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Cape Alava
 Charts courtesy of Captn. Jack's www.capjack.com Click on any chart for a bigger view |
has for the past several years been one of Washington's top producing ocean salmon fisheries. Located between the ports of Neah Bay and LaPush it does take a little running to reach but the trip can be well worth the trip. This area seems to hold tons of baitfish and hungry schools of salmon are right there feeding heavy on it. Top fishing is July-August with around the middle of July peak for large chinook and later in the month prime time for large coho. I have had by best luck trolling this area with downriggers watching birds feeding or locating schools of herring on the sonar and targeting the bottom of herring balls with my tackle.
My best luck on larger fish from 30-41 pounds by slow trolling herring 30-35 ft off the downriggers early in the morning. The larger purple label size works the best. I would rigged them on 5/0-6/0 Owner hooks on 6ft. of 25lb test leader. Brine the herring good before using so they will hold up trolling, especially if the ocean is rough.
When the fishing slowed I would forget the bait and started trolling large ProChip flashers with green spatter back hootchies tied on 45-inches of 50 lb. leader with 6/0 Owner hooks.
Most of the kings we took later in day when the sun was high came from trolling the riggers down 140-160ft.in 250 ft of water.
Things to watch out for fishing here are it's the ocean; the weather can change fast, ensure your boat is in top mechanic shape before you leave the dock and have a VHF radio and proper safety equipment onboard. Double double-check the weather before leaving the dock and top off your vessels fuel every day as you will burn much more in rough ocean conditions.
Winds typical will pickup in the afternoons and can make for a rough ride back to port.
Salmon University Staff