Chances are you’ve never heard of Herron Island.  Nestled within the calm waters of Case Inlet this privately owned 1.25-mile long island with approximately 120 full-time residents (nearly as many deer too) enjoy solitude and possibly the most scenic view of the Olympic Mountains in Puget Sound.  First purchased and incorporated by the non-profit organization Herron Maintenance Company (HMC) in 1958, the island is only accessible by private ferry and boats owned/operated by it’s residents.

During the fall and winter days it is extremely rare to encounter another vessel fishing in the area until the warmer months of spring arrive.  However, on more than one occasion, a Herron Island resident has launched their car topper off the beach in the lagoon to ask me about fishing and then drop a line next to me.  The two gentlemen I’ve encountered over the years are absolutely “old school” anglers.  One motor mooches via oar propulsion, and the other is an “old salt meatliner” who still fishes wooden salmon plugs.  I am sure these launches or more of a “snooping mission.”  Perhaps to protect to the privacy of the island.

What makes Herron Island a productive location?  Your bound to encounter large schools of pre-spawning Pacific herring¹,  northern anchovy², or Pacific sand lance that frequent the area.  If you are looking for absolute solitude and beauty comparable to the San Juan Islands, Herron Island is the place for you.

Strategies for blackmouth

Herron Island is a well guarded secret among the locals of the surrounding areas.  Often overshadowed by Johnson Point and Devils Head, both known for their winter ebb tide productivity, “The Island” can provide some exceptional seasonal fishing opportunities to those anglers looking for a new area to fish. 

There's plenty of productive waters surrounding Herron Island, but 80-percent of my fishing has taken place to the south-southwest side of the island during ebb tides.  In this area the island’s landfall provides an extremely large lee area during the ebb tide and a gentle yet steady drop off.  Bottom contact is easily maintained during the troll with the least amount of effort for the helmsman as the contours don’t deviate too much allowing for total focus on working the gear.

The southerly troll along the island is over one mile long. This is a lot of water to cover, but if you fish here long enough you’ll soon discover some patterns during different stages of the tide that will increase your odds of bringing a fish to the boat without spending a lot of time on the water.  I recommend breaking down the island into two sections and concentrating on these areas during different tidal stages.  Furthermore, it is recommended to use gear that you can troll at faster speeds in order to maximize covering water over these distances.   In order to help you learn the waters surrounding the island, without spending years attempting to decipher this location, I’ll happily share some useful hints that has served me well over the years. 

Just past the mid way point, north on the island, a small spit protruding from the beach will be visible. This natural landmark is a good starting point at the beginning of the ebb tide and marks the island’s landfall angling to the south. Your troll should consist of working the beach line from the spit to the lagoon (located at the southwest tip) covering different depths from 80 to 130-feet.   Tidal currents in this area are generally unnoticeable so trolling in either direction will be effective.  If a large school of bait is located without a hook-up throwing a boat cushion or other floating device over the side will mark the location of the bait.  This will allow you to work the area with a figure-8 or an oval pattern and keep track of the forage.  A simple but highly effective trick to stay on the bait!

I like to set up my first pass in 90 to 100-feet of water keeping a watchful eye on the sonar for immediate signs of bait.  In the early morning hours (sunrise) the bait will likely be right on the surface or suspended at 50 to 70-feet, and placing the gear underneath the forage will likely bring a strike if fish are present.  If you are not noticing suspended bait right away keep the gear (not the weight) approximately 15-feet off the bottom and continue your troll to the south.  If bait is holding tight to the bottom place the gear 7 to 12-feet off the bottom.

If a fish hasn’t been brought to the boat on the first pass down to the lagoon I’ll turn port towards the shore and cover the shallower water back to the spit.  If I didn’t have a hook-up on this pass I’ll make a wider port turn into deeper water³- generally 110 to 120-feet.  Still no fish?  I’ll repeat the pattern with a turn to port and cover the 90- to 100-foot depths back to the spit.  With this elongated spring shaped trolling pattern I am consistently covering different depths attempting to locate bait.  The total time to make 2 ½ passes between the spit and lagoon should be in the neighborhood of 3-hours.

