TABLE OF CONTENTS
~ Salmon Fishing in the San Juan Islands, Washington
~ Captain Ivan Salmon Fishing
~ Best Times To Fish For Salmon
~ Smelly Jelly
~ Nicole Hooks into a Quillback Rockfish
~ Quillback Rockfish Information
~ King Salmon Epic Fight
~ Commercial Salmon Fishermen
~ Pictures of King Salmon
~Share your Story
~Next Episode

Salmon Fishing in the San Juan Islands, Washington

The true magnitude and grandeur of the west coast is captured in the San Juan Islands. Located on the border with Canada it has been voted one of the top sailing destinations in the United States with scenic mountain ranges and pristine water. We have arrived a day before the start of the commercial salmon fishing season for the purse netters. The salmon are so thick that they are literally jumping all around the boat. This is also a special year since the humpy's are migrating back into the river on their two year cycle. These salmon along with the pinks, chums, coho and other species are on pace to beat last record number of salmon caught. Back to the Top

Captain Ivan Salmon Fishing

Our captain for this adventure is Captain Ivan. He grew up just north of Roche Harbor and has been fishing his entire life for these magnificent salmon. As a boy he used to fish alongside the commercial fisherman in his small dingy waiting to be thrown salmon. Over the years he has learned exactly where the fish hide and the secret fishing holes. With the Salmon grounds only 15 minutes away from Roche Harbor his boat is equipped with two downriggers and plenty of room for two fishermen and a captain. We could not have asked for a more knowledgeable captain. Back to the Top

Best Times To Fish For Salmon

Nicole is very excited to be back in her home state of Washington, going out for her favorite fish. She grew up fishing for bass, trout, and steelhead but this will be her first salmon trip. On our way out to the salmon grounds Captain Ivan explained how the best time to fish was an hour before and after slack tide. The moving water pulls the baitfish from the coves and the salmon begin actively feeding. We were hitting this tide just right and would have several excellent hours of fishing. Back to the Top

Smelly Jelly

Setting up the lines we applied smelly jelly to a squid imitation and huge flasher. Salmon are very aggressive and the large flasher makes it look like a salmon is chasing a school of bait. As other salmon join the chase the lagging squid bait becomes the opportune choice. The smell of herring from the smelly jelly further induces a strike. Back to the Top

Nicole Hooks into a fish

Using the downright we put our lures at 50 and 120 feet while we started a small path around the deep rim of the drop-off. As we made our first turn to work back out of the cove the 50 foot rod suddenly jerked free of the downrigger and Nicole grabbed the rod. Fighting the fish it came up to the surface pretty quickly. Pink salmon are known to rise quickly and then fight while king salmon are known to stay down deep. As it came into eyesight we were surprised to see a Quillback Rockfish! Back to the Top

Quillback Rockfish Information

According to Fish and Wildlife, "Fewer than 20 percent of 17 stocks of rockfish in north Puget Sound are considered "healthy", and three -- Canary, Quillback and Yelloweye -- are designated by the department as "depleted". Captain Ivan also told us how these fish are very slow to reach maturity and reproduce only after several years. With it being a great eating fish the area was quickly reduced and now a moratorium on eating these fish is in place. So with a quick picture this fish was back into the water. Back to the Top

King Salmon Epic Fight

As we reset the rods and headed out of the cove we exchanged fishing stories. Captain Ivan was telling a story of one of his friends catching a king salmon and the long fight when the 120 foot rod popped and line started peeling out. I grabbed the rod and the set the hook. This fish was running straight for the bottom and Captain Ivan was certain it was a big king. Trying to slow down the fish was not an option and we started to back the boats up towards to fish so that we would not get spooled.

15 minutes later the fight was still going on. As soon as we would fight the fish upwards it would again peel out line and disappear into the depths. However, the fish was tiring and I was able to start gaining line. At last the silver reflection was unmistakable in the water and Captain Ivan prepared the net. It was indeed a king Salmon and looked huge. Guiding the fish's head into the net, we had finally landed a king salmon from the San Juan Islands! Back to the Top

Commercial Salmon Fishermen

As we headed back to the dock we stopped to watch one of the Native America commercial boats pull in their catch. As the purse net was drawn shut and pulled towards the boat over 800 pounds of salmon was caught in a single try. Tomorrow the rest of the commercial fleets would start catching the salmon that would supply the world. Back to the Top

Pictures of King Salmon

Back at the dock we admired our catch and smiled for the camera with Nicole's family. This was a day we would never forget. Now it was up to Nicole to Fillet her first fish! Check out the video here! Back to the Top

Share your Story:

Please let me know if you have any other questions about this trip or if you want to share your story join our Facebook group so you can upload pictures!

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Thank you for tuning in to the Urban Fishing Show. Now go check out some Puerto Rico Fishing Pictures

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