Black bass rockfish off Tatoosh Island, NW corner of the lower 48 US

[Okanagan]

A friend invited me to fish with him and another fellow, plus another boat with two friends in it.  Two boats for safety in what can be sketchy waters.  The plan was to drive out to Neah Bay, fish Tuesday, stay overnight and fish Wed. to get two limits, the most allowed in possession.

We started fishing about 9:00 am, and I hooked a fish on my first drop before the jig hit bottom.  We started about ¾ mile off shore on a reef that stuck up to 60 foot depth in water generally 250 feet deep.  Very good and fast catching, water rough enough that it was hard for us old codgers to ever stand, land fish and sometimes to keep from falling out of the boat.  We were in a 20 foot Grady White Trophy, very nice boat with an enclosed cabin under the foredeck and a canvass and plastic wind screen around the cockpit. Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island in pic below.



Wind and current was strong enough to drift us at 3 mph so we didn't stay on good reefs very long, kept making short runs upwind, drift over the good spot and re-do, usually catching one or two fish per drift. 

Mostly we caught what locals call black sea bass, a scrappy aggressive fish that looks quite a bit like small mouth bass and is very good eating.  The limit on those is seven apiece so we caught 21, large ones averaging four or five pounds each with some big ones well over 6.  Very rough water, some rain, spay, hard to do anything and I took no pics. Pic of the smallish bass above is swiped.  Bedsides the fish and hook cuts on my fingers, my knees and legs are bruised from trying to brace on the side of the boat and getting banged around.  I fish jigs much better when standing so would brace on the cuddy cabin to stay upright.

I caught one small Coho salmon that hit my jig as I reeled it in quickly, and two smallish medium ling cod, also very good eating.  Two per person is the limit on ling.  We released the salmon. 

Somewhat foggy on Wed. morning and my friend who does not have much saltwater boating experience didn't want to go out.  The other boat went out fishing and we headed home.  We had brought along a small chest freezer, extension cord and a vacuum sealing outfit, so froze our filleted fish at the cabin we rented for the night and took them home in the freezer. 

[Hawks Feather]

As much as I enjoy fishing, I don't like getting beat up doing it.  So, I am glad it was you and not me.

[nastygunz]

 That definitely looks like Rockfish country .

[Okanagan]

As much as I enjoy fishing, I don't like getting beat up doing it.  So, I am glad it was you and not me.

As long as we stayed seated we were fine, other than when one of my partners fell down trying to put a fish he'd caught in our fish box.  It would have been OK for trolling, but the boat rolls and pitches a lot more when just drifting, plus like I said, I fish jigs better and catch more fish on them when I'm standing so was a glutton for punishment compared to the other two fellows.  I sat down about a third of the time.  There is good halibut fishing in that area when halibut opens, and I hope to go back then.   

[Hawks Feather]

I have fished Lake Erie which is shallow and the winds pick up quickly. I have been there several times when it was not fun and hope not to do it again. But with Lake Erie you never know what will happen.

[JohnP]

Yeah, what Jerry said.  I too have fished Lake Erie and it wasn't always an enjoyable trip.