~ Area 4 Neah Bay opened for lingcod retention last Tuesday so the crew from\u00a0 F\/V Siwash aka “Team Ling Hammer” headed West to\u00a0get a crack at\u00a0the first lings of the year. Camping in Sekiu\u00a0courtesy of Van Riper’s resort\u00a0we awoke to sunshine and calm seas Tuesday morning. Heading West into area 4 we\u00a0started getting\u00a0fish just after the river, while fishing the kelpline up to Sail rock.\u00a0Tuesdays total was 6 quality lings averaging 26-37 inches for the boat.\u00a0Didn’t get any of the \u00a0“crocodiles” landed but had more than our share of followers in the 4 + foot range.\u00a0\u00a0 Highlight of the morning was Kasey laying into a 70-80lb halibut hooked w\/ his custom Seeker\/ Avet rod on a Big Hammer swimtail.\u00a0Kasey fought that fish for over 20 minutes while we chased it around on the kicker. Retention isn’t allowed for halibut until certain days \u00a0June so we took some go-pro footage and gently released the beast back to its reef. Wednesday’s fishing brought more of the same with another 6 legal sized fish kept before the weather shifted and blew swell and chop out of the west.\u00a0 Heading back into\u00a0Clallam Bay\u00a0just before noon we spotted a young Gray Whale cruising the kelpline just offshore, a trio of Bull Sea lions and flocks of summer plumed oldsquaw, harlequin and scoters staging for their migration back up north. The West-end of the Olympic\u00a0Peninsula is such a magical place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
~ Area 4 Neah Bay opened for lingcod retention last Tuesday so the crew from\u00a0 F\/V Siwash aka “Team Ling Hammer” headed West to\u00a0get a crack at\u00a0the first lings of the year. Camping in Sekiu\u00a0courtesy of Van Riper’s resort\u00a0we awoke … Continue reading