Neah Bay

Neah Bay Mixed Bag

Show#:	3008
Host:	Trey Carskadon Special Guest: Outdoor Writer, Keith Jackson
Date:	Late July
Equipment:	South Bend medium action casting and spinning outfits; South Bend C430 Corona Spinning Reel; South Bend C5000 Concorde Casting Reel; 10 lb. Trilene Tournament line; A variety of lures from Berkley Plastic Grubs, "Jerk Shad", and "Inshore" baits, as well as Rapala F11 and F13 floating minnow plugs in black and silver
Tips:	Neah Bay is a renowned fish factory. The combination of its relative remoteness, along with the fertile exchange of the Pacific to Puget Sound makes Neah Bay one of the finest fisheries in the country, if not the world. We traveled about a mile to spectacular bottom fishing. In addition to some outstanding action for a variety of "rock fish", we enjoyed a bonus fishery of silver and pink salmon that pounded F 11 and F 13 Rapala's in black and silver trolled about 100' in back of the boat on a flatline. We simply tied our lines directly to a plug snap, attached the plug, and trolled at a speed of about 1.5 mph. The strikes were thundering and the action was fast, until we lost our Rapala's in runaway salmon. Trolled Buzz Bombs in the Pearl and Pink worked very well --- another new find I'd only heard about but never tried. This was one of the best fishing trips I've had in some time. The pleasure of sharing the boat with Keith Jackson was just that...a complete pleasure. He's a talented fisherman, who genuinely cares about the sport, the resource, and the people he fishes with. It was Keith who "figured out" the fish. I employed the conventional drop-to-the-bottom method, where I lowered the jig to the bottom, reeled up three cranks on my level wind, and took to jigging just above the bottom as we drifted around the nearby island. Keith took to casting his jigs and swimming them back just under the surface. Bass blew holes through the thick kelp to rundown his jigs. I came up blank. The bite continued to be near the surface the entire weekend we were there. In fact, at one point, black sea bass were rolling across the surface, feeding in front of us as we made long casts past them, and swam near our jigs right through the school hooking up on nearly every cast for 15 minutes or so. Just a short trip to the Canadian side of the Straits, and there is incredible halibut fishing. For anglers with larger boats (minimum 21') longer runs to nearby islands and bays can be exceptional. Crabbing is fantastic. In my view, Neah Bay is one of those fishing getaways that you should experience at least once in your life. It is a beautiful area that's well worth the trip and boasts some of the finest fishing you'll find anywhere.