Going up to Sekiu this weekend, hopefully the quota isn't filled yet! Anyone heard how they are doing, where they are catching the big kings, and what they are riggin' up with?

I haven't been up since Friday but if it were me I would be motor mooching a cut plug brined blue lable herring in 40 to 60 feet of water or even less when the kelp beds allow for it and anywhere from 10 to 20 feet down. Even in the middle of the day during tide changes. Even under the bright sun. And if a bite comes on out deeper stay with the lines on top. Of course most people aren't me and they put out downriggers and wonder where the fish are. Better look for blue lables before you go though. Last I heard they were almost out and there's no fresh bait unless you jig your own.

From WDFW:
Area 5 and 6 Chinook Selective Fishery

Nearly Two-thirds of Area 5 and 6 Chinook Selective Fishery Quota Remains.

Preliminary estimates show that anglers fishing the Area 5 and 6 chinook selective fishery got off to a good start, but catches have declined recently. From July 1st through July 11th, almost 12,000 anglers fished for salmon in Areas 5 and 6. They harvested 1,352 marked hatchery chinook and 3,519 marked hatchery coho. That leaves nearly two-thirds (2,148 marked chinook) of the original chinook quota of 3,500 available for harvest. Interest and fishing effort remain high, especially on the weekends, and will likely continue that way until the quota is reached.

Now how could they possibly know this when I only saw fish checkers one day out of eight? My boat brought in nine clipped in eight days. Released on average seven non-clipped per day.

Stlhead,
Check out this PDF draft report by WDFW, I also think they have a final out now, but I do not have a link for that. This drat should be able to answer a few of your questions regarding fish checkers.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/selective/draft_2003_chinook_selective.pdf

Good luck,

NEN

That's a good link and makes me even more convinced WDFW has no clue what's going on out there. I was fish checked on the docks once in eight days and "surveyed" on the water once. The survey asks what resort are you out of and what dock are you moored at. The link explains what they use that info for. Then the rest of the time I saw the WDFW guys out trolling around with downriggers out fishing and not catching. Pretty crazy way to go about it but the link shows it's their plan. Where do I get that fishing job?

What area would you suggest going to up there? Is there a better spot over another? Thanks for the advice, and that was an interesting site!

I fished Freshwater Bay this Morning. We talked to the fisheries boat. Less than half the quota so far. Unless things really pick up we should see another 2 - 3 weeks. Maybe even get a short extension. Sekiu is good. There is fish everywhere. Lots of dogfish. Lots of native fish to pick thru.

let me get this straight.. they are doing thier job which means fishing will last longer and yoou are bitc..hing why???? shut up and fish and maybe they won't catch on.

Kingman: Between Mousolini and Slip point is good if the dog fish have moved out and the beach area after the caves is another favorite. If I don't hit them there normally I keep going but this year, for me, there's so many fish it's been better just to stay in the area and wait for them to come to me.

Starcraft: Yeah nothing like inaccuracy as long as you are benefiting.

I just got back from fishing Sekiu 7-12 thru 7-14. It was pretty slow. Out of Twenty boats on the 14th only two fish were checked at Coho Marina one being a small king and the other a silver. Olson's had 7 fish come in that same day out of about 20 boats. I did pick up a 35 lb. king the first day we were there but it had one too many fins so I had to let it go. We got six others but either all were unclipped or just shakers. The fish checker said if the fishing remained poor like it is now that the fishing would remain open through August. Neah bay is doing better if you have enough boat to get to Tatoosh or the open ocean. There are a bunch of silvers holding off the coast. I did catch a couple of big lings while doing some bottom fishing but alas, you can't keep them either in area 5. Actually I caught about 20 lings. It is becoming a healthy fishery for them again. We picked up one Halibut also. Just east of Slip point was producing the best king fishing with a few being picked up in front of the caves. Troll cut plug herring or a Coyote spoon in Wonder Bread pattern (#4). I picked up the 35 lber on the Coyote and actually out fished the herring with it. The fish were suspending in 50 feet to 140 feet of water anywhere from 40 feet to 80 feet down with about 50 to 60 feet being the most common. LOts of bait fish. Good luck.

Just got back from there. Only fished two days. Caught some nice kings and silvers but they all had too many fins.....

Pretty rough and windy for the most part...Fished close off the caves and the beaches in about 90-100 ft of water. Caught all of my fish on a silver flasher and army truck hootchie. Tried almost everything. The fishing was pretty slow though... ***BIG TIP***The best bite was near dark in front of Olsen's to the caves....The most keepers were caught there... Saved a guy and his son yesterday afternoon. They were a 12 ft Lund more suited for a lake than Seiku..Newer boat but older outboard.( no back-up engine).Couldn't get the motor started....I had to ask if he needed help as he got closer to the caves shoreline in heavy chop....Finally gave in and asked for a tow...

lol-- his son looked plenty relieved...Dad's pride could have been lethal..

Thanks for the advice, it should be a lot of fun up on the big ol' pond!

Thanks for the tip KingS. ! We tried rainbow coyotes and had no luck....I'll try the silver color next time..

just got back, saturday was decent, landed 2 kings jigging in a 100ft of water, released.

sunday morning was dead slow landed 2 native coho, got back in at 8 because it was so slow and the fish checker had yet to mark a fish

Fished saturday, 2 guy's 13 fish 4 kept. We had no problem finding fish.

Sorry for not getting back sooner on how we did, but it was a good 'ol time. Saturday we only fished the night bite and hooked into a 25 lbs. wild king. We had to throw that one back. It was a fight though, because it was foul hooked. That night we caught over 30 dogs. Sunday was much better day, we started off of Mouslini. It was slow! The search was then on. We got into some fish in about 210 feet of water just east of the area five line (Sekiu River). There it was a steady bite from 10am to 3pm., and no one was there. We hooked into 4 kings anywhere from 80 to 120 feet. We also got 4 silvers. Overall a very fun trip!