Our season opened with Hook It and Cook It on May 17. The first three days were hit and miss with kings. Some of those that hit had limits by 7:30 in the morning and those that missed might never get the limit all day. And, this could happen with boats fishing right next to each other. On day four of Hook It and Cook It, the fishing at Cape Edgecumbe lit up. Since then, fast limits of kings have become the rule. The kings have tended on the smaller side of normal, but the numbers have been terrific.
Our guests have enjoyed lights-out halibut fishing at the Cape and the big flatfish are in the same spots we’re finding the kings. We call it the one-stop anchor drop: Drop the pick, fish a couple lines for kings, a couple lines for halibut, and limits of both are in the boat in a few hours.
Lingcod fishing has been about as good as any of us can remember and the new regulations make it possible to bring home bigger ones. Black rockfish (sea bass), normally the 15-minute limit fish, have been a bit more challenging than normal, sometimes becoming the hour-limit fish. Still, we’re getting them.
All in all, excellent May fishing with only a few days of windy weather. For the most part, the conditions have ranged from comfortable to dead calm.