I had a wonderful group out from New Jersey and Scotland on Saturday. The wind was light, so I went to Thrasher to get in some Ling fishing. The current was very strong, 1.7 knots, and it was difficult to keep the gear vertical. We were using 8 ounce sliding sinkers and 5 inch herring as bait. As we came out of the 50 foot mark, we caught two really nice Chinook. One was about 10 pounds, the other over 20. They just fought like crazy on the light tackle, with no flasher. Ironically, a gentleman that fished with me in March gave me 100 tied salmon leaders, so I’m using barbless hooks, even when pursuing bottom fish. This made releasing the Chinook easy, which was great! This really made me want to do some jigging, and trolling small plugs on the structure, while the fish are inhabiting the shallower depths. Grande to Whalebone still holds lots of Chinook at 160 to 180 feet on the riggers, using Killy MaGee or Mongoose spoons.
Ling fishing has been good in the 40 to 50 foot depths. Herring, plastics, or jigs are all worthwhile baits.
The commercial prawning ended on June 10th. We fished the 11th, and were pleasantly surprised with about 80 prawns per trap.
Good fishing!