Don't fish much on a Sunday, but my youngest son, Wes, and I had promised ourselves to get together this Fall. With full time college and a busy work schedule, Sunday was only day available. Caught the 6:00 AM ferry at Mukilteo and headed for Fort Casey... been very, very good to me. On the beach by 7:15... very difficult conditions. Wind gusting above 30 mph, heavy surf... we were the only fishermen on the beach. We began casting chartreuse rotators with mini-hootchies with a bit of salmon hammer Smelly Jelly. At 8:00 Wes's rod doubled over and "Fish On!... he beached a beautiful wild hen silver (5.6# on my digital scale at the truck, after bleeding). While he was tending to his fish, I missed two... the wind put such a bend in my line, that there was too much slack to set the hook. At about 9:00, Wes was fighting another silver, this time a 15" jack, which was released to go find his momma. Fifteen minutes later he was into another and beached a big (8.2#) wild buck. Wes was casting braided line and it seemed to cut through the wind better than my mono. I had another fish on, and nearly had it beached when the hook popped off. At about 10:00 a strong south to north current developed out front... time to go to a plug-cut herring under a float. Second cast, about half way through the drift, a fish exploded out of the water just behind my float... I turned to Wes, who was watching and laughed at the closeness of the fish... then my arm was nearly wrenched from it's socket as the fish headed for Port Townsend. Several explosive jumps out of the water and finally able to beach another beautiful wild hen silver (6.2#). While Wes was bleeding my fish, two more casts, and then, at the end of the second drift, float down, fish on... I beached a hatchery hen of 4.8#. We were done at 10:30 and headed home.
One of the greatest days fishing in my life, and what a joy to share it with my son. The Good Lord certainly smiled upon us as we braved the elements to enjoy His Creation.
Saw only two other fishermen further down the beach, don't know how they were doing. No boats on a wild, rough Puget Sound. Enjoyed watching a bunch of sea lions, several approached rather close and were barking at us. On the way back to the ferry, I was surprised at the lack of fishermen on the beaches... the strong south winds seemed to have pushed the fish in close to the shoreline, and easy pickings for those who were out. PTL!

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