EARL SANDE AND FRIEND
After the last two fantastic June Chinook seasons in the ocean off Westport, Steve Thorniley and I were wondering with great anticipation all winter what this season would be like.
But before we could find out, we had to get the boat ready. Every spring we spend some time working on the boat doing the usual maintenance like new engine and outdrive oil, tune-up, fuel filters. As the years go by other things are required like pulling the engine out for painting, replacing exhaust manifolds and risers every six or seven years along with the seawater pump assembly.
Steve’s 23- foot boat is 22 years old now. It has a V-8 GM engine with a Volvo outdrive. The older they get the more parts need replacing, and the ocean is not a good place to break down!
We replace the U-joint bellows and the water nipple just below it that supplies water to the seawater pump every few years, and replaced the distributor and alternator four years ago.
When Steve was out shrimping in May a hydraulic line blew that raises and lowers the outdrive.
Years of running in saltwater takes its toll on a boat, making it a little harder getting things apart. For this repair we had to pull the engine out and take the drive off to change the hydraulic line and the trim cylinder. But, in a couple of days we had it all back together and were ready to head for the ocean.
This year the area off Westport opened June 8 for two hatchery Chinook per day for two weeks. The adipose fin is on top just in front of the tail and is clipped off at the hatchery to identify it. But not all hatchery Chinook get clipped so we quit calling unclipped fish wild, although some certainly are.
We have a friend who lives in Westport and is nice enough to let us camp out in his back yard, and we buy moorage on the dock for $15 a day. Our moorage is right next to some friends that just bought a used 28-foot Grady White. Now that’s a fishing boat!
The weather took a turn for the worse on June 8. With an 11-foot swell and the tide ripping out early in the morning, the bar was a mess.
With 15-foot- waves breaking, the Coast Guard was out there at daylight checking things out. They closed the bar for all boats under 30 feet until 8 a.m. Even the 55-foot charter boats had quite a time getting across the bar.
When the out going tide slowed down the bar opened for boats over 22 feet and we headed out of the harbor. The bar was still a little sloppy but we had no problem.
We went north off the Tribal Casino and started catching Chinook right away. The coyote spoons were working well for us. We probably caught 20 salmon, but most were too small or were unclipped. But by three in the afternoon we had four nice Chinook in the box and started for the harbor.
Listening to the VHF radio we heard fishermen complaining how tough the fishing was. I guess we were just lucky that day. Even the charter boats were having a hard time catching salmon. One charter captain with 37 years of experience got skunked for the first time on opening day since 1987.
The next day was a little calmer except for the swells, but they were a long ways apart. We ended up with three mint-bright hatchery Chinook for our days work.
We came home every couple days to vacuum pack our fish and get them in the freezer.
The fishing was still slow compared to last year, so on the next Saturday we decided to go 30 miles north for sea bass and lingcod. We stopped to fish for salmon in places along the way.
The ocean was flat calm and we caught our bottom fish and headed back south. I called my friend Tim Zech and discovered they had found a school of kings right on the beach in 20 feet of water, feeding on huge schools of anchovies.
I think the baitfish were feeding on razor clam spawn. Some of the schools were 200 yards long and 150 feet wide. By the time we got there one guy had six kings in his boat and Tim had three.
Our friends Paul Davis and his son-in-law Bob, who went up north with us in their boat, quickly had two nice ones in the box. We caught two about 15 pounds, but they both had fins so we had to release them. It was getting late in the afternoon and we decided it was time to head for port.
We needed to go home the next morning and when we got back Tuesday the south wind blowing at least 20 miles an hour. Obviously we couldn’t go north and look for the salmon in shallow water so we went just south of the jetty and fished for an hour as the waves got bigger and bigger. It was getting a little dangerous so we headed for the harbor while the getting was good.
The next morning the ocean calmed down, so we went north. But the big waves had scattered the clam spawn and all the bait moved out to deeper water somewhere. We did manage to put a couple of kings in the box for the day.
We took home 24 Chinook for 10 days of fishing, which wasn’t quite as good as last year but we aren’t complaining. We probably did better then most guys out there and had a lot of fun doing it.
The boat ran perfect the whole time except the reverse lock dogs quit locking the outdrive down in reverse, so we pulled the boat out and I fixed the problem in about 15 minutes. It is so nice to fish in a well-maintained boat, especially in the ocean where ending up on the beach is not a good option.
And you usually see some cool things out in the ocean. One day we saw a five-foot white sturgeon come out of the water near the boat. Another day we saw a pod of a dozen killer whales with some coming out of the water making big splashes. And you see porpoises nearly every day.
The charter boat captains at Westport are outstanding, so get down there this summer and chances are you will bring home some fantastic fish to eat.