Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey everyone so I know shrimp season is this coming weekend. I really want to try it for the first time so wanted to see if there is anyone who does well out there. Not looking for you to tell me spots. Just want to know how deep am i suppose to go and drop the pots in, what kind of bait, how long to leave them down for. Really appreciate if anyone can help. I probably will be going out of golden gardens. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

I dont know where Golden Gardens is - Seattle area? You will have no problem finding the hot spots - there will be hundreds of pot floats in the area.

You will most likely be in 200-300 feet of water, so you need lots of lead rope and extra weight in the pots. Do NOT use regular floating lines or they will fowl someones prop and you will loose your gear. You will want a minimum of 400 ft of line to fish 300 ft of water. Try not to drop too close to other pots or the lines will get tangled in the tide swings. I like to drop when there is less current so check the tide charts. All my pots have an extra 20# of lead weight attached.

Be sure your gear/license/boat and catch is ALL legal - the wardens and the Coast Guard and the Sheriffs boats like to patrol the busy places. And they check EVERYTHING. So read the regs carefully.

As far as bait I just use the pellets and some of the liquid sauce stuff from Cabellas etc and they seem to work fine.

Oh - I pull pots about every hour. I usually drop 4 pots, so by the time I have all 4 down I just have time to catch my breath and start bringing them back up. Depending on the tides and currents I can usually get at least two to three drops before the current gets too bad. A lot depends on where you are.

If you dont have an electric pot puller - oh boy are you gonna get some exercise! Bring good gloves that work well when wet. Maybe some extra asprin too....
Good Luck and above all - be safe out there!!

Thank you Larry3215. Yes it is seattle area. That'd alot of good information. I figured it will be that deep and yes I will be using lead rope. I have been working on having everything legal. Got my boat license ,fishing license , all safety gear for boat, now just need to get pots and set them up.

I dont think I will be going out opening day so I'll have time to get stuff ready.

I do have a tide chart, and I do check the weather alot. I dont like going out when it's rough.
I dont have an electric pot puller, so yes I know what kind of work out i'm in for. But I will have 2 other people with me so we will definitely be taking turns. We talked about it already
Thank you again and good luck if you go out shrimping!

There are three or four popular spots in Elliot Bay. Like I said - just look for the zillion other bouys.

Also - be sure to stay away from the ferry routes! Lots of idiots drop right in the way of the Ferry every year. Thats a big time fine and dangerous thing to do. The route is marked on the charts but you need a GPS to be sure you're out of the way. Your phone might work well enough if you dont have a chart plotter.

Also - Salmon University and John Sporting Goods website have some good articles on shrimping.

http://salmonuniversity.com/archives/ta ... and-shrimp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look around Johns site - he has articles and maps.

https://johnssportinggoods.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for the articles. The area I was thinking of trying ferry does not go by. Atleast I never saw one times I've been out. But I will make sure. Thank you for your help.

Good luck with your first shrimping effort. I fish Hood Canal, so the regs might be different, but in the Canal, you only have 4 days to fish each year, so skipping a day is big. I am able to fish in about 270' and I think you can only fish 2 pots per person, with a maximum of 4 pots per boat, regardless of the number of licenses. Again, the Canal might well be different, but these are the sorts of things you should check. I too pull about every hour. Longer might be better if you are slamming them but you also want to know if they just aren't there and waiting more than an hour to find out, is a big chunk of the 'day'. Also, that 'day' is only 9:00 am - 1:00 pm, so you have to move quickly. Also, there is a limit of 80 shrimp per person, regardless of how long you have been fishing. It is a great time but be very familiar with the rules! One more thing: canned cat food is a huge plus!

Really only 4 days. Why does it say through end of may And then June through October? I'll have to read more. Thank you And I will be reading the regs carefully.

Yup - read them very carefully. The regs vary from one place to another.

If you have questions, ask here.

Honda Gas Pot Puller/Davet $1000
Mount to boat $300
4 400; lead line sets $300
4 buoy markers $120
4 pots $320
Lead for pots $200
Bait (ground mackeral/cat food $50
Inital set up fee (hand pulling
is brutal!) $2290

Days open south sound 1
Days open north sound 2

Limit 80
4 limits 320

Price per shrimp $7.15

Why did I every start doing this?!