You shouldn’t have to fish much deeper than 130-feet in the spit to lagoon section; however, if you are locating bait in the deeper water, there‘s a pretty good chance it is holding a little further out or to the south of the island. At this point it becomes a coin toss to fish deeper or move to the south end of the island. Nine times out of ten I opt to fish the south end of the island.

In my opinion the best blackmouth fishing in the area occurs during larger than normal tidal swings.  With tidal currents generally running at a minimum in the deepest reaches of the South Sound, the periods of stronger currents provide more oxygen in the water and pushes forage into lee current areas of the island.  Without these stronger currents locating the forage can be sporadic- anywhere in Case Inlet.   

In addition to Herron Island I have also listed four additional blackmouth spots within a short boat run. These spots are virtually unheard of nor have they seen the light of day in a fishing report. By no means are they listed as “top secret,” but they do produce fish. On the Harstine Island side you will occasionally encounter local anglers which are generally eager to ask how's fishing. 

Area "A" - Although no official name exist for this point of land it is often called Russell Point.  The locals use this name to confuse newcomers to the area and as a local reference point.

The area south of Russell Point should be fished thoroughly on the ebb if bait isn’t holding along the island. Bait that has tucked itself into the passage between Key Peninsula and the island or laying to the south of the island have a tendency to seek the softer moving and deeper waters.  Here the tidal currents are generally a littler faster.  The shallow narrow passage funnels current out and around proving a wonderful lee.

The most ideal fishing depths will be 90 to 130-feet.  Pay careful attention to the bottom contours as you could end up in water 180-feet plus before you know it.

Russell Point may also be fished on the flood tide.  Do not pass up an opportunity to fish north of the point at the entrance to the passage.   You won't find any water deeper than 100-feet, but blackmouth and large returning fish will mull around the softer waters out of the current.

Area "B" - The water just southeast of Fudge Point to McMicken Island is generally fished on the flood tide.  There is large underwater point (located on the chart to the left of the Area “B“ arrow‘s point)(GPS coordinates 47° 13’ 59” N - 122° 50’ 52” W) just south of Fudge Point that extends into Case Inlet roughly a half mile.  Despite being a ways off the beach line the water is fairly shallow, so if you think or you're too far out, you're not.  Remember- structure equals fish and the fish should be working north of this underwater point's contours.

The GPS coordinates above marks the outer point and is a good starting point.  Follow the 90-110-foot contours and you should be into the fish.  You’ll probably note most of your fish coming from directly out in front of Fudge Point.

Area "C" - The southwest of McMicken Island holds some fairly unique pocket water that is always worth investigating.  During the flood tide bait will push around the island, and on the ebb tide bait will push south along the beach ending up behind the island.   This area would be a good follow up spot if you're not locating fish off Herron Island or Russell Point.

GPS coordinates 47° 15' 12"N - 122° 51' 32"W marks a great spot to start your troll and you should find yourself in approximately 85-feet of water.  You'll likely have the boat facing north, but you'll want to face west and troll following the 85 to 105-foot contours.   . 

Area "D" - Directly north of the McMicken stretch is popular area with some of the Harstine locals.  An unnamed point marks (GPS coordinates 47° 16' 17"N - 122° 51' 38"W) the starting position a solid trolling stretch to the southeastern side of Dougall Point. You may also give this spot a try during the late spring month’s ebb tides for larger blackmouth and an occasional returning fish.  Best bet is covering the 90 to 110-foot water depths.

Best Times To Fish

With blackmouth of tap nearly year around in Marine Area 13 any time you can get on the water between busy schedules or breaks in the weather is a great time to get on the water.  It is hard to beat the October to mid-November timeframe with pre-spawning herring in the area.

If you’re looking for a shot at large blackmouth, mid May is the ideal time to be on the water here. This will be a great first shot at fish entering the northern reaches Case Inlet to feed heavily on a variety of forage and it isn‘t uncommon to catch a 15 to 20-pound fish trolling along the outside of the island.  Tag data from Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife indicate the majority of the fish are from the Chambers Creek hatchery with a smaller portion Deschutes River stock. I also suspect a decent percentage of these fish to have instinctive inclinations of the Coulter Creek hatchery; which has been closed for some time now as noted by the number of intact adipose fins on the fish I‘ve encountered in recent years.

