whats funny about it? he would be charged to rent them anyways... im offering him one of mine for free, he gets his money back when i get the rod and reel back...

i thought i was being nice and trying to help... guess im not even good at that anymore...

yes, you were very nice for offering

But think for just a second (dont hurt yourself)

if you had enough money to fly in from the east coast and rent a helluva nice boat in seattle; would you make a special trip to a shady trailer park in parkland to put a deposit on "one" used fishing rod?

i dont live in Parkland, i would also have dropped the rod off to him in Seattle... he asked about renting gear... i thought about it, and said i would loan him a 200+ dollar setup for a deposit so i would have peace of mind knowing i would get my rod back...

i also would be willing to loan him my Sage 7100 and Lami 1298 that i just got back, with the Hardy reel if he would like to fly fish... for a deposit of course...

i loaned one of my "friends" 2 vintage Amassaduers and i never saw them again.... im not loaning someone i dont know anything, unless theres collateral... gotta look out for numero uno you know?

will you loan me your keyboard?


...for a deposit of course

Hmmm, someone's not feeling the love......

Gentlemen (I am assuming you are both male), relax - it is all good fun on here - and again, I appreciate the information provided.

Natron,
I might take you up on the offer to borrow your rod... no... ummm... equipment.... Nooo... a rod and reel setup. Yea - that sounds the best!

I am planning on bringing my 4 pc sage 5 wt. I do not however, have any conventional gear that I want to travel with. I do not believe that the boat has any downriggers, so I am going to be limited to trolling only the first few feet of the water column. I suspect that I will do mostly casting from a drifting /anchored boat or the dinghy. I am trying to find a 4 piece spincasting rod, as I have the appropriate reel for this type of fishing. I just do not have any 2 piece rods with the correct action. All mine are one piece. This trip is justifying the purchase of a 4 piece. Maybe....

I am certainly going to stock up on some spinners and order some buzz bombs (never herd of them until this post.)

What flies do you guys use? I am thinking that bright colored surf candies would work in size 2-2/0 - or other baitfish looking flies? And is it more important for salmon to "match the hatch" or is it to get the right color?

Whatever flies you bring, just make sure they have some chartreuse or pink on them. Clousers with stingers would be a good start as salmon will tend to short strke. I usually just cut the front hook off. Keep them about 3" long or so and add some flash. Surf Candies will work as well.
If you have a heavier rod then a 5, bring it.
7 or 8 would be preferrable for salmon, but a 6 wt with a fighting but will work in a pinch as well.
Have a good trip.
SF

I would think that there should be quite a few pinks up there by the time you are to be there, and they can be caught in shallow water (less than 10' deep). I have hooked them on a 3/8 oz jig head with a pink mini squid shortly after the splash, while anchored in 12' of water. I have also caught them while trolling for Chinook on the bottom in 120' of water.

I will add, that the reason that the the Killer Whales so often frequent the west side of San Juan Island is to feed, commonly on Salmonids, and once they pass the bite will be off, however if you can run ahead of them, for perhaps 6 miles you may have another chance until they pass again.

Do you like gladiator movies?

Ok Shilshole good choice thats the closest to the SJ's. just outside the locks.

first... this is going to sound strange but you got an extra spool for that fly outfit? if so load it with 6lb mono. buy some fresh herring when you get here... I don't remember the name of the little coffee shop there that sells it... it's been about 15 years since I did this trip with my ex and her dad on a 36 foot Tollycraft he didn't fish so no down riggers and I had to make up the rules as I went along. anyway back to the flyrod. with 6lb line and a troll of about 3.5 knots a 1/4 oz barrel sinker, or bullet if you have them followed by a tight spin plug cut fresh herring becomes a deadly coho killer for the smaller resident coho, the ocean fish (those that are on the return journey) will take it also but you will want to slow down a bit for them. and if you want to get down to humpy/pink land drift with the wind. although at first light I have caught even lingcod with my flyrod rigged this way. biggest fish ever for me on the flyrod (mines a 7 weight...maybe 8) was a 38 inch king that I had to let go (right after the season closed, in the time frame you will be here) caught on the edge of a dropoff in 30 feet of water that went down to 100' wait I'm telling stories again you need info...

so the rig is 6 lb main line, weight, red bead w/ big hole (to protect the knot) 2 ball bearing swivels, for line twist, 4 foot leader of about 10 lbs (for the teeth). the herring should beat like a spinner blade as it cuts the water for coho, and get slower for pinks and real slow for kings, the change in roll is about hook placement. the closer to the top of the herring the faster the beat.

