THE BLACKMOUTH FISHERY isn’t only a Port Angeles party any more.

Sequim has shown up fashionably late.

“Blackmouth has turned on really good outside Protection Island,” Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Goods and More (360-683-1950) in Sequim said.

“It’s probably the best it’s ever been.”

This is a bit of a surprise after the waters near Sequim have been, as Menkal said, “absolutely dead all season.”

Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) was only recently invited to the blackmouth party (the season opened last week), and so far is off to a nice start.

“Salmon fishing is pretty good in the eastern side [of Area 9] — Possession Bar and Bush Point — if you use the right techniques,” Ward Norden, a fishing tackle wholesaler and former fishery biologist, said in an email.

“All the blackmouth are gorging on candlefish, that oily baitfish that lives on or in the sand, plus these predators are ignoring the herring.

“The anglers are ‘dredging the bottom’ with their down-rigger balls and running plugs deep.

“Other candlefish imitations such as Coho Killer Spoons or needlefish-style trolling squids will also work well, but it is harder to keep them from hanging up on the bottom, unlike plugs such as Silver Hordes or Pogues that float.”

Norden added that deep trolling is a common tactic for this time of year, and sometimes anglers must drop their gear down 150 to 200 feet to find success.

Another technique to try is jigging.

“When the blackmouth are feasting on candlefish in the Port Townsend area, the other popular method to get them is with larger-sized Point Wilson Dart jigs (4-6 ounces) jigged right on the bottom to imitate those candlefish,” Norden said.

“If you do want to try jigging, any of the non-stretching braided lines like Power Pro, dacron and several others really make this fishing easier and more effective.

“In the PT area, this jigging has to be done on slack tides, of course.”

Blackmouth in the harbor .... http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014301249997