Sekiu Primer July 2011

Sekiu Primer
July 2011
Let me start out by saying that there are as many techniques and ways to fish Sekiu as there are fisher people in
town. What works one day will not work the next. Pretty typical fishing. I have put this together for you to
give you a place to start, don’t think it is the only way to fish. It is based on the experience of my little fishing
group. There are basically 11 of us that fish in Sekiu all summer long and we share techniques and places to
fish. When the fish are there anything seems to work.
So far this year the king fishing has been ok but not great. We will have a great day where all of us catch and
keep fish and then the next day we won’t touch a king that we can keep. We have had the “fortunate”
experience of getting to play many native fish that have been very large. Fish approaching 30 lbs are not not
unheard of. Catching 3-5 20+ wild fish a day is not uncommon. Most of the hatchery fish we have caught have
been in the 14-17lb range with a few larger brought to the dock. One of my partners boated a 28.5 lb hatchery
fish last week. The big news in Sekiu is that the humpies have already arrived. Some that have been targeting
humpies have limited (4 fish). They are about 2 weeks early and their eggs are very immature so the feeling is
they may be sticking around for a while. There is more bait in the water this year (Krill, candlefish and herring)
than we have seen in years. Silvers so far have been spotty but that is to be expected this early in the season.
More about where to target the different species later.
For those of you from out of state, Remember to bring your boat registration and have it on your boat at all
times. The sheriff is helping balance the county budget with those that do not carry their registrations with them
on the water. The sheriff will also do a full safety compliance check, ie, life jackets, flares, whistle etc. Also,
NO treble hooks or barbs. You can use a maximum of 2 barbless hooks (points) at any time.
The weather so far this year has also been strange. We have had beautiful mornings and windy afternoons. The
sun has been out more than normal. Dress warm and layer as it can be really cold in the am, warm up and then
get cold again when the wind starts.
Kings – When you fish Sekiu there are three times when kings seem to be most active. At daylight, at tide
changes and at current changes. The saying in the morning is “if you can see your bait, you are too late”. There
is almost always a daylight bite that happens somewhere. If you are out on the water that early, the fish will be
near the top. Most people start fishing herring (either whole or cut) in the top 40 feet of water in the early
morning. We have caught 6 keeper kings before 5:15 this year with my downriggers set to 32 and 40 feet.
After the sunrise the kings will go deeper. My favorite fishing depths are 55, 66, 76, 96 and 110. Nothing
magic, just easy numbers for me to remember.
Slack current and slack tide do NOT coincide in Sekiu. Because of the huge volumes of water that are
exchanged in Puget Sound that flush the straits the current will flow 2 -4 hours after the tide change. For
example, Today there was a -1.48 tide at 7:59 AM. However, the maximum current (eb) of 2.5 knots did not
occur until 9:18 am with slack current coming at 11:52 am. All species seem to be active around slack tide but
more often the kings are most active is at slack current.
When the current is running fast (2-3 knots) don’t try to troll against the current you won’t go anywhere. Troll
with the current or across the current.
Remember, minimum size on kings is 22” Make sure you pick up an identification chart if you are not sure of
the difference between a small blackmouth and a humpy. A lot of people get fined because they keep small
blackmouth (hatchery or wild) thinking they are humpies
Here is a link for the current charts. And here is the one I use for the tide chart. If you are staying at Van
Ripers or Curleys there is wireless internet access. Not sure about Olsens
If herring is not working or I want to use a variety, I will go to . Many times I will leave a herring on one rod
and alternate lures on the other rod(s). In no particular order here are my goto lures:
Either Coyote or Kingfisher Lite (in 3.5” and 4”) spoons. My favorites are : Cop Car, Cookies and Cream, Irish
Cream, Army Truck, Watermelon, Mongoose and White Lightning
Coho Killer: Favorite colors are Green and Blue splatterback (#942 & 944) , Cop Car (#911& 675). I also have
had good luck with #652, 633, 676, and 821. #217 is a killer lure for humpies.
