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My wife, Boni, had surgery earlier in the week, so I, being the almost perfect husband, was nursing her back to health... waiting on her "hand and foot", catering to her every whim... just being perfect! She, however, by Thursday morning said that I was "getting on her nerves" a bit... she said, "why don't you go fishing!?" "Why, what a wonderful idea", said I... and that is what I did! Caught the 8:30 AM ferry from Mukilteo and headed for Fort Casey. Arrived at the beach just about 9:30, right at low tide (2.5'). Cloudy with a persistent wind from the northwest all morning. Had an incoming tide all day, until 4:00 in the afternoon... heavy surf all day with big breakers at the beach. Saw 12 to 15 other fishermen further down the beach in the morning, saw 5 or 6 fish beached before noon, only 1 or 2 in the afternoon, with the beach nearly empty.
I began casting a chartreuse rotator with a bit of Smelly Jelly. Had two discernible hits, but no hookups. I kept waiting for a tide rip to develop out front, but none did. Fishing is best when a current develops along the shoreline and the fish come in close looking for food. Finally, about 2:00 a north to south current developed, albeit a slow one. To complicate matters, the surf was now filled with eel grass, kelp, bladder wort and all sorts of floating stuff. I put on a plug-cut herring under a float... first 5 or 6 drifts were cut short by herring being destroyed by seaweed, but finally got a clean drift about twenty minutes later and just at the mid-point of the drift, Whamm... float down and Fish On! This is what fishing here is all about!!! Fish headed for Port Townsend... run after run.... worked him close to shore, only to have him bolt to open water again and again. Heavy surf was not making things any easier, but after ten minutes or so, I managed to beach a beautiful wild buck Coho (7.7# at the truck on my digital scale, after bleeding). Tried to work more herring, but the current was short lived and the water became static and the seaweed got thicker as the tide kept coming in. Hoped for a rip to develop after high tide (4:00), but none did. Left the beach at 5:00, to get home and resume my nursing duties.
The afternoon was sunny and spectacular... a beautiful day on Whidbey Island. Watched Sea Lions play all day, hawks and eagles hunting... lots of waterfowl to enjoy.... just a great day to be fishing. PTL!

paintermott

10/4/2013 9:14:00 AM

I don't have herring but, I do have nicely cured salmon roe. I wonder if that would work under a float. Nice fish

Stansjoy

10/4/2013 5:58:00 PM

paintermott... don't know about eggs in the salt!!... they are dynamite for Coho in the rivers... can always try them! On herring... I have used live herring from Possession Point Bait Co., but I have had even better results using cured herring. Buy red or green label frozen herring (red a little smaller than the green), then thaw them in the refrigerator and place them in a zip lock bag the night before and cover them with brine/cure (I use Pautzke's Fire Brine, in blue). The blue gives the herring a brilliant flash in the water. Plug cut the herring and hook it on a mooching leader, make sure it has a fast spin to it, and whammo... fish on!! PTL!

afk

10/5/2013 6:29:00 AM

Hey Stansjoy, how far bellow your bobber are you fishing? Thanks for the report and pics.
Andy

Stansjoy

10/5/2013 1:27:00 PM

afk... I use a standard mooching leader, trimmed to about 4' to 5' under the float. Depending on the speed of the current, sometimes I leave the trailing hook to dangle, sometimes I pin it to the side of the herring. The most important thing is to get a very fast spin on your bait... it drives the fish Crazzie! Getting the right angle of cut and the correct bevel is crucial... need to experiment to find the right combination. Good Luck! PTL!

afk

10/6/2013 6:28:00 AM

Thank you Stansjoy. This is a type of fishing I've never tried. Being from Wenatchee I don't get to fish the salt very often. But, when I do I'll have something other than Buzz Bombs to try!

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