Good fishing will continue into early to mid June. After mid June the bulk of the fish will be further north in near Vaughn Bay.

Tackle

A variety of tackle will bring results however, the two predominate colors which takes the majority of my fish is white and chartreuse or combinations of the two. In fact this area is where the Camera Flash hoochie came to fruition.

Spoons: Fall or winter anglers will draw most of the fish to spoons trolled behind a flasher. Although adult pre-spawn herring will average around 5-inches, smaller spoons will have receive more action. The Acid Bath or Wired White Lightning spoons will be highly visible against the darker day’s skies. On clear cold winter days the Wicked Herring, Red Racer, or Jailbait should annotate a meal on your catch record card. Silver Horde’s Kingfisher spoons are always a great bet too. Try the Army Truck, green or chartreuse spatterback color schemes.  With numerous areas of sandy bottom substrate the Koho Killer can provide spectacular results.

Hoochies: Small Blackmouth Bites series or scaled down full-sized hoochies are very productive through winter. My personal favorites are the Blackmouth Candy, Camera Flash, Lime Jellyfish, Sour Taffy, and of course, the Captain Downriggin’ Special (CDR Special)! You can also add a size 4 or 6 Spin N’ Glo to any of the Blackmouth Bites series and expect a fish in the box.

In spring I switch to full sized hoochies and heavily lather a combination of anchovy, herring, and sardine scents over patterns like the Camera Flash, Judge, Jury Executioner (JJE), UV Bomb, or the Switchblade.

Plugs: The immediate area around the island’s contours can be absolutely full of bait, ideal for the plug angler however, I have never been consistent at catching fish towing plugs here. If you are a die-hard plug angler a 3-inch Tomic Tubby or 4-inch Tomic Classic #140 will be the top producers. A 5-inch Silver Horde plug in chartruese spatter back or mylar foil insert doesn’t come out of the tackle box in late May when the larger fish arrive.

Bait: With the present of an extra food source now in the area year around it would be hard to pass up an anchovy in a helmet. Green label herring appears to be the preferred bait in spring and summer, but be advise, the dogfish can be overwhelmingly thick and you may find yourself wasting a lot of time changing leaders.

Launching: This will be probably you’re greatest challenge. However, do I dare say it will be worth the extra effort?  There are several ramps just outside the immediate area with travels times of up to 25-minutes depending on your launching location. The closest ramps are Joemma Beach State Park located south of the island in Longbranch on Key Peninsula and Jarrell Cove on Harestine. Other options are in the City of Allyn (Hwy 3 south of Belfair), Vaughn Bay, Fair Harbor, and Zittles Marine in Olympia which by far has the best ramp. There is an additional ramp at Dougall Point on Harstine Island, but I believe this is now a private ramp. Most of the ramps are primitive by standards- rocky beaches and lacking docks or floats. You’ll also need to consider tides as Case Inlet is rather shallow in the upper reaches or bays surrounding the area and the ramps are not that steep. Generally a plus 3-foot tide will be fine for most boats up to 21-feet. The aluminum guys will definitely have the advantage when it comes to launching and recovering.

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¹  I have presented the question to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) if a secondary pre-spawn holding exist in the vicinity of Herron Island and Dougall Point (Harstine Island).  I am also curious to know if the northern entrance to Pickering Passage is used by the Pacific herring as a travel route to the spawning grounds.  The basis for my questions is the encountering of large amounts herring over the years in these locations which is outside of the well documented established pre-spawning holding areas in the Devils Head and Johnson Point area to the south.  To date, I have yet to receive an answer.

²  The presence of northern anchovy on a year around basis in the South Sound is somewhat of a mystery.  Once thought to migrate into the Puget Sound (and Hood Canal) during the spring and summer with out migration in the fall and winter, program managers, anglers, property owners, and biologists are now noting an abundance of this filter feeding forage.  The main population appears to have a tendency to travel the waters around Totten Inlet and the southern portion of Harstine Island.  I have personal encountered the northern anchovy in every fishing location within Marine Area 13.  The most notable schools I have encountered are in the upper reaches Case Inlet just outside the entrance to Vaughn Bay.

³  Fishing solo allows me to make tighter turns to remain on bait, maneuver to avoid other boaters, or set up the next rolling pattern.