Apex Lures: Watermelon and Chrome Green Also #;s 84, 204, & 55
Flasher with hootchies are probably what most people use. Green is working good this year for kings but other
colors work fine too (purple haze, army truck and purple minis especially)
Silvers – The silvers will come through the Sekiu area in schools. They can sometimes be found in close with
the kings. The are usually targeted in the top 60 feet of water. Troll faster than you would for kings. If you see
them feeding on the surface you can catch them in the top 10 feet. You can fish for silvers anywhere all the
way out to the Canadian line. When I am targeting silvers, I normally leave the dock on a 30 degree heading
and run until I am in 250- 300 feet of water. I then fish heading north until I get a fish. When I do get a fish I
work the area moving east and west. It is not uncommon to find the fish in 600 feet of water near the shipping
lanes. There have been some nice silvers caught already this year.
Humpies – Not much to tell you about catching humpies, when they are around it is hard NOT to catch them.
Anything Pink or orange works best. You can use hootchies, flies, spoons or beads! So far this year the
humpies have been running deep, We have been finding them in 250-400 feet of water 80-110 feet down. They
are also running large for humpies, usually they are 3-5 lbs.. I saw an 8lb humpy last week which is almost
unheard of for this time of year. We are expecting 22 million to swim by Sekiu. It is fun to bring in a humpy
and see 2 or 3 of them following the fish up. Last week I had a humpy hit my lure when I had the line in my
hand connecting it to my downrigger. Most of the hot humpy action this past two weeks has been off of
between Mussollini rock and the clearcut in about 250 feet of water.
Where to fish: The nicest thing about Sekiu is that you can be fishing five minutes after you leave the dock.
There are also many different places to fish. If one place isn’t working, you can quickly move to another. The
hardest thing about fishing Sekiu is deciding where to start. The big decision to make each day is whether to go
East or West from Sekiu. I normally go where I have heard there was more success the day before but usually
end up in both areas. I also have a tendency to stay away from the crowds. I do not enjoy combat fishing. You
will hear a lot of different areas discussed so it is nice to know what area the locals are referencing. I have
created a chart for you with some reference points and images to help you locate the local landmarks.
Remember, this is all about kings. The silvers and humpies you can catch anytime during the day anywhere in
Area 5. You may have to spend some time looking for them but you will most of the time find something. The
kings are normally caught in close but don’t be surprised if you are fishing for humpies at 600 feet and hook
into a king.
I have separated the prime fishing area into two distinct parts. The area West of Sekiu and then area East. First
the west. That covers the area from Sekiu Point to Kydaka Point. I have shaded in the area on the chart where
kings are taken. It is really the entire area. Most King fishing takes place between 70 and 180 feet deep. As
you watch the people fishing the area you will see the trolling patterns. Here is the chart:
West Side
1. Sekiu Point to the Caves: When you leave the dock you can run less than 5 minutes straight out from
the breakwater. When you get to 70 – 80 feet put your gear in the water and start fishing. I always rig
up at the dock before I head out so I can be ready to go. I will start trolling west towards the caves in
90 feet of water to get started
Sekiu Point
Caves from 90 ft deep water.
2. First Beach. The First strip of sand after the Rocky Cave area. The kelp will start here in close to the
beach.
3. Continuing West, the next “named” landmark is the slide, nothing different in fishing. Just another local
landmark
4. Second Beach. You may see people walking or riding ATV’s on this beach. One of my favorite places
to fish. Many times the fish will hold in front of this area, it is a sandy bottom and the feed sometimes
congregates in this area.
5. Pecker Rock : so named for obvious reasons.  You may also hear it called “halo” rock when the
company is appropriate. When you get just west of this famous rock watch your depth. You will have
to turn out to stay at the same depth. The little bay, Eagle Bay, shallows up. It is pretty much sand so
if you go to far your downrigger balls will probably just bounce but they can always get hung up. As
you move out you can follow the contours of the “reef” Not really a reef but a drop off in depth which
will hold fish.
