I'm looking for info from anyone that's camped there or fishes that area. A few of us want to plan a trip this coming season for a couple of days. Any info on where to launch from and what the best time to go, etc., would be appreciated.

I haven't camped on Patos, but my family used to vacation in the Juans and fished that Island back in the late 70's early 80's. The island is not very protected, so I'm guessing beaching your boat might be best. Back then, we worked real hard to get a few silvers, trolling aroudn the whole Island. We seemed to catch more fish on the East side of the Island, trolling back and forth on the south side. If you're targetting kings, I would troll the North side of Orcas in July from Parkers reef - east.

Having said that, if your looking for the best area to salmon fish / camp, try Garrison Bay, just outside of Roche Harbor. That whole west side of San Juan Island is good, with the best concentration of fish, I have found, by Eagle Pt. There are kings just outside of the harbor on the NE side of the Island as well.

If I remember right, there are only two bouys on Patos. They're often occupied and anchors have a hard time holding boats in place. My great-uncle was the lighthouse keeper there about 40 years ago.

Be careful not to leave food out. There are some bold/tame raccoons on the island.

http://www.sanjuansites.com/thingstodo/parks/patosis.htm

Sorry, don't know anything about Patos. I would guess that there isn't a lot of salmon fishing around there, maybe just because it's so far away and no one bothers.

Stuart Island is really nice. There are two docks and 10-12 mooring buoys. There is also a bunch of sheltered water on each side of the island to anchor in. It gets busy in the summer, but if you arrive on a Friday, you can usually get space.

There is good salmon fishing along the southwest side of San Juan Island. I don't know of any other good areas for salmon. I know a couple real good places for Lings, if you're going to be there for that.

There are 2 spots on Sucia Island just to the west of Patos. I think they both have docks, and the one on the east side is protected anchorage.. State Parks, I believe.
Very popular in the summer.

My vote goes to Sucia Island. There is everything you need there. I would stay on a buoy that is sheltered from the ferry wakes. It holds a lot of people so you probably won't have to worry about getting a spot.

Patos is great to camp on, but there is hardly any place to pitch a tent. We found a secluded beach on the North side of the island and stayed there.

Jeff'ed,

I'm very interested to hear the details of camping near Garrison Bay. The info will come in handy next summer.

Yes, Sucia, IMHO, in the nicest moorage in the SJ's.

Only one dock (@ Fossil Bay), but lots of great moorage, hikes and scenery. When I was there last, there was a small, old ship anchored in Fossil Bay baking and selling pastrys on the weekends.

I boat camped Slab. I don't know if there is tent camping there, probably not. If your interested, the presentations that they do on the "English Camp" is interesting to see. I had a couple of Kings on at Mosquito Pass.

My vote goes to Sucia as well. There are actually four or five islands there and a lot of exploration to do. Not very far from Petos if you have reason to go there. It has much better protected moorage than Petos and is one of the last islands before you cross over Georgia Straits heading toward Vancouver Island.

Take a look here -> Petos/Sucia Island

I haven't camped on Patos but it's rugged around the island. Might be hard to sink a hook as the tides and wind can make it tough. Check out this site that shows actual pictures of the shoreline.

http://apps.ecy.wa.gov/shorephotos/scripts/mapsearch.asp?id=1024

Sucia is a real good place to tent camp. Plenty of sites. There is water during the summer but you have to conserve it and better to boil the water just to be sure. Bottom fishing for Lings is pretty good around any of the Islands up at that end of the Juans but Ling fishing ends around June 16h and with only one rockfish allowed it's hardly worth it. For Salmon, fish the places noted above and also go try Alden Bank. Find it with your GPS and fish the drop off around the bouy. Good for kings and silvers. On northeast side of Orcas fish the Ebb tide from Pt Thompson clear down to Pt Lawerence. Beautiful long troll so if you don't catch a fish you'll see Bald Eagles, dolphins and seals. Watch out by Racoon Pt, I donated a downrigger ball where the bottom comes up to 30 ft.