Previous Next

Fished the SKC Puget Sound Anglers derby with the Fish Princess.

We had the boat launched and headed out of the marina at about 0430 into a dense but variable fog. The current was slow and moving from the clay banks back toward the marina so we made a slow run up toward the banks and started our troll back toward the marina.

Began with a delta diver and herring on one rod and Irish cream e-chip flasher and chartreuse Ace Hi-Fly tipped with herring strip on the other. Trolled here for a while without any hits and without seeing much of anything going in other boats. Couldn't bring myself to move though because everything looked so darn fishy. I was marking bait balls galore and seeing bait surface regularly. In retrospect I may have trolled too deep. We did get one bite here that proved to be a shark as it cut the leader clean just above the hooks.

Around the 0900 as the current began to change I retired the delta diver rig in favor of a cookies and cream e-chip flasher and cookies and cream tail wager spoon combo. I trolled through the current rips between Point Defiance and Point Dalco. There was a good rip formed just off Point Dalco and I did a line check as we approached the area. I cleared the seaweed and jelly off the cookies and cream set-up and pulled out line for my set back just as we entered the heavy current rip off the point. I clipped the line into the release and just started letting out the downrigger cable when the line released. At first I thought it was just the braided line slipping free of the release clip as I had been having issues with this all morning, but as I began to retrieve the line I could sense there was pressure on the other end so I set the hook and it was game-on. I rousted the Fish Princess from her morning beauty sleep and she got to work on the fish. I retrieved the net and boated a nice little 5 pound pink salmon. Not the monsta we had hoped for, but on derby day it was good to have a salmon to get her on the kids' board and kick the skunk right out of the boat.

Saw Salmonbarry out there too and said hi as we passed him a couple of times in different spots.

Fished across the point several times. We also tested the waters around Evans point briefly then made a run to Camp Sealth and fished there for about 90 minutes without a bite. In a last ditch effort to find a king a thought I'd test the Browns point area to see if I could find one rounding the corner to head up the Puyallup. I did get one solid release here but the fish was unbuttoned almost immediately following the release and it was time to go weigh-in our lone fish.

The Fish Princess was proud to weigh-in her catch and was happy to make 3rd place on the kids' board with her pink weighing-in at 5.38 pounds. This was good enough to earn her a new Diawa rod and spinning reel.

Best fish of the day was 22.61 pounds and earned Jason Buddle about $8,000 in cash and prizes. Another great derby event put on by the good folks at PSA. I'm honored to be a member!

Tight Lines and Good Luck, Y'all!!

Fish Dawg

aquaking

8/4/2013 5:26:00 PM

Thanks for the followup I was wondering how it went! Great job awesome report!

salmonbarry

8/4/2013 5:45:00 PM

Great job and was happy to see her get a fish!! Did they say where the winning fish was caught? We tried the entrance to Quarter Harbor master but no luck. Went out again today with same results so thinking about changing my name to salmongoose-egg!! 3 days without a fish! Thanks for the update and hope to see you out there again. It is only going to get better and better!

Fish Dawg

8/4/2013 8:48:00 PM

Good to see you too Barry! Sorry you didn't have better success. We were fortunate to turn our only hook-up of the day into a landed fish. The winner was caught off Point Evans. I was sitting next to the winner's lady friend while we waited for the ceremony to begin and she confirmed. Also, posted on SKC Puget Sound Anglers facebook page that it was caught at Evans Point on a jig.

Keep your lines in the water...they're out there!

Good luck and tight lines!!

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save