Chart courtesy of Captn. Jack's www.capjack.com Click on chart for bigger view Troll area Jig & Mootch area

Point Defiance summer Chinook

Tacoma - Point Defiance the South Sound's most famous salmon hole. If this area could only talk, the stories it would tell, big fish, hundreds of salmon derbies, countless hours of fishing enjoyed by thousands of anglers, the place mooching was developed and fine tuned into a deadly art of northwest fisherman. Best of the entire gateway to the first of the returning summer king runs.
The Clay Banks is the No.1 spot in the Pt. Defiance Area. The Point is the best fishing spot for one pretty simple reason. There's a giant back eddy formed around the point on the outgoing tide when water flows out of the Narrows and around Pt. Defiance. The current forces the bait in to the Clay Banks rip and the salmon follow it there. The drift starts just off Owen Beach on the rip line and runs towards the lighthouse. The kings tend to hold just inside this rip line in the 100-160 ft. depth.
If you're going to mooch, set up your drift just off the picnic area near Owen Beach, get in line with the other boats and drift through the drift working your gear off the bottom. When you pick up, run outside the boats fishing, not through them, and start procedure over again.
The other spots that hold summer returning kings in this area are in front of the Pt. Defiance Lighthouse, in the little pocket and drop-off in front of it. This is normally good on the beginning of the tide change and north of the Point out into the Narrows. The bottom out in the channel is a series of pockets and drop offs that will hold salmon.
On the incoming tide move north and fish the sister hole to Pt. Defiance, Point Dalco on the south end of Vashon Island. The drift here starts in front of the ferry dock in about a 100-ft of water and you drift down to Pt. Dalco. The water increases in depth the closer you get to Point Dalco. Fish are caught along this drift. Trolling just like at the Clay Banks takes place outside the moochers' drift. Trolling too close with downriggers will bring angry calls and one-fingered salutes from the mooching crowd.
Best fishing happens at first light, dusk and one hour before to two hours after a tide change.

Mooching herring: The fresh cut plug herring is the number one bait in this neck of the woods. Begin your bait preparation with a sharp knife. Lay the herring on the cutting board with the head to the right, make one clean cut at a 45-degree angle behind the gills with the knife slightly angled toward the tail. Remove the head and viscera from the body cavity. Pre-tie several leaders with Mustad 9263 barbless 2/0-3/0 hooks in 12-14 lb. test Ande mono, about 6-to 8ft. long. Take the first hook and run it through the abdomen and out through the lateral line on the side of the herring, leave it hanging free. Take the top hook, the 3/0, and run it out the top of the spine of the herring near the front of the cut. If you did it right it will spin like a drill bit in the water. Big kings like a tight spinning herring. Add a mooching sinker 2-6 oz. depending on the current and you're good to go. Fish the total water column dropping to the bottom and reeling up slowly or watch your fishfinder and target feeding chinook under the bait schools.

Trolling: HotSpot flashers in green glow with a cutplug herring or whole herring rigged in a helmet are super producers off a downrigger. The B-2 Reef Fisher mini glow squid can also do plenty of damage on summer kings. Spoons like the Silver Horde Kingfisher have been recent arrivals and are gaining in popularity. The old tried and true produce, the salmon plug, is still fished hard here. White and green have been good color choices.
One tip to keep in mind that has paid off for me in the 28 years I have fished this area for kings is: unlike blackmouth you don't necessarily find ocean returning kings always on the bottom, this is especially true in the morning hours. I have caught countless fish over the years trolling 40-60 ft down on the downrigger. These migratory fish heading back to the Puyallup River, Nisqually River and Chambers Creek will often travel in the mid water column.
Look for the first of the Puyallup fish to show in the middle of July through the end of August. When the fishing starts to die near Pt. Defiance anglers will often move east and fish the Puyallup River mouth. Fish will stage here before heading up the river. This area opens on 1 August and over the years has proven to be an excellent fishery.



Pt. Defiance Summer Kings

Who to call: Pt. Defiance Boathouse 253-591-5325

Launches & boats: Are available at Pt. Defiance and Narrows Marina. Rental boats are available at the Pt. Defiance Boathouse 253-591-5325. Pt. Defiance ramp is the most popular and the closest. Narrows Marina is a short run from just south of the Narrows Bridge. There is a launch in Gig Harbor but it does not have a dock and parking is limited.

What to bring: Mooching tackle, sinkers, leaders, and fresh herring. Trolling HotSpot flashers, B-2 Squids and Kingfisher spoons.

Salmon University Staff