fishing at least 2 or 3 mornings a week until there are no more coho. But the winter blackmouth will be open again and crabbing reopened in area 9 so I will have to get some crab too.
Keep in touch,

[MadMoney]

That is a gorgeous boat! I was fishing up off Edmonds on Tuesday and also picked up a nice hooknose around 10lbs. Like you, all the coho up till that one have been those cookie cutter 5-6lb fish.

My boat is boat is being kept in Lake Union now but I think we're going to do some fishing off Edmonds on Saturday, spend the night in Kingston.

You got to love these gorgeous October days on the Puget Sound!

Anthony
1999 28 TE MadMoney

[Gmschuler]

We are fishing Edmonds right now (Friday) and have 3 in the boat by 8:30. I will be back out here Sunday. I donated a fishing trip to a charity auction, so Sunday is the day.