Woke the family at 3:00 a.m. for opening day of the Inner Elliot Bay fishery. Dropped crab pots at 4:15 a.m. off of Alki and had lines in the water near Salty's by 4:30. We were trolling off our downriggers between 55 - 85 ft using e-chip flashers, hoochies, and coho killers. Looking for the early returning kings to Duwamish, along with a bunch of other boats. Although it looked promising on the fish finder with bait and big fish plentiful, we saw very few nets being used. At about 7:00, we motored up to Jeff Head where we went hunting for Coho. Caught about 6 sub-legal blackmouth that were released to grow. Came back and checked crab pots at 11:00, and found 6 beautiful male Dungeness keepers. I love how when the salmon let you down, the crabs can provide a great alternative feast. Excellent weather, and only minimal complaints from the family made this a very good day on the water. A couple of kings in the cooler would have made it fantastic.

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