Been MIA for a while, computer on the fritz... youngest son came up from Bonney Lake to get me fixed! A few outings to catch up on: three weeks ago took friend Pete to lower Snohomish where he tied into his first salmon ever, a big pink that took him into the brush and tore off the hook... great thrill for Pete for a minute or two. Two weeks ago caught one pink & one coho off Picnic Point on Buzz Bombs. Last week, went to Possession Point (Whidbey) to try a new (to me) technique... fishing live herring under a float. True combat fishing on a short beach at Possession Point Bait Company... caught two small coho (18" & 3.6#), but not a real pleasant experience, with lots of tangles and tempers!
Decided to head for Fort Casey where I've had lots of wonderful times. Much more beach, not nearly as many people, and something that is rare these days, relative solitude!
Got to the beach about 7:30 AM (caught 6:00 AM ferry at Mukilteo). Temp at start was 56 degrees, totally socked it with a heavy, misting fog. Low, minus tide at 5:46 had left kelp beds exposed and little room for casting without snagging... couldn't see more than 100 yards out. Started casting my favorite, a chartreuse Rotator with a mini-sardine hootchie. Fog horns blaring from all directions, a surreal morning... morning of a thousand casts, with nothing happening. Didn't see a fish jump until about 10:00, then only a couple 200 to 300 yards out. Fog began to dissipate about 10:30, but the whole area seemed to be sterile. Had seen 12 to 15 fishermen early, but by 10:00 there were maybe only 5 left on the whole beach!
Somewhere around 11:00 I had one hit on the Rotator, but didn't stick. Thought several times that I had made a mistake and almost headed south to Bush Point or Possession. My target for the day was to fish the incoming two hours before high tide (2:11 PM) and an hour after... so I sucked it up and stuck it out!
About noon a tide rip developed out front and a south to north current began to run... exactly what I was waiting for! I plug-cut a herring and cast it under a float... on the second drift my attention was averted from my float by a humungous splash to my right as a bright coho came crashing out of the water, almost at my feet... before I could swivel my head around to my flloat, my arm was nearly torn out of it's socket by a violent hit... Fish On! Took me nearly ten minutes to land a beautiful wild buck coho (6.5# on my digital scale at the truck later, after bleeding). Got my plug-cut back in the water as soon as I could, first drift... Whamm... Fish On!... came out of the water twice, then came unbuttoned... barbless hooks! By the time I was ready to go again, the rip had moved on and the water out front was starting to change from north to south... pretty dead water, not enough to generate a good spin on the plug-cut... took about twenty minutes for the current to pick up again... started to cast again... third drift (this time to my left)... at the end of the drift I began to retrieve (VERRRY SLOWLY) and... Whammm... Fish ON! Came out of the water twice, but managed to beach a hatchery buck (5.4# at the truck after bleeding). Two fish caught and one lost in one hour... left the beach at 1:30, with two beautiful fish and a great day of memories. I have come to love this west side of Whidbey fishery... and its just beginning! PTL!

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