Hosted a charter Saturday for local sea run cutthroat trout fishing around Port Townsend. Catch and release only, these fish are great sport on a 5-6 wt. fly rod. Employing a variety of clouser and streamer flies we found a good handful of eager biters in the 10-14 inch range with a few larger fish “smacking” a popper around for good measure. Sea run cutthroat trout are similar in habits to steelhead in that they are anadromous and move between the saltwater and estuaries feeding up on small baitfish until moving and up into fresh water rivers and creeks in fall to spawn in winter and early spring. Unlike salmon, once these fish spawn they will once again return to the saltwater. With the pink and coho salmon moving in as well right now, a late summer day spent fly fishing on our local saltwater bays can be a lot of fun.
The mini Halibut are on the bite! Summer Sole, Sanddab and Flounder. What these little scrappy fish lack in size and appearance they make up for in shear numbers and a great willingness to bite a hook. Summer is the height of our local sanddab fishery as these little guys move into shallower water to spawn, and the sandy bays around Port Townsend are a great place fish for them. These flatfish average a little over a pound or so up to the larger rock sole and starry flounder that can weigh several pounds or more. They are a great way to introduce young people to fishing and burn some time while the crab pots soak. Everyone enjoys a hot flounder bite and after we get a dozen or so good sized keepers in the boat its time to get out the fillet knife and cleaning board. A little trickier to cut than a normal fish but the end result is some of the best little white meat fillets around “fillet of sole”… Fried or baked it is delicate and delicious.
The people of Latin America have been making Ceviche from fish and shellfish for over 2000 years. It’s simply a concoction of fresh seafood marinated in lime, garlic, peppers and spices. What a great dish to serve in the summertime to beat the heat. This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite places on earth— Rancho Las Cruces in Southern Baja California. Either stacked on top of a crispy tortilla or served with chips it is certainly one of my favorites. A staple during fiesta hour. Continue reading →
~ Its been a cooler summer so far here in Western Washington but the ocean wind and swell has been laying down more days so Tuesday we headed off to the Coast ( La Push ) for a Coastal charter with some visiting folks from Iowa. Luckily we kept the Twilight vampires off long enough to score quick limits of nice black seabass and quality lingcod all around. Plenty of fresh fish for future fish tacos and fish and chips.
The summer crab season kicked off in force with a stupendous July 4th holiday weekend opener. Limits were the rule in Port Townsend Bay and many of the crab are very big this year w/ 8-9 inch bucks commonplace. Nothing like some fresh Dungies cooked right off the boat. The Cabin lodging folk and day charters have been enjoying some really good crab dinners !
Spotted something a little out of the ordinary on the marina breakwall today. Mixed in with the plethora of Glaucous-winged and Western Gulls X was this anomaly – possibly a leucistic ( partial albino) phase gull. Seems a second year bird judging from the markings on its bill. Continue reading →
All around the property here at the Treefrog Woods the wild Pacific Rhododendrons Rhododendron macrophyllum have been busting loose with their elegant pink blooms. It has been a particularly cool and wet spring and this seems to have contributed to their splendor. Continue reading →
Many of our favorite local clam beaches have seen their seasons extended this year. Oak Bay and Indian Island will both remain open additional months this year with seasons extending until July 31. Digging for littleneck/ manila steamers and butter clams on the low tides has been excellent this spring. Continue reading →
Mr. Finkle has been a fixture around the property since he arrived some 10 years ago. Over that time roosting high in the safety of a fir tree every night has kept him out of the grasps of many a hungry raccoon, bobcat or coyote. Tame and curious as a housecat we sometimes forget he’s even a bird. Continue reading →
Lingcod season is now in full swing. Fishing has been very good locally on these toothy, hard fighting and delicious eating fish. The slot limit is between 26 and 36 inches this year and we have had some 30-50 fish days releasing the smaller fun fighting “schoolies” to find some of the bigger keeper fish. Most of these fish have been averaging 30-35” inches and @ 10-15 lbs are the perfect eating size. Fishing 30-80 feet of water with Big Hammer swimbaits, Braid thumpers and B2’s has been very effective.
David and Tiffany Drewry | P.O. Box 763, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0763 | (360) 379-0906