Why so few reports on Area 7?

[Marcoramius]

So, after 20 plus years of being relegated to salmon fishing from the shore, I finally bought myself my first boat about a month or so ago. Fishing from shore wasn't so bad when I lived on Whidbey, but when I moved to Anacortes, good fishable beaches were nowhere to be found. I have never owned a boat before so the learning curve is rather steep...this is so much different than buzz-bombing from shore. I have already made a bunch of mistakes and I'm pretty sure the fish underneath my boat are laughing at my offerings to them, but I will persevere. I have immersed myself in this forum and YouTube videos trying to learn all I can about the where, what, how, and why's of trolling and the differences in each of them between different salmon species. I was very surprised to see so few reports on Area 7 fishing. I would think that this marine area would be pretty popular with places having the great fishing reputation like the San Juans, long black mouth season, etc. I can understand people being tight lipped about good spots to try, but this is like a whole new level of hush hush that I've ever seen.

Anyways, I ended up getting skunked my first three times out (with the exception of a couple of dogfish and a few full pots of crabs) but was rewarded this past Saturday with my first 2 salmon on my boat. The first was a 6 pound chinook, my first king in almost 10 years, and a monster 13 pound coho, the biggest silver I have ever caught. Progress is slow, but steady and I am trying new things and venturing out into new spots every time out, although I do have a favorite now.

Hope to see and meet some of you other Area 7 secret society members sometime and if anybody has any information or tips they are willing to share, it would be very much appreciated. Especially in the area of tides and their effect on the fish...which tide is best to fish, etc. TIA

[Matt]

Welcome to the forum, great first post.

You are correct in your assessment that A7 fishers tend to be fairly tight lipped. Once you get to know some of the regulars out there most of your needed intel comes via text message or phonecall. Of late, fishing pressure has been increasing exponentially in the islands which has frustrated many of the local guys. In the past the "San Juan Islands" were a thing of myth and legend as most anglers never considered going because they were "too far away". Now days people are realizing that a quick 1 hour drive and you're there.... things have changed, and the pressure is building. This has resulted in overcrowding in very tight spaces (some of the more popular areas are quite small), early season closures, and restrictions of different fisheries.

Most of the "usual haunts" are well known and listed all over the web. I would check out Salmon University and John's Sporting Goods blog for some good information and even area maps.

The 2 best pieces of advice I can give for a first timer fishing the islands for Blackmouth or Chinook are (1) fish the bottom; you should be banging that DR ball off the rocks every few minutes. (2) match the hatch; most of the target bait is small up there, primarily sand lance. We do best on 3" kingfisher spoons, coho killers, needlefish squids, and small needlefish Ace-Hi flys.

Good luck, and have fun exploring one of the most beautiful places on earth.

[Mike Carey]

Hmmm, for me, it just seems too far away, even though as Matt mentioned it isn't. I'm sure there are some old archived reports, but ya, I don't recall many reports. Guess you'll be a trail blazer.

[Marcoramius]

Thanks for the replies Matt and Mike. As far as the actual San Juans, I haven't got that far yet. I have been focusing my attention on Guemes and am now starting to explore around Cypress, which I have read quite a bit about. I will eventually make it across the strait to the San Juans but I'm in no hurry and right now I still have plenty of exploration left to do around Cypress.

I was also wanting to get my kids into some flounder and was eyeing the southern part of Burrows Bay. From the charts, it looks to be very flat and relatively shallow. The north end of Guemes looks pretty good as well and has the added benefit of being closer to salmon areas. Anybody have other flounder spots they might be willing to share? Thanks in advance.

[JoshH]

West side of Cypress will be better than anywhere around Guemes. Eagle Harbor or Bluff (it's been so long I don't remember the actual name other than the NW side of Cypress) can be really good on the flood for salmon. If I remember the bottom is pretty sandy, might be good for flounder? It's been years, 20 or more, since I have lived in Anacortes and fished there somewhat regularly.

[Matt]

FWIW Guemes Island and Crpyess Island are both SAN JUAN ISLANDS. If you are fishing around either of those spots you are, in fact, IN the islands my friend.