Area 11 - north Vashon

Fished Saturday 7:30-10:30 at Dolphin Pt. and 10:30-12:00 at Southworth. Trolling hoochies and spoons from 55’ down to 150’ on the wire. It was a beautiful morning, but no joy either place. Not much bait at Dolphin but a few fish marked. Better bait south of Southworth and we had one solid takedown that only stayed on for 15-20 seconds on the Coyote green/white spoon at 65’. The fish checker at Don Armini said no salmon had been brought in when we left at 12:30 pm and he said only four salmon had been checked at the ramp since the season opened. I’m still fairly new to the area. Anybody have any better luck or advice. I tend to troll the contours and I’m always surprised when I see people out fishing in 250’+ of water – for the folks fishing out deep, are you still fishing the top 100’ of water? Mid-morning, I saw a couple boats peel off of Dolphin and head south (maybe to Three Tree?). Are there any better reports farther south in Area 11?

There aren't a lot of fish around and not much bait either. I fished Dolphin and Beals one evening last week. Beals was a ghost town but I did mark a few fish at Dolphin. I haven't fished those areas in the past but thought I'd take a look.

I fished two mornings opening week. I got one decent fish (#12) and had two long range releases on nice fish. Every fish has been hooked in 90-125', using a needle fish spoon, on the bottom. I'm fishing some shorelines away from the crowds, in the Pt Robinson area.

I personally fish the bottom most of the season and I use spoons almost exclusively. Your green/glow (3.5) is one of my favorites,right behind the needlefish spoon. My only advice is to trust your electronics. Put your gear where you mark fish- even if it's 220' down. If I see marks on the graph that look good, I put my gear through them and run figure eights over the spot until they either disappear or I catch em'.
Keep at it, it's going to get better next month.

I had a monster take me to town 2 years ago at Southworth in June and it unbuttoned 10 feet from the boat.Around 5 years ago there was a 38 pounder caught in June by a guide that uses this site, but I forget his name. As a rule you bang the bottom, but last year at Sekiu they were in 250 feet of water 150 down. Go figure. The good news is your fishing the right spot for Kings because there aint no where else.

Fished Sunday morning (June 21st) from 5:45-8:45 am at Southworth then Dolphin. No salmon either place. I focused on mooching at both places (in 90-150' of water) and did a little trolling (green flasher and coyote from 65'-150' on the downrigger). I didn't mark much bait at either location and his some dogfish on the herring at both places. Headed back to Seattle as the chop came up. There were a handful of boats at both places and there wasn't any fish checker at Don Armini. Sorry I don't have a better report, but I want to keep the info flowing in case anyone else has something to report.

I'm still fairly new to the area, so I don't understand the tides well. At Dolphin, I was fishing a moderate incoming tide, but everyone seemed to be fishing NORTH of Dolphin Pt. (I was assuming that the incoming tide would push bait past and around the SOUTH side of the point). Can anyone recommend their preferred tides at each location and if there are times/tides where you see concentrations of bait?

I think the reason there's no fish checker is there's nothing to check! I've launched my boat at Redondo and haven't seen a checker there either. Tacoma seems to be the only place they're checking.
I saw a FB post this morning for Pete ( if you launch at W sea you know who I'm talking about) that said the fisheries test boat is struggling to find fish. There's some really good fisherman on that boat and they spend a lot of time I the water.

I think you're probably doing things right, it's just a tad slow at the moment. I'm new to the area as well and just trying to learn a little so that I'm ready when the fish start showing up in decent numbers. I'll post results when I get out this week.

I am waiting until August, I have fished there my whole life and that seems to be the right time. That was before they closed area 10 and limited 9, so I will get out there earlier.

Joe

Fished Dolphin Pt and Three Trees Saturday morning. Fished the Clay Banks at Pt. Defiance Sunday morning. Ended up with one coho (!)

Saturday fished 5:30-10:30 am trolling at Dolphin Pt. Spent quite a bit of time with a plug, then rotated between a tailwagger spoon and an ace high fly. No hits. Didn’t see anything caught. After the tide change, I ran down to Three Tree mooching which is where I picked up the coho. Not what I was expecting, but tasted great on the bar-b-que.

Sunday fished 5:30-9:30 mooching at Pt. Defiance. A few dog fish but nothing else. I saw at least two fish on – it was the same guy who lost one trolling to a seal and then jigged up a native.

The fish checkers at both locations hadn’t seen any fish come in by the time I left each day. Beautiful mornings on the water both places, but not a lot of action yet.

Thanks for the report.
What size was the coho?
SF

The coho was a regular resident-type. Around 3 lbs / 17-18". Delicious!

I have made 5 trips, have one blackmouth to show for it---usually Camp Sealth or Point D. The east side of Vashon (Beals, Pt Robinson) does not get decent until about July 20. Friend Dave has gotten 2 kings over 25# in
MA13, and a few in 11, but he's working hard for them, and he's really good. Last year was slow, this year in MA 11 is dismal. Marking VERy little bait. Even the meatliners are whining about how few fish there are around Point Defiance and Point Dalco.