Honestly I wouldn't fish with any other rig behind a boat that size, except maybe a small spoon if the humpys were thick. unless it was equipped with downriggers.

ok the trip you get here and you are on east coast time. so a 330 am to 430 am wake up is not that hard. leave the marina head north along the beach, about what a mile or so up you will hit the fishing fleet that time of year. stay to the shore side of them because they mostly have downriggers and don't want to mess with the flatliners, if you stay shallow and between them and the beach they will avoid you. look for bait zig zag if you get past the point without a fish I would be surprised, but that said the fish are likely to be on one side or the other. not both. fish as long as you want before heading up for me I would say Shilshole to Everett is your best chance for a salmon at that time of year. the whole shoreline is not productive many spots are better than others, but you can look up maps on the internet. Oh I usually fished 60-90 feet behind the boat. also that boat has a dingy I bet. the above mentioned king was in the 8' dingy while mom in law was making lunch. and I was rowing. I could maybe ride from Shilshole to Edmonds or Everett with you. and show you the stuff, but it's all on the internet if you look. and to me making it work was half the fun.

Good advice there for fishing from a large sport vessel w/o downriggers and just one fisherman. And while bait is a good recommendation you might also consider using one of the bait helmets to provide some longevity to your presentation and/or consider using some of the small spoons such as a Coho Killer.

An observation is that this is not going to be a cheap trip so why just make do on rod and reel? If you can squeeze in a stop at Outdoor Emporium buy a moderately priced and appropriate rod and reel (or bring the reel with you) for your needs and a few terminal tackle items. They are located near the sports arenas downtown, are well stocked and knowledgeable. You can check them out on line. When done with your trip take the reel and remaining tackle home and donate the rod.

Good on you for doing what will be a great adventure.

Read the charts and read them again. Then, have good electronics on and pay attention to them while underway. The San Juans are not open water and there are potentially plenty of places you need to be aware of as far as depth and currents, particularly in the boat you'll have.

As far as fishing, lower your expectations since you won't be familiar with the scene. Most people you will see will be trolling with something like 9 foot rods and 20-30 pound test off downriggers. As others have mentioned, there will be lots of silvers (coho) and humpies (pink) around that can be found higher up (although certainly not just the "first few feet of the water column"). Your realistic goal should be coho salmon and you are most likely to accomplish that trolling a cutplug herring behind a banana weight OR casting a medium spinning rod from the boat with a buzz bomb. Watch how people fish them. It is a sweeping or jigging motion for most and the buzz bomb must freefall on the drop. To me, this is not the place for your 4 or 5 weight flyrod. Yes, you could make it work with the mono suggestion above but, that said, you could take a tree branch with kite string and make that "work" too. Get yourself a 4 piece spinnning rod that can cast 12 pound test a long way. Buy some smaller buzz bombs, a few 4 and 6 ounce banana weights, a few dozen herring, learn how to cure and cutplug them, and then just enjoy the scenery. Crabbing should be easy. You can buy a crab ring that you can drop/pull off the boat for less than $20. Try wherever you stop but look for all the bays with the red/white buoys since those are all recreational crab pots. You can only keep males and they must be large enough.

The best thing you could do is buy a bottle of booze and be friendly to those around you when you are docked. Maybe someone will invite you out for the day and show you the ropes.

Good luck and have fun!

Your best chance for catching salmon will be way before you get to the San Juans. The west side of Whidbey Island will be chalked full of pinks. You will probably see them jumping at the surface if you are near land. Kill the engine and cast buzz bombs at them. In my experience with casting buzz bombs, pinks only hit as the BB is dropping, so definitely jig it in and be ready for light bites. If you decided to troll for pinks, you MUST troll slow. 2.5 knots, tops. Once in the Islands you will find more pinks on the west side of San Juan Island and they like to accumulate around Turn Point on Stuart Island.

There will be Chinook around. Without downriggers you will likely only catch them jigging. If you PM, I'll let you know where, let me know where you will be mooring.

I've personally never caught coho in the Islands but I know many are taken off the west side of San Juan Island. If you go this route, use a deep six, a flasher/dodger, and a coho killer w/scent. Target 3-3.5 knots and fish the tide rips.

