Last month, the Outdoors column featured a short section on jetty fishing opportunities available up here on the North Olympic Peninsula at tinyurl.com/PDN-Jetty.
The piece was adapted from a Fish and Wildlife Department post about coastal jetty fishing at Westport and Ocean Shores, but many of the same tips and tricks apply.
Recently, Britney Robinson found success fishing for rockfish and lingcod off the jetty at Neah Bay.
She landed a slew of black rockfish, including a massive 24-inch specimen (Robinson was unable to weigh the fish, but it’s a beast) and her first lingcod while fishing about a quarter of the way out on the rocks.
“I don’t have anything super specific that I used to catch it, just 3/8-ounce weight to hold down my rig, a big simple hook and a whole herring,” Robinson said in a text message.
So jetty fishing can be done with successful results here on some of our rocky, man-made outcroppings.
Quilcene tackle maker Ward Norden used to fish the Neah Bay Jetty with regularity, until overfishing stopped the party.
He’s hopeful that anglers recognize this and respect the resource.
“Years ago I wrote in other papers that the Neah Bay jetty was, to me, without a doubt, the best jetty fishery on the west coast of the U.S.,” Norden said. “Once you found the right technique, it was outstanding for lingcod, cabezon, at least five species of rockfish and salmon.”
“When I started to fish that jetty, I used all the same techniques used on other jetties of the Washington and Oregon coasts. I found that after the end of May, the heavy kelp forest along the outside of the jetty prohibited those standard jetty casting rigs.”
Inside productive
Although the inside of the jetty has less to offer, it shouldn’t be ignored.
“Cabezon inhabit the bottom of the bay, eating crab with the occasional school of black rockfish,” Norden said.
For this fishery, a long fishing rod with a light tip is not the best tool. Casts are necessarily short and have to be accurate. The best fishing rod is a lightweight, stiff 6½-foot spinning or cast rod with a reel suitable for accurate casting loaded with 15-pound monofilament (or heavier braided line) light enough to cast those 1/2 oz. weedless jigs or 1/2 oz. spinner baits. Don’t forget to bring a medium-sized net with a handle at least 5 to 6 feet long to reach out over the slick rocks.”
Kayaks also can follow advice
Everything described above is suitable for kayak or small row-able boat anglers who can slip safely into those shallow kelp forests anywhere along the calm side of the North Olympic Peninsula.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
