We would like to take our small RV out to Neah Bay for a few days in June and try casting from the breakwater for rockfish and salmon. (I see in the regs that for salmon, we would probably have to wait until July to fish those).

I'm pretty sure some of you guys have cast from that jetty and I would appreciate your suggestions as to the best month and jigs, etc. to use.

We fish the beaches on Whidbey Island for salmon with buzz bombs and rotators and would also take plenty of jig heads with plastic curley-tails to toss to the rockfish and lingcod.

We would likely be able to go out there for a week in June or July.

Doug
in Anacortes

The Breakwater to Waddah is surrounded by kelp in summer that casting for salmon from it would be impractical. Rockfish as well as lings and cabs can be caught out of said kelp however. Lots of juvenile lings but it's realistic to expect to catch a couple of 22"+ on a high tide. Swimbaits that are heavy enough to fall through the kelp would work. Heavy braid to get the fish and your lure out of the kelp my be necessary too.

make sure to check and see if you need tribal license to fish from jetty

I fished off of that jetty once as a kid. As I recall we fished at night and were targeting black rockfish by casting and retrieving on the surface and yarding any hooked fish to the riprap before they could get down into the kelp. No way is that going to be a sporting proposition unless it is to bet who loses the least gear.

Unlike Jaydee I would suggest lightly weighted swimbaits, weedless hooks and braid on a rod capable of handling that type of fishing.

Good luck on lings out of the pockets.....

I spoke with Makah fisheries personal last summer to find out if it was true that the Makah tribe is no longer selling licenses to fish from shore on tribal land, they said yes that is true, rumors of "coolers full of perch' were reported, I told him that in all the years of fishing there I never saw that. He wasn't impressed, my opinion is that like the Quinalt tribe they are restricting access to tribal lands for pure payback for imagined slights recently, another theory floated by someone I spoke to is that they wish to "impress Washington" (the feds) with non-cooperation. Just my two cent, but I fished off that jetty for years, springtime the kelp wasn't as bad as later in the season. Westport jetty is a better jetty for what it's worth. Bob R

So what you are saying is that:

1. A license is required to fish from shore, and

2. They aren't selling any licenses.

Unfortunately that is indeed the case. Talk about catch 22! I would try calling the tribe to see if things have changed this year, express your disappointment if it hasn't, try telling them how many tourist dollars they are losing. Bob R

....or just fish from the jetty without a tribal license. If they don't want to sell you one, they can't expect you to buy one....

Wait...how would enforcement work? A ticket would be pointless because it is on tribal lands...does the state have jurisdiction? Feds? Otherwise...you wouldn't have to appear in court as non tribal resident right? Just curious. I mean, could they leave the reservation, come to your house and take your rod and fish like wdfw would? I'm not saying I'm for or against the license suspension by the tribe...I just want to know what they could do if you fished off the jetty.

Don't bother
Take a small boat or rent a Kayak and fish out of Snow Creek next to the rez. The rez has a few cool places to see but the jetty IS NOT one of them. I have been hitting Neah bay almost every year for the last 30 years for multiple weeks per year and have never seen anyone on the Jetty/breakwater. It would be one hell of a hike to get out to the Island and hard to move once you got on it. The outside edge of the Kelp can be fun for rockfish, Ling and salmon at times on the protected east side of the island and is easy to get to on lake like water much of the time but watch out for boat wakes. The water is almost always nice near shore by Snow Creek. A lot of people are starting to launch kayaks off the beaches on the ocean side of the rez and do well on flat water days.

Snow Creek. Rent a kicker boat like said above.Good luck,



SZ

Actually, I think they could confiscate your gear and write you a citation. I was reading about a case on Lake Roosevelt where the Colville tribal cop did just that to a couple fishing an area previously in dispute but for which there was a Court determination that it is not under tribal jurisdiction. Took over a year and when they showed up in TRIBAL COURT the case was dropped. They then had to travel a long distance to where their confiscated gear was located in order to retrieve it.

Those folks are seriously bipolar when it comes to outsiders. Want the money but don't want the visitors. And the tribal museum was built with a Federal economic development grant of some sort. Wonder if they require visitors to buy a tribal permit to park at the museum (just musing).

Hey, you guys, thanks for the quick replies.

We'll be sure and check out the situation for shore fishing with the tribal office before we go out there.

We are also interested in trying swimbaits for halibut in the surf. There is another RV park a couple of miles west of Neah Bay and the beach there looks promising... at least with the satellite view... Should be a lot of perch out there, too.

If nothing else, I can use my Super Fat Cat to fish alongside the jetty.

Doug
in Anacortes

Doug,

It has been many years since I fished off the jetty at Neah Bay, which I did at night tossing leadhead jigs about one ounce with a six inch black curl worm. I had been fishing and catching black rockfish for an hour or so when a couple of tribal police came out an told me I should have a tribal fishing license. They did not cite me, but I did stop fishing and kept the fish I had caught.

The Makahs seem to be less friendly than they were back then so I would be sure to contact them about fishing on tribal land.

There is a campground and rental cabins at Makah Bahy at least there was about five years ago. I don't know about fishing from shore but there was a posting on PP awhile a about some kayakers that caught halibut where they launched from the beach at Makah Bay. Last time I was there there was a tribal entrance fee.

If you can work it out the fishing for rockfish,lings, halibut depending on the seasons, fishing can be really good.

If it seems to be a problem, Snow Creek might be an alternative,but the bottom fishing might not be as producrive from Waada Island and further out.

You can PM me foe some areas that for some from are but I think you would need a boat to reach most of them.

MISINFORMED & UNTRUE. Non tribal fishing permits are still being sold. I have enjoyed fishing out there for about a dozen years, therefore I felt it pertinent to take the high road and make a call to Makah Fisheries this morning. Very friendly people over there that had all the answers.

The gal at Fisheries explained that they have and will continue to sell licenses as always, and that there was a problem with the printers for the 2014 licenses (none available for January). Fisheries was issuing licenses (I guess scratch out the 2013 & write in 2014? lol), but Washburns was not issuing licenses until they got in the new batch. So if you were out there in January, I could see how you might think they're not issuing em.

It took me longer to type this up than to find a phone number, make the call, and get an answer.

I spoke personally with tribal staff at the tribal center and was connected with staff from fisheries when I asked why licenses were not available. If they are now available it's a change from last year. I wouldn't think that thyey would misinform me concerning that, I was on the phone with them for a good 10 minutes.Thanks for clarification, I'm personally glad you made that call, I enjoy fishing up there, the perch fishing is very good around Makah Bay. Bob R