Good luck and enjoy the scenery.

Another thing you'll want to do is watch www.orcanetwork.org's recent sitings page just prior to heading out to see where the orcas were/are. Your chances are good since it's a humpy year and August also sounds good as the orcas will be following the humpy's...
Might that boat possibly already have some gear? If it get's rented, I'd be surprised if it doesn't already have at least a crab ring/old rod with a Penn reel....You might call the place you are renting from, and ask/see if he could scrounge up a functional old salmon rod. You could also hit up any pawnshop in Ballard/Second Wave and get a nice used rod cheap. I"m surprised nobody mentioned a diver(Deep Six)....Cheap way to get your gear down, I caught all my salmon as a kid on a Deep Six/Herring. It's also the method I've seen employed by the Coast Guard off the big boat...Ha.
Good luck....You do also have to realize that there's lots of people on San Juan that "just came out for a week 20 yrs ago".....You're gonna love it....Tom

Thanks for the CG comment; made me recall my uncle's stories about fishing out a porthole on the lightship Columbia - and trying to get salmon up the side and into the porthole.

As you have no doubt figured out, salt water fishing for salmon around here is a highly specialized endeavor. The forecasts are pretty good however. Pinks will be your most likely catch. Pinks aren't real good to eat, but they can be OK on the Barbee. When you catch one, cut the gills and bleed it right away, then put it on ice and fillet it when you are ready. Pinks spoil faster than other salmon. This is the forecast.



Puget Sound: Another strong run of coho salmon will boost fisheries in Puget Sound, where millions of pink salmon also are expected to return this year.

About 880,000 coho are forecast to return to Puget Sound streams, about 150,000 more fish than last year’s forecast. “Fishing for coho was really good last season, and we expect much of the same this summer,” said Ryan Lothrop, Puget Sound recreational salmon fishery manager for WDFW.

In addition, more than 6 million pink salmon are expected back to the Sound this year. Most pink salmon return to Washington’s waters only in odd-numbered years.

“It’s a pink year, which is a great time to introduce a friend or family member – especially children – to salmon fishing,” said Lothrop. “Fishing this summer should be similar to 2011, when anglers were catching limits of pink salmon throughout the Sound and its rivers.”

Summer/fall chinook salmon returns to Puget Sound are expected to total about 264,000 fish, similar to the last few years. Most chinook fisheries in Puget Sound, where the bulk of the return is hatchery chinook, will be similar to last year, Lothrop said.

Hey Larry, I just got a pic on opening day of ocean Halibut of the cutter out of Neah with 2 guys on back halibut fishing.....Funny thing was there's not a boat in the pic, but you look to the west, and there was 100's.....we all laughed and wondered if they had some intel we didn't have....Ha. Center of C-closure if I recall correctly.....Tom

Hey Larry, I just got a pic on opening day of ocean Halibut of the cutter out of Neah with 2 guys on back halibut fishing.....Funny thing was there's not a boat in the pic, but you look to the west, and there was 100's.....we all laughed and wondered if they had some intel we didn't have....Ha. Center of C-closure if I recall correctly.....Tom

1st thing you need to do is extend the trip for another week if at all possible. The single worst thing about the SJs is leaving them.
One of the biggest kings salmon I have seen from the Sound was caught off the west side of San Juan from a sail boat. My buddy and his wife were waiting for a pod of Orca to show up and he was just killing time. It was just under 40 lbs and hit a funky chicken spoon behind a flasher. He DID NOT have down riggers on the boat. You can cheat by hanging a large cannon ball sinker off of a downrigger release and attatch the release to your line about 30 to 50' in front of your flasher. (AKA poor mans downrigger) When you hook a fish just reel in until you or your wife can pull the release off of your line and then continue to fight the fish into the boat without the weight on your line. Depending on the release and the rod and line you are using you can go up to a couple of lbs of weight and get fairly deep. If you get out early and find bait on the surface you don't need to be deep at all for Kings (10 to 35' the first hour of light) . Be sure they are leagle if your going to keep one. Another very affective option is what we call mooching and motor mooching bait. Youtube it. That will work from the surface down to a couple of hundred feet depending on drift speed and weights used.

Here's a link to the orca network website.

http://shop.orcanetwork.org/