Caught first ferry out of Mukilteo and headed for Fort Casey to fish for Coho. Was on beach and fishing by 7:15AM... about 20 to 25 fishermen already with lines in the water. Huge treat, as about 7:30 I heard the loud exhale of whales and scanned the horizon for plumes of spray... spotted several Orcas passing by about 300 to 400 yards out... looked like a couple adults and a calf... maybe more? Later saw a huge Sea Lion saunter by.
Was casting a chartreuse Rotator... about 7:45, Wham!! fish on... a valiant fight, won by me... and I beached a brilliant silver, just shy of 6#. A couple of hits on succeeding casts, then Bam! fish on again... a long run, two tail walking jumps... then slack... I reeled in my line, sans Rotator... in my excitement to get back to fishing, I had neglected to check the leader after first catch... leader had been frayed by first fish and I paid the ultimate price... rookie mistake!... my bad. Tied on a new leader... and first cast... Wham, Bam!... big silver came out of water twice, threw my lure... two cranks of the reel and he was back on... another jump and he was free again... a couple cranks and he was back on.. could see on the last grab, he had the Rotator crossways in his mouth and the hook never made contact... he finally escaped, leaving me laughing ecstatically... I had seen Silvers do that type of thing in the ocean with herring, but never with a lure... priceless!!
About 8:30, had another hookup, Silver jumped three times and came unbuttoned. Had perhaps a half dozen hits in the first couple hours. Saw about a dozen fish caught in the first two hours, but by 9:30 the bite was over and most fishermen were vacating the beach.
The tide changed about 10:00 and a strong current developed out front a while later. I took the opportunity to change up to a herring under a float... had never fished in this way... sooo... third cast and, bobber down... and into a fish... big fish! After about 10 minutes I had the fish to the beach and immediately saw that it had way too many spots on its back... a beautiful wild hen Chinook of about 12#. After a brief photo op session, began the resuscitation process and she slowly swam back out to sea. Took five minutes to stop shaking!
Saw one more Silver caught about noon, by a young boy who had come to the beach with his brother and father, fishing a herring under a float, his first ever salmon... the expression on his face was worth a million dollars! No more fish the rest of the day... once the sun gets high, the fish go deep and leave the beach area. Need some rain!
This day is what fishing is all about! How does one adequately describe the feeling, the emotions, the sheer joy of such an incredible day. It was totally joyful! Left the beach at 3:30, took home one beautiful Coho salmon and a lifetime of memories! PTL!

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