I thought about rating this a two, but due to the amount of effort we put in, I'm calling it a 1 star since we didn't come home with anything.
It all began with my wife wanting to take our 12' aluminum boat to Mukilteo and drop some crab pots on Sunday, so the original plan was for my 7yo daughter and I to get up early and go start that process as the weather looked to be decent. I thought we could fish for Pinks from the boat just off shore while waiting for the rest of the family to show (daughter's first trip fishing for Pinks), so spent a couple hours Saturday getting all the gear ready and loaded for an early Sunday departure. About 11:30 Saturday night I started wondering why I hadn't seen any Pink reports coming out of MA 8-2. I looked at the regs and got my answer. Salmon doesn't open there until Thursday. Darn....and my daughter was excited about going fishing. At least I looked at the regs. Now what? Fretted about it for a while and after my wife got home from work at 1:30am I decided that I was changing the plan. I'd get my daughter up a little earlier and we'd go fish in MA 11 for a couple hours then come pick up the truck/boat and head up to MA 8-2 to crab. And, no, crabbing in MA 11 wasn't much of an option as I need a hand launch area that I can park relatively close to and isn't too far from where we're going to drop pots. I haven't found any place besides Mukilteo that is conducive to that. Open to suggestions though. :)
Anyhow, reset the coffee pot for 4am.
I think I got about three hours of sleep. However, my daughter was more than happy to go fishing at 4am when I woke her up which solidified my plan.
We got to the beach at 5:10am. The parking area was mostly full, so thought it would be crowded, but it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Tide was on it's way in.
Set up shop and gave my daughter a tutorial on how to fish. There was learning curve and had to deal with a few rats nests before she started to get the hang of it, but pretty soon she was doing a pretty good job of winging her Buzz Bomb more or less in the direction of the water. People started trickling in and lining up. Everyone was pretty considerate of my daughter and her casting needs, so gave her a little space with the exception of one rude dude towards the end who pretty much waded out in front of her and cut off her casting area. Other than that, I was appreciative of the kind folks fishing near us. Didn’t see the first fish caught until 6:30. That was it until about 6:55 when the guy on our right landed one (that's when the rude guy horned in). I decided to extend the 7am departure time, to see if the bite was picking up. Between 7:15 and 7:30 the three guys on our left each hooked a fish. Only one was landed. I thought things we might see some action. Still hadn’t had as much as a tap though. Saw a couple more landed down the beach, but by 7:55 I was thinking we should get moving if we were going to drop crab pots. About that time the guy next to us hooked up and asked my daughter if she wanted reel it in, it was only a sculpin, but a good sized one and she seemed to enjoy the opportunity. So, thanks to that guy for the kind gesture. Reluctantly left and hit the road at 8am. There beach was pretty full when we left.
Took some time to turn around at home, so got to Mukilteo at 10am.....windy. Waves were not conducive to crabbing from a 12’ aluminum boat. My daughter was disappointed. I was frustrated. Hung out for a half hour wondering if the wind would calm.....no. Finally bagged the idea and drove back to Issaquah irritated and disgusted and feeling like I let my kid down....although I knew she’d enjoyed the experience anyway.
After we got some lunch at home and I’d vented my frustration to my wife, I learned that my daughter wanted to go back and fish some more. Since crabbing didn’t work out, I said “why not?”. Got the ok from my wife and again my daughter and I mounted up and drove back to MA 11. Got there just after 2pm. The place had really cleared out with just a few people still fishing. Heard one had just been caught, so we headed down the beach to give ourselves some space. Still overcast, but the sun was trying to peak through. Didn’t see any action for a bout 20 minutes and then I got a hit. Finally! Felt like a good hook set, so called my daughter over. She was halfway to me when the fish came unbuttoned. I said “Never mind, I lost it.” She replied, “You lost it?”....pause.....”DAD, I got one!” Sure enough, she immediately picked up a hit. I coached her for all of about 15 seconds and her line snaps. Darn. At least there was some excitement!
Back to fishing. Saw a few caught over that time, but more people were showing up and the beach started filling up. A young guy moved in next to us and of course my daughter gets tangled in his rig. I'd no sooner did I get it cleared up then the guy casts and nails a really nice buck Pink. My daughter now couldn’t cast without crossing someone as people had moved in around us, so we packed up and moved down the beach to get a little more elbow room as the tangles were taking both she and I out of the game. Of course the kid who'd just caught one, now catches another where we were just fishing. Seriously? He was a pretty nice kid though, so wasn't bitter about it.
Indeed, not long after that daughter gets a hit, but it came off the hook shortly. A few minutes later I hooked one and fought it to the beach (under my daughter’s guidance as she wanted one to take home) and right at the beach my knot fails. Off goes the fish, but at least I got my Buzz Bomb back. I’m at least happy that my daughter is seeing some action and super proud that she’s managed to hook a salmon of her own accord. Way more than I'd expected.
Things heated up down the beach again for a little bit with a number of fish caught, but not by us. After a lull my daughter got a hit and pulled in her first fish of the day....a 12” sculpin. She expertly walked it back up the beach. She was pretty stoked about that. A while later I managed to wrangle in a good sized flounder, which my daughter thoroughly enjoyed. She got one more hit that didn’t stick. After that things really slowed with a random fish caught here and there....but not by us. We finally threw in the towel at 5pm and headed home.....my daughter fished the entire time and she wanted to keep fishing until we caught a salmon. I was blown away! Must be my kid.
Bummed that I couldn’t produce for her, but it was great experience and practice for when things heat up in the coming weeks. Now hope we can find some time to get out again!
Tight lines everyone. Please pick up your trash and be considerate of others.

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