I was out on the U.S. side of Swiftsure on Friday and Sat. Friday we could only fish for salmon but Sat. was one of our 4-5 halibut days. Friday we trolled for about 8 hours. 3 rods total. About 2/3 of the time we trolled tomic plugs at depths ranging from 250' on the cable to 120'. Most of the bait/fish I saw on the finder was around 150-220 but I didn't see near as many fish as I do later in the year. We only picked up 4 shaker chinook the entire day (all of which we gently returned). Sat. the current was pretty high most of the day so we trolled for salmon for a bit of the day and worked hali the rest. Sat. I came up empty but we got out late and quite pretty early. The fish counters at Neah Bay only saw a few salmon for probably around 200-300 boats (however, most guys didn't fish for salmon and instead focussed on bottom fish). I spent enough time on salmon at Swiftsure to get a strong sense that the fish really aren't there yet.
I spent part of Thurs at U.S. Blue Dot. We picked up two small hali out there. The surface water temp was a little over 60F and the water was very clear. I haven't seen water temps that high this early in the season ever so perhaps we'll see those albies a bit early this year.
I spent part of Thurs at U.S. Blue Dot. We picked up two small hali out there. The surface water temp was a little over 60F and the water was very clear. I haven't seen water temps that high this early in the season ever so perhaps we'll see those albies a bit early this year.
