Seattle – Jeff Head Blackmouth Fishing Trip
We headed across the Sound at the break of dawn. The morning was calm, and the weather forecast looked good. Winter Blackmouth fishing has been very good. I was pretty excited to get out on Evan’s boat and enjoy a day of fishing.
The tide was going out in the morning. With a five foot exchange, I wondered whether we would see any concentration of bait on the south side of Jeff Head. Usually the bigger the tide the better fishing is. We started at the horseshoe on the south side. Although the bait was scarce, there were ample numbers of Blackmouth.
Ian went right for his old standby, a 4″ Tomic Plug. He was far more vigilant about keeping his setup near the bottom, and that extra effort paid off. I don’t think he had his gear in the water more than five minutes before hooking up the first Blackmouth of the day. A beautiful fish that we could take home.
Trolling for Blackmouth
The weak tide didn’t allow the bait to develop like it normally does. It did allow us to troll across and even a little into the tide without too much trouble. Evan captained the boat and covered the south and east side of Jeff Head, maintaining a troll path in the 100-140 foot depth range. I followed Ian’s lead and started working the gear as close to the bottom as possible. If I wasn’t dragging the downrigger ball, I was dropping the gear for a bottom check.
Great Day of Winter Salmon Fishing
We ended up catching quite a few fish today. We kept our limit of 3 hatchery fish. We also released two that were too close to the 22″ minimum size to be comfortable with, and released several nice wild fish. From what I observed, it seemed like there were quite a few boats that caught their fish today. One of those perfect winter days where the weather cooperated with us and do did the fish!
Happy New Year Winter Chinook Fishing
