Long day at Moss

Pat, Joel, Ernie and I launched around 5:30 am into perfect conditions, a light breeze and little swell. As we cleared the mouth we watched all the boats head south, way south, so we decided to try the north side in case some salmon didn't get the memo about all the action being down south.

We saw some birds hitting the water close in so Joel and Ernie went to check it out while Pat and I continued ahead. The boats started landing fish around Mulligans (about 7 miles out) in 240 feet of water so Pat and I decided we should head out to that depth. Almost as soon as we hit 220 Pat has a fish on! The fish makes a beeline to the boat and Pat has to crank hard to regain line. The fish makes two nice jumps on the way in. Pat gets in near then decides it was too easy and proceeds to dump one of her rods overboard, luckily it had a leash. Once she collects the spare rod she gets serious about landing the fish.



A few more minutes go by and finally the fish is hers.



It was heartbreaking to hear the measurement 19 1/2 "! Pat was totally stoked anyways about landing her first salmon on her yak.

After that the weather got better and the fishing worse. Allen Bushnell paddled out around 9 am and we met up closer into shore. We fished for another 3-4 hours without a scratch. Well I did have some kingfish attack my bait once. Still, it beats working!

The boaters had easy limits early down south. We ended up traveling 10.7 miles today, lots of work for one shaker.

Thanks again for lunch Pat!

I got a late start after I dropped the kids at school.  I got one hit trolilng or trooching at 80 ft, but it did not stick. Aside from that, nothing but the most beautiful day at Moss I've ever sen!

Calm, no wind, the sun even came out.  Great company and lots of laughs with this crew.

Congrats to Pat (who goes by Seabreeze, NOT 1/2 inch Pat, thank you) for her first salmonid on the yak.  She is a paddling machine.  On the way in, Bil hooked his bowline to her Prowler 13 and got a free ride to the harbor.

Thanks guys for a nice day.

Allen

Thank you to Bill, Joel, Ernie and Allen for sharing the lake that was Moss today.  I was sooooooo excited by my first salmon that, as Bill reports, I got a bit fumbly when I needed to be attentive and netting.  All went well and the little beauty was dutifully recorded and released.  I sure hope I am not going to earn that nick of "1/2inch"......I am looking for full sized lings in my future!

Congrats.... Pat
Moss has blessed many of us with our very first salmon.   I'm sure there will be many more to come.

was it a coho maybe?  They run separate from the kings and tend to be smaller too.  Either way it's great that someone finally caught a salmon!

His mouth was all black.

Pat - congrats on your first salmon! You deserved it cause you definitely worked hard for it = more than any of us! You are a paddle machine!  

Thanks for lunch and hope to see you (and your hubby) out there again!