6. Eagle Bay Many people spend most of their time fishing the area outside of Eagle Bay. A lot of fish
are taken here in the 80-200 ft range. The different contours of the area hold the bait and the fish.
Some like to go up on the flats and fish right on the bottom in 60 feet of water. At times there are
sandlance (aka candlefish) buried in the sand that the kings love to feed on. A great place to use coho
killers behind a small flasher or Agitator.
7. Preacher’s house. Another landmark that you will hear often. The house marks the end of Eagle Bay
Kydaka Point. – Kydaka is remarkable because a lot of times there is a big tide rip off of the point that
can get a little on the rough side. On the other side of Kydaka point is the Hoko River. West another
mile or so is another bridge which marks the end of Area 5. There is also a closer for salmon in the bay
to the west of Kydaka. Check the game regulations for fishing in that area. You can go in and bottom
fish and also can go in to area 4 and bottom fish. Make sure you check the regulations carefully. AT
NO time can you keep a bottom fish if it was caught in water deeper than 120 feet. Also, Ling Cod
fishing is closed in area 5 at this time.
East Side
8. The bell (or bell bouy) Fishing around the outside of the bell can be very rewarding. The area holds a
lot of bait and salmon. Some words of caution. Do not run inside of the bell, there are some wash
rocks that can do a lot of damage to your boat. You can fish the east side of the bell and head directly
to shore. Fish hold out to about 250 feet of depth outside of the bell. The bell is also a place you have
to be careful at. During certain parts of the tides the area around the bell can get very rough. You can
usually avoid most of it if you go back to Sekiu about ½ mile outside of the bell. Trust me, you will
know where not to go. Here are two pictures of the water I took at the bell last week. The first shows
the tide rip and active water at the bell. Immediately after taking that picture, I turned around and took
the second picture of the small lake like water I had just left. These water conditions were no more
than 50 yards apart with a small transition area (this can also happen at Kydaka Pt but not as severe or
as often). This was on a nice calm day with no swell, no chop and no wind. Add an ebb tide, with a
west wind and even a little swell you can imagine what it can be like. The amazing thing is that in
another 30 minutes this water was smooth as glass again. I went into the smooth water you can see on
the other side of the bell and fished.
9. Mussolini Rock. So named because depending on what angle you have of the rock many can see an
outline of Mussolini. It is also called Moose. You will find a lot of people fishing the water between
the bell and Moose. The water gets deep really fast here. It is usually a fairly calm area that seems to
attract a lot of junk in the water. If it is clean there are a lot of fish taken in here. For Kings
concentrate your efforts between 80 and 200 feet. You will probably find humpies and silvers outside
of those depths.
10. Eagle’s Nest – The bay on the east side Moose is a fun place to fish. Again, it may hold some junk but
on a clean day it is a beautiful place to fish. There are kelp beds out to about 60 feet, watch for them.
If you are a moocher the kelp line is a great place to fish for kings early morning and late at night.
They hang out waiting for the bait fish to come out of the kelp. Of course, the dogfish do the same
thing. Look onshore for Eagles in the trees. There are a few nesting pairs in the area. Many times
you will see the eagles fishing for their young.
11. Clear Cut – This starts the long troll down to Pillar Point. You can troll the entire area. The direction
you troll will depend on the direction of the current. On an ebb you should run down to where you
want to start and troll west. Do the opposite on a flood. The water is very deep close to shore. Target
kings in this area from 70-200 feet. Of course you will get some humpies and silvers in this area too
but they will more likely be found from 250-600 feet all long this area.
12-14 Continue east into these areas, the names are little moose, the slide and the coal mines. I have not
been to these areas yet this year. If I get there during the next couple of trips I will take pictures and
send them out. I usually fish these areas in the mornings on calm days and/or when there are a lot of
people around the other areas. These areas do not get the same pressure the nearer areas get and there
are a lot of fish. Beware of being too far away if the west wind comes up in the afternoon. It can be a
long ride home.