As the boat slipped off the rollers of the trailer, a feeling of deja’ vu overcomes me with one of the very first experiences of mine fishing the Puget Sound. In fact, I can remember being bundled up tighter than a cord of firewood, life jacket and all, in December fighting off the cold. Yet the frigidness of winter didn’t seem to bother me as much as it does today.

   This is where my addiction started nearly 35-years ago, on Wollochet Bay. My dad purchased a yellow Bayliner from a dealership on 6^th Avenue in Tacoma and not a weekend went by without the family in the water. Looking back, the boat had to have been the brightest yellow anyone has ever seen and the trailer had square wheel wells that claimed more than one scare on the shins that still exists today- reminders of yesteryear. Although yellow may have been an eyesore, our “Banana Boat” fished quite well as evidenced by the blood stained carpet mom use to shake her head in disappointment about.

   My dad never purchased new rods or reels. In fact I cannot recall him ever buying tackle. My grandfather had everything under the sun and then some more, but he always brought along in a wooden tackle box with his main arsenal clearly labeled and neatly stored. His rods were far from state of the art- even in the 1970’s. My grandfather didn’t believe in fiberglass fishing poles or rod holders for that matter. His choice of rods were always bamboo- single piece at that he hand held during a day of trolling. They were bulky and each one had a Penn reel attached. Each Penn reel was loaded a little differently too. One reel had wire, the others Dacron or monofilament mainlines, each designed for fishing different levels the water column. One rod that particularly fascinated me was a thick 8-sided bamboo rod of roughly 4-feet in length. Attached to this was a large circular reel, big wooden handles, and yards of braided stainless steel wire line wound around somewhat of a small arbor- the Pflueger Pakron. This rod was the “deep” rod and was weighted with a window sash to reach depths and drag the bottom were the “big ones” swam. This was my first introduction to “meat lining.”

   As strange as all this may sound I somewhat learned to fish the way fishing was conducted in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The exceptions being: (1) monofilament wasn’t in use at the time, (2) the “meat line” was a hand line thrown over the stern of the boat, and (3) grandpa had traded in his cuttyhunk (pure Irish linen)(or hand twisted Irish flax) for thin diameter Dacron.

  Although rarely spoken of these days, Wollochet Bay has been center stage for over 70-years for anglers “in the know.” In his book, Salmon Fishing on Puget Sound (1947), Harry W. Howard, lists Wollochet Bay as one of the top angling spots in Puget Sound beating out such locales as: Port Angeles (Ediz Hook), Port Gamble, Gig Harbor, and even Possession Point. Unfortunately, or depending on your view, media attention to other locations has drawn much away from this South Sound hot spot (or entire South Sound for that matter) over the years. However, history always seems to repeat itself in one form or another and the fishing at “Wollochet” can still be phenomenal for those willing to head out during the winter months.

   Wollochet Bay has been a solid producer fish of for me. Why? The answer is simply the amount of forage in the area nearly year around. Mid to late December brings a lot of herring to the area in anticipation of spawning during January and February within Wollochet Bay itself. Unfortunately within the last few years, Marine Area 13 closed to fishing in February (let‘s hope this changes), and this was the ultimate time to be on the water chasing some large blackmouth during the spawning period. Additionally, Wollochet Bay is also a great spot to fish if the weather is less than desirable as this spot is one the most well protected locales in the entire Puget Sound. Anglers can fish somewhat comfortably in a small 16-18 foot boats with winds to roughly 20-knots. I know first hand as I have done it plenty of times in my old Smokercraft and never felt uneasy about being on the water during inclement weather… and I am about as safety conscious as one can get! My only recommendation would be launching at the “Wollochet” or Fox Island ramp during the high winds as crossing the Narrows will definitely put you at risk to “abeam“ seas. Another note of caution on both of these ramps- both are unimproved (no dock). The “Wollochet” ramp more often than not requires the use of 4WD as the sand can become soft during lower tide periods and the Fox Island ramp is very rough.

   For years anglers have considered Wollochet Bay a “barren land” lacking fish and forage. I am not sure why they believe this, but year after year, this location proves to be consistent during the herring spawning period.

Strategies and Techniques

   Since I have provided a well-guarded secret on forage spawning and timing, it makes good practical sense to fish Wollochet Bay in mid-December through January. Like clockwork, year after year, pre-spawning herring start congregating just outside the mouth of Wollochet Bay (designated holding area) in strong numbers around the 20^th of December. This holding area can stretch from Point Fosdick northwest past Ketners Point on Fox Island however, I find the majority of the larger schools will be located between the outer entrance to Wollochet Bay over to the old ferry terminal on Fox Island and south/southeast of Ketners Point.

   With many anglers fishing just the mouth of Wollochet Bay in a back and forth trolling pattern, surprisingly the majority of my fish are caught much further into the bay itself- sometimes as shallow as 50 to 60-feet deep in the upper reaches. Fortunately, there is more than one trolling pattern within the bay, and as a last ditch effort, I can concentrate trolling outside the bay too.

