Let's just say I'll never miss another Island opener. We were done by 0557hrs...

For pics and the full report, hit the Ol' blogerino

We will be covering the salmon and crab openers in full detail on Saturday so stay tuned and... Get thee to the 'Juans!!!

Doesn't get much better than that Tom. Great pics of the fish and scenery. Nothing like it in my opinion. Congrats.

my guess is that no one else will in the future either

Killin' me!!!!

Nice. I met Jay this year at the derby. He's friends with a coworker. Nice guy.

"riggers an cutplugs" they no whats up

'Riggers and cut plugs...yeah, but only if you've got good bait...

I'll be back up there next week but you've got to tune in on Saturday to find out exactly where we were.... and where we're goin...
Sorry, Tobeck made me do it...

FYI... Day two in the Islands was solid as a rock for hatchery chinook and a few nates!!!

Up a little late TJN. Don't get behind on your sleep while trying to make reports when you 've got a show to be sharp for in a day.

There's TOO MUCH TO DO IN JULY...to bother sleeping.
I just got up and now I'm headed down to pull the crab gear after an overnight soak with fresh salmon carcasses.... wish me luck!!!!

great report TJN. Looks like that is were I should be fishin next weekend.

Any word from the west side of San Juan Island?

There are no fish on the west side of San Jaun Island....ever....


TJN, I already went down and took care of your crab pots for ya. Don't worry, your crab are in good hands.

You could have re-baited them at least!!!
Somebody left me an empty Kokanee bottle in one of my pots...
Addicted, if I find Canadian beer in your fridge...
The least you can do is tune in tomorrow....

Here is my report:

I was excited to get out on Friday, especially after hearing the amazing reports from the 1st and 2nd. We got out to our spot by about 6AM on Friday and fished for hours with 30+ other boats. The fishing pressure was very high. We saw no fish caught around us although, in talking with nearby boats, I guess a few were caught. Of the few that were caught, I only heard of one over 20. My buddy was at a nearby spot and reported nearly the same thing. It was a serious case of "you should have been here yesterday".

I was on the water before 5 this morning and found only about 25% of the boats as yesterday... didn't see anyone catch anything. I did have a huge grab this morning about 9 AM on a dart after finding a baitball being attacked. I broke my leader on the hookset. All I know is that it was a heavy fish. Still hurts.

I'm sure there were fish caught out there the last couple of days but, unfortunately for me and a lot of others, it wasn't happening like it had been the 2 days before. We found plenty of bait and marked a lot of fish but it just wasn't happening. Hopefully, that switch turns back on soon.

Kaiser D, nice to see you on the water. I agree it was scratchy on Friday. We caught 5 but 3 were borderline sublegal and we only kept two that were blackmouth sized keepers. We hit the change today on SLAYRIDE before the 4th of july parade and found this pretty gal. Overall WAY less boats today but we also moved down a bit so thats a bit subjective. What a FRIGGIN GONG SHOW friday was. Did you see the 4 boat tangle fak by the point? I actually thought 2 of the boats were going to end up on the rocks! It was comical. Tide was rippin but there were a few more fish showing today. Note Floyd with the triple OG look in his eyes.

Yeah, Friday and Saturday were tough up there...the dogfish were pretty brutal, and we weren't even fishing with bait. Were the dogfish in there that thick on Wednesday and Thursday? I'm trying to figure out why all those fish left...

Fish on...

Todd

Todd, as you know tides play a critical role in saltwater fishing. The tides have been strong in several key areas and basically have made some areas only marginally fishable except for when the current slows and the tide changes direction. Its often difficult to leave a known producer but you need to keep on searching for areas that offer a respite from the current. The fish have all had full bellies so they are actively feeding. Find the bait with fish intermingled and you will have a good shot at getting a fish. i like to look for a line of bait 5-10 feet off the bottom. My guess is these are needlefish and the salmon are underneath working them out of the dirt. The fish are still here. They just moved around a bit. Carol got her biggest to date today, a beauty white clipped fish.

Very nice, A-Dog...you've definitely got it going on...we fished all damned day, so we definitely hit all the various tide situations, we just couldn't find any fish while doing it.

We did hit a different spot completely out of the way and off the radar, and immediately found some surface bait balls being hit from the top and the bottom, and Kaiser broke a fish off on the hookset that seemed to be a worthwhile adversary...other than that, it was a good couple days for boat rides

Fish on...

Todd

What an idiot. I didn't even realize you were with K to the D. Ive been running your sickle siwash on my killers. Im really impressed. I need to make an order....Do you do the online thing?