King Salmon: B-
King fishing was solid throughout July which would have earned them a higher score were it not for the regulations which limited our anglers to one per trip. We found kings in all the usual place nearshore and a fair number out in deeper water as we pursued silvers. The kings of 2019 are clearly bigger and more robust than what we saw in the past few seasons. We see this as a sign of recovery of the stocks from the “blob” affect years.
Silvers: D
There’s no candy coating this one. The silvers did not show in the usual numbers this July. We had a few short spurts of decent fishing but many long stretches of very slow scratch fishing. Limits were very rare. Bites were few and far between through much of the month. Silver stocks are considered healthy and we viewed this a mainly a migratory issue this year – not a long-term decline. (Spoiler Alert – the silvers showed in big numbers on August 4 and it has been pretty much lights out for a week since).
Halibut: A
Fishing for halibut remains a nearly slam dunk event on the ocean. Though we didn’t find a consistent “20-minute limit” spot like July 2018, the results at the end of an hour or two were almost always good in depths from 300 to 700 feet. We also found a fair number of blackcod and Pacific cod mixing in with the halibut.
Rockfish and Lingcod: A
What can we say? Rockfish remain a slam dunk fishery. If you want to spice your day with 15 to 30 minutes of fast action, nothing beats a trip into the shallows for black rockfish. Lingcod are easily found but getting lings that fit into the 30 to 35-inch slot limit is a bit more challenging.
Weather: A
We enjoyed a continuation of the long calm summer that began in May and lasted through June. Rain and well-organized low pressure seem to be waiting for fall. We enjoyed many days of flat calm with only a couple that were genuinely rough due to strong northwest winds. Sooner or later this has to change, but the first 10 days of August have continued the trend except a howling northwesterly on the 1st. We were able to comfortably fish where we like, when we like nearly all of July.