WE WERE FISHING for coho, but I was treated like a king during a salmon fishing trip off Sekiu on Tuesday.
Brandon Mason, the owner of Olson’s Resort (360-963-2311) in Sekiu, invited me out on the salt water for a late morning of coho fishing.
Arriving a little before 10 a.m. after snaking and twisting my way along state Highway 112, Brandon and his dad Denny and I soon hit the water.
The Idaho natives’ jet boat is more familiar with speeding through the canyons of the Snake River than along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but it was up to the task at hand: catching coho.
The weather was perfect, overcast with little to no wind providing the famed“calm waters” for which Sekiu was named.
With Denny Mason piloting the boat and the speedy vessel zooming over the surf, we soon reached the area the Mason’s heard was hot.
This was a stretch of water north of Mussolini Rock and Slip Point near the shipping lanes and the U.S.-Canadian border.
While the desired depth of 530-feet to 550-feet, was reached, Brandon Mason rigged up our poles with two different green hoochies.
“Squids have been producing,” Brandon Mason said.
One was a Gold Star Rigged Glow Green Spatter Back Squid from Silver Horde, hooked with a chunk of herring for scent and with a modification: some tinsel from an Ace High Fly lure.
“That gets you a little more poof action,” Brandon Mason said.
This provides for a pulsating movement in the water, and the reflective tinsel draws more interest from salmon.
The other lure, a duller green, white and red needlefish Army Truck hoochie, also was outfitted with a slice of herring.
They both worked fast as I reached my two-coho limit within 20 minutes of leaving the dock.
Pretty soon after Brandon Mason clipped the line to the downrigger and sent it down to 50 feet, I was pulling the Spatter Back rod from the rod holder and fighting with a what turned out to be a feisty 4-pound wild coho.
That smaller fish showed far more mettle than the next silver on the line, a wild 7-pound coho that hit the Army Truck but only provided passive resistance on its way to the net.
“This happens to a lot of guys who come out here,” Brandon Mason said.
“They hit their limits in 20-30 minutes and come back in the morning asking what else they can do that day.”
Mason joked they keep the beer cooler “pretty well-stocked” back at the resort.
Considering catch rates, and the fact that the state record 25.34-pound coho was landed there, Sekiu is known as the coho capital of Washington.
Nothing I encountered Tuesday would make me feel there’s anything wrong with that reputation. It’s as sterling as the silver-colored fish we caught.
Two more coho came into the boat, with the biggest of the day, a 10-pound specimen, hitting the Army Truck hoochie and eliciting enthusiasm from both Brandon and Denny Mason.
We kept fishing, and the fish kept biting, with the Spatter Back hoochie drawing more of the attention.
Most of these, Brandon Mason believed, were smaller coho, those not big enough to detach the line from the downrigger through sheer force.
They were either crafty, or my reel skills were reeling, because a host of fish took the bait but spat out the hook before coming to the boat.
Then wind picked up from the west, stirring up a small amount of chop from the previously calm waters, and putting off the bite.
We stuck it out for another hour or so before heading in.
One of the major benefits of fishing is how hard it is to tell the passage of time when you are spending hours intently watching for a rod tip to dip.
It’s a pure escape, providing your mind the ability to fully focus on the task at hand — and block out, for a few hours at least, those anxiety-inducing aspects of life.
I see why anglers take the time and make that twisting, turning trek out west.
I’m thankful the Masons took the time to have me out on the water, but much more grateful for the investment they’ve made on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Anglers to meet
The East Jefferson Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers will hold its next meeting in the port commissioners’ office, 333 Benedict St., at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
There will be a discussion about boat and beach fishing for coho salmon, plus updates on the success of the crab opening Oct. 1.
Refreshments will be served, and the public is invited.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