   Choosing a tide to fish doesn’t present a problem at Wollochet Bay and the angler can be productive on either swing. The flood tide will push herring into the bay during the daylight hours, even more so when the herring spawn; however, most herring spawning occurs at night and therefore a late evening flood tide would probably be the most productive. An ebb tide presents a greater advantage to the angler for various reasons. Mainly:

     1) Herring are forced to seek out less current from Hale Passage and tuck themselves into the bay. Instinctually herring know the bay provides comfort from the strong current as well as food to forage on.

     2) Herring that are in the upper reaches of the bay must now find deeper water as the tide recedes. This allows and angler to cover less water.

     3) An early morning slack to ebb tide can be very productive as herring return to deeper water from the spawning beach areas.

   My normal trolling pattern consists of setting up in Hale Passage in 80-feet of water out in front of the “Cromwell Bulkhead“ and following the tide into the bay. This ensures me time to get the gear in the water before I get to the northeastern turn into the bay. This pays big dividends as numerous times I have hit fish just as I cross into the lee of the bay. Additionally, this troll continues well into the bay past the unnamed point that lies to the north without a lot of work on the downriggers- unless there is enough bait in the area to focus my efforts in the immediate area. If there is enough bait to strike my interest, I generally work the area hard in different directions in water ranging from 80-125 feet in depth. If there isn’t enough bait, I continue the troll into the upper reaches of the bay. Just past the unnamed point, I’ll turn out to slightly deeper water and gradually work my way back towards the mouth. This time positioning the boat in 100-feet of water. (This takes a few minutes to find the deeper water, but it starts approximately at the unnamed point.) Once back at the mouth I have the option of trolling this pattern again or fishing the entrance to the bay. This would depend on the amount of bait and fish marked. However, I don’t like wasting a lot of time on the water, and if I didn’t hit a fish, I would definitely opt to fish the entire entrance of the bay.

   Fishing the entrance of Wollochet Bay should be a priority for anyone venturing south to fish in the winter or spring. Outside of the herring spawning times, returning spring salmon hold up here out of the current in April and May as well as a few fall run fish later in the season. Trolling this northwestern/southeastern pattern across the entrance is extremely easy and can be highly productive for blackmouth. It is truly a matter of positioning yourself inside the current line and trolling in water depths of 90 to 135-feet. To the watchful eye, the current line is usually present on the surface, if not, one must be mindful of other indictors such as downrigger wire angle, speed over ground (SOG) if navigation equipment is installed, etc. If I am crunched for fishing time, one trolling pattern I like is trolling further outside the entrance with the current and turning into the lee and fishing in the opposite direction. This allows me to cover twice as much water in half the time.

   Lastly, there might be a time or two when the bait just doesn’t seem to be present in the above locations or if it is, not concentrated and the fish are responding either. There are three things you can do before calling it quits:

   1) Running directly to the other side of Hale Passage has been a day saver on numerous occasions. The area I fish is out in front of the old Fox Island terminal and for good reason- Ketners Point on Fox Island provides a wonderful lee for bait to stack up in this area. Although the water immediately out in front of the old ferry terminal usually provides the most catches, this water can be effectively fished all the way to Fox Point! That’s a good three miles of trolling!

   2) With your gear out of the water and sonar on, make a few runs out into Hale Passage and see if you can locate the larger schools of herring. It is there- somewhere! You’ll probably run across quite a few larger schools. If you find sizeable numbers, position yourself down current of these schools and troll back and forth perpendicular to the tide as herring almost always travel with the tide- especially stronger currents.

   3) If you don’t want to run out into the open water or across Hale Passage, you might try giving the southeastern portion of the bay a shot as spawning herring are generally somewhere within the bay at any given time. However, based on my experiences, I haven’t had much luck finding large schools of herring or catch a lot of fish on this side of the bay for some reason. Therefore, I don’t frequent this side as much anymore.

   An angler will find tackle for Wollochet Bay includes a wide variety of lures and plugs including plug cut herring. More often than not, your favorite or “go to” will reward you nicely here as the fish are not tremendously selective despite the amount of bait in the water. However, I would recommend scaling down the size of your presentation slightly and offering the fish something in the 2 ½ to 4-inch range. The fish seem to like the smaller baits rather than offering the “natural size” in the water (4-6 inches). I am not sure why this might be given the amount of natural forage in the water, I can only theorize these baits are “different” in size and possibly offer “easier prey” to the fish.

   Silver Horde Sonic Edge- Cop Car, Green Splatterback, Chartreuse Splatterback and UV finishes

   Silver Horde Kingfisher- Same as above. Add Army Truck finish

Plugs:

   Tomic, 3-inch Tubby, #140, 160, 534 (UV) 444, 612, 654, 662 and LL pearl Pink (no number assigned)

   Tomic, 4-inch standard, Same as above.

   Captain Downriggin Special (Glow) or (UV Pearl), South Sound Special, UV Herring, Lime Jellyfish, The MOP, and the tried and true 742 pattern.         Remember to scale these down in size. 3 ½-inches seems to be just about right.