Pulled the boat over to Mason's Resort at Sekiu on Wednesday. Put the boat in the water and prepped our gear. We were on the water around 6am on Thursday--pulling a 2.8" OG2 on one downrigger and a 3.9" OG2 on the other. (Both lures were blue/black-scales with a fluorescent green strip on the inside.) The 2.8" OG2 seemed to attract primarily shakers. But, the 3.9" lure put us in the money. We finished the morning with two hatchery coho and a large pink salmon. (We lost a couple of nice hatchery cohos at the net--should have had an easy limit.)
That afternoon, we headed out again around 4pm. (Almost all of our fishing was in front of Slip Point.) The water was a little on the rough side; but, we decided to give it a try. I hooked what I believe was the largest coho I've tangled with to date. It took line like a chinook; but, it came tumbling out of the water multiple times like a silver. Played that fish for ten-plus minutes. And, finally had it moving towards the boat when it threw the hook about 30 yards behind us. No cigar. But, it was a lot of fun. (This fish also hit the 3.9" OG2 in the blue/black-scales.)
Friday morning, we limited out with three coho and a pink. In addition, we also released at least 8 good-sized native coho. On Friday, the 3.9" OG2 in fluorescent white/black scales with a green stripe was the most productive lure.
Saturday morning was a repeat of Thursday. Three fish in the ice box. (We lost a nice fourth hatchery fish at the net.)
We were trolling in 500-600 feet of water with 40 to 70 feet on the downrigger cable and 60 feet of line behind the boat. The ideal trolling speed seemed to be around 2.2 to 2.4 mph. For attractors, we were alternating between a green/chrome Big Al's and a couple of 11" flashers with the echip.
Below is a video that gives a quick snapshot of the trip:
