[Catherder]

I recently received notification that a Continuing education event is available at a lodge on Prince of Wales Island in 2017. We did this in 2010 and had an absolute blast. In addition to bottom fish (halibut and rockfish) , we caught very good numbers of pinks and silvers in the ocean. Last time we went, the date was July 1-7. This time the date will be June 14-20. Due to speaker and lodge availability, I suspect the dates are not changeable.


Here is my question. I know that June can be decent for catching ocean kings, but I fear it might be too early for the silvers and pinks in decent numbers. Are there other salmon/steelhead? opportunities that I might want to look at during those dates? Last time, only one person in our group scored a king in the ocean. Any hints for stuff I might want to bring to improve the odds if it is mainly kings we can target?
The fishing is DIY. We are provided boats and gear and are turned loose once the CE is completed.

 

[Mtnbeer]

You will definitely be a little early for silvers, but you can get into pinks that time of year, as well as sockeyes. It's too late in the season for steelhead, but you might catch a sea-run cutt though (one of my personal favorites).

What are you doing for ocean kings? I need to know how you are fishing in order to provide suggestions. I assume you are trolling, but how deep, bait used, etc. Also, do the boats have a fish finder?

 

[Catherder]

What are you doing for ocean kings? I need to know how you are fishing in order to provide suggestions. I assume you are trolling, but how deep, bait used, etc. Also, do the boats have a fish finder?

We did mostly troll. We did have a fishfinder available. The bait was herring. The depths we ran to catch the silvers and pinks was either near the surface or down 20 feet or so. We fished both with dodgers and without. We did not have downriggers available to go deep in 2010.

 

[Mtnbeer]

We did mostly troll. We did have a fishfinder available. The bait was herring. The depths we ran to catch the silvers and pinks was either near the surface or down 20 feet or so. We fished both with dodgers and without. We did not have downriggers available to go deep in 2010.

Thanks! You have it set up as good as you can. However, it's hard to get ocean kings without downriggers. I don't think I've ever caught ocean kings in less than 45 feet of water. If I were you, I'd beg, bribe, or steal to get a downrigger setup on your boat. It'll make a huge difference, IMO.

 

[Catherder]

I've also read about drift fishing over likely areas. (I think "mooching" is what it was called) which allows one to sink the offering to the correct depth. I'm not sure though on tactics or rigging for that though. I didn't learn the rigging for it when I was there last.

 

[Mtnbeer]

Mooching is a great technique for silvers, but I've not used it for kings. Mooching involves rigging up a straight or banana sinker directly to the end of your line, then tying on a leader with tandem hooks and a cut plug piece of herring. Once you have it set up, release your bail and let it sink. When you feel a nibble, set the hook.

That being said, one limiting factor of trying to mooch is the ability to get it deep enough for ocean kings. While mooching, the weight of the sinkers usually isn't enough to get it deep for kings, as ocean currents will usually push the line and limit depth.