Wayne Kruse’s Pick of the Week: Neah Bay kings

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 19, 2017

By Wayne Kruse

For The Herald

The last couple weeks of July have traditionally been the time to make the long drive to Neah Bay (one of the most scenic stretches of road in the state, by the way, if you take Highway 112 out of Port Angeles) for king salmon. This is the time summer chinook are moving down the coast toward the Columbia River, and anglers out of Neah Bay capitalize on “drop-in” fish, as well as those turning left toward Puget Sound rivers.

And fishing has been good, according to Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) spokesman Cameron Moore in Neah Bay, particularly for those with boats large enough to run out to Swiftsure Bank.

“Lots of limits coming off Swiftsure right now,” Moore said. “Better than Skagway, although guys have been doing pretty well there, too.”

Skagway has been putting out some larger kings in the 25- to 27-pound range, he said. The “inside” fishery has been slow.

Most fishermen have been pulling bait, since most of the fish have been feeding on herring, Moore said, some using a flasher, and about an equal number going with herring alone.

Chinook results so far have been good enough that the quota may be met and the fishery closed earlier than the mid-September ending date, Moore said.