Quick Coho Salmon Limit at Jeff Head

Well, the boat was already hooked up to the truck so I figured I’d head out for an hour or two. I headed out to Jeff Head on a solo mission. These summer days are getting a little shorter each day, so getting in on the tail end of the salmon season seemed like a good idea. Make hay while the sun is shining, as the farmers say.

I launched at Shilshole’s Eddie Vine Boat Ramp at 6am, and zipped over to the eastern edge of Jeff Head. It looked like the fleet was in full force up on the north end closer to President’s Point, but I was looking for a quiet morning with my boat dog Miles. Also, I figured I would lose fewer friends if I wasn’t trying to net my own salmon around a crowd. When I started, the closest boat was a mile away. Perfect!

Trolling Cut Plug Herring for Coho

I brought out a dozen brined herring. I love fishing with no flashers, if I can get away with it. And early mornings on the Sound during Coho Season is a perfect time for this. I put one out behind a 4 ounce mooching sinker, 24′ back, right in the prop wash to start.

Well, I turned around to steer the boat and heard the welcoming sound of the reel clicker zinging! I scooped a nice little six pound Coho! The rod went back out with a fresh cut plug and it took all of ten more minutes of trolling to hook up the second Coho of the morning! This one was around four pounds, and I decided to toss it back. After all, I needed to get more than twenty minutes of fishing in before heading over to check out my crab pots. I did get one more grab on the surface rod, before the bite seemed to die off. So I gave up and sent a cut plug down to 40′ on the downrigger. It was another ten minutes before hooking up, fighting and landing my third fish. I put the kicker in neutral and that Coho was on fire! It was on the surface during the entire fight, and ran straight towards me, leaving a vee-wake on the surface for fifty feet! I scooped it after a really fun fight! It was big enough, so I kept it for a solo limit!

Such a beautiful morning on the Puget Sound accompanied by great fishing! My overnight crab pot soak did not end as well as Coho fishing but I managed to bring one large Dungeness Crab home.