I love this.......isn't that the truth though.

Wait what do you mean only 1 day open? Or 2. Really?

Puget and Hood Canal is gone for another year- sure wish we had more opprotunity. I made it out twice.

Areas in the straits are still open and I hope to try area 6 soon. 40 shrimp fill a 2 gallon bag



Crab pink and coonstripe shrimp open soon.

Five areas of Puget Sound opening in June
for recreational crabbing
OLYMPIA – Five areas of Puget Sound will open for summer recreational crab-fishing seasons in June, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.
State and tribal fishery managers concur that legal-size Dungeness crab will reach hard-shell condition by the June opening dates, allowing those areas to open a month earlier than most other crab fisheries in Puget Sound.
Areas scheduled to open in June include:

•Marine Area 13 (south Puget Sound): Open 6 a.m. June 2 through Sept. 5. Crabbing will be allowed Thursdays through Mondays each week; closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
•Marine Areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu) and 12 (Hood Canal): Open 6 a.m. June 16 through Sept. 5. Crabbing will be allowed Thursdays through Mondays each week; closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
•The northern section of Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet): Open a.m. June 16 through Sept. 5 in waters north of the Hood Canal Bridge to a line connecting Foulweather Bluff to Olele Point. Crabbing will be allowed Thursdays through Mondays each week; closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Most other areas of the Sound will open for recreational crab fishing in July and August, although test fisheries are scheduled in coming weeks to determine whether those fisheries can open sooner, said Rich Childers, WDFW shellfish policy lead.
"We'll send out a schedule for crab fisheries throughout Puget Sound in the coming weeks, but there was no good reason to hold off on these areas," Childers said. "Sport crabbers in these areas have fallen short of reaching their catch quota in recent years, so we can afford to give them more time to fish during the upcoming season."
Childers noted that test fisheries in Hood Canal continue to show that crab are far more abundant north of Ayock Point than in the southern end of the canal.
"We will continue to monitor the crab population throughout the canal, but current indications are that crabbing will be much better in the north end," he said.
All areas open for crab fishing are posted on WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The website includes details on fishing regulations, as well as an educational video on crabbing.
The daily limit for crab fishers throughout Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6¼ inches. Fishers may keep six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least 5 inches across.
Crab fishers may not set or pull shellfish gear from a vessel from one hour after official sunset to one hour before official sunrise. All shellfish gear must be removed from the water on closed days.
Childers reminds Puget Sound crabbers that they are required to record their harvest of Dungeness crab on their catch record cards immediately after retaining crab. Separate catch record cards are issued for the summer and winter seasons.
Catch record cards are not required to fish for Dungeness crab in the Columbia River or on the Washington coast.

May 31, 2016

Daily limit increase in Marine Areas 6 and 7 West; non-spot shrimp fishing reopening in several areas of Puget Sound
Action: The daily bag limit is increasing to 160 shrimp for all species (including spot shrimp) in Marine Areas 6 and 7 West. Open daily.
In addition, Marine Areas 8-1, 8-2, 9 and 11 are reopening for recreational coonstripe and pink shrimp fishing, with a 150-foot maximum fishing depth restriction. Marine Area 7 East is reopening for recreational coonstripe and pink shrimp fishing with a 200-foot maximum fishing depth restriction. And Marine Area 13 is reopening for recreational coonstripe and pink shrimp fishing with a 250-foot maximum fishing depth restriction. Open daily. All spot shrimp caught must be returned to the water immediately.
Effective date: June 1, 2016.
Species affected: All shrimp species.
Location: Marine Areas 6 and 7 West (only) for the daily bag limit increase. Marine Areas 7 East, 8-1, 8-2, 9, 11 and 13 for the coonstripe and pink shrimp reopening.
Reason for action: Sufficient recreational quota remains in Marine Areas 6 and 7 West for raising the daily bag limit on a trial basis. Although the spot shrimp quotas have been reached in Marine Areas 7 East, 8-1, 8-2, 9, 11 and 13 there is sufficient non-spot quota remaining to reopen.
Other information: After May 31 Marine Areas 7 South and 10 are closed for the 2016 season, along with the Hood Canal and Discovery Bay Shrimp Districts (where the last open fishing day was May 30).