Family fishing days are the best fishing days. My mom and dad joined me for a morning on Puget Sound for a little salmon fishing and crab pot soaking!
We launched the boat at Seattle’s Eddie Vine Boat Launch near Shilshole. Salmon fishing has been pretty good. Crabbing for us has been hit and miss. But we wanted to get the full experience so planned on doing both.
We cruised down to the east side of Bainbridge Island to drop a couple crab pots. Typically, I use salmon carcasses for crabbing. But in the spirit of not having a freezer full of bait, and last week’s Port Townsend trip, I was a little light. I did find a gallon bag of Albacore Tuna trimmings, a bag of squid, and some herring heads left over from previous salmon mooching trips. We dropped pots in 75′ to 100′. The tides were light so we felt like we had a good shot at Dungeness Crab dinner. But I didn’t expect crabbing to be as good as it was.
Salmon Trolling at Jeff Head in Marine Area 10
We ran up to the south side of Jeff Head and started the troll. One of our rigs was a Gibbs Bonchovy Flasher with a Gold Star Purple Haze White Squid with a herring strip. The other rig was a Gibbs Green Glow/Moon Jelly Flasher with a 3″ Silver Horde Cookies and Cream Kingfisher Spoon. We ran the downrigger gear down to 150′-200′. The Coho action was pretty fast paced and we picked up our limit of six within two hours. We also ran a surface rod with a mooching sinker and cut plug herring. Ran 30′ out in the prop wash and it picked up two of our keepers!
Jeff Head Yellowtail Rockfish
We were also surprised with a few Yellowtail Rockfish caught on the troll. This species has been all but extinct in Puget Sound. I have heard reports from several friends that they have moved back into the area. So good to see them rebound.
Bainbridge Island Crabbing
After picking up our salmon, we headed back to Bainbridge Island near Skiff Point to see what had crawled into our crab pots. We found a solid haul! 13 legal sized hard-shell Dungeness Crab to take home. The best haul in Marine Area 10 so far this season!
Awesome trip with the folks!
Albacore Tuna Blood Bath in Westport
