It’s a wee bit early, but anglers are beginning to catch albacore off the Washington coast.
Just got a fishing report from John Keizer at Saltpatrol.com who teamed up with Rob Tobeck of The Outdoor Line for a little tuna run yesterday, Sunday, July 10.
JOHN KEIZER BROKE IN THE 2011 TUNA SEASON WITH 10 OVER THE SIDE OF HIS SALT PATROL BOAT. (SALTPATROL.COM)
They headed 40 miles southwest of Westport, found “water was as flat as a mill pond” as well as “several jumpers chasing bait.”
“Stop and dropped live bait hooked up a couple,” Keizer says. “Worked the area around 46.27.020 X 124.57.570 — 59-62 degree water and caught 10 tuna.”
Besides live bait — see the July issue of Northwest Sportsman, on newsstands now, for the lowdown — the well-known Washington saltwater angler reports catching tuna on jigs and swimbaits, and by trolling.
He says most of the fish went from 20 to 28 pounds, “nice size for this time of year!”
CAP'N KEIZER HOLDS UP AN EARLY-SEASON ALBIE OUT OF WESTPORT. (SALTPATROL.COM)
Wendy Beeghley, a Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife catch sampler in Montesano, says fishing usually gets going by the third week of July, but anglers are getting better and better at catching tuna and going out earlier and earlier.
“We just started seeing them last week,” she says. “Not a lot of numbers — 10 in a catch, that was the biggest.”
Says Keizer, “Let the season begin!”
UPDATE: Ambush Charters out of Newport, Ore., has posted pics of an alba-haul from yesterday on their Facebook page.
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