Caught in Rough Seas Off Everett

So far we’ve been unsuccessful at kokanee fishing, having only been able to catch them when handed a rod by an expert guide, and only after she had already done everything but reel the poor beast in. Furthermore, after taking my kicker motor out for its first use last weekend, I discovered a suspicious ring of grease around it. I took it into the shop for investigation, and it’s still sitting there waiting to be looked at. So, to bolster our confidence when we couldn’t slow troll, we decided to try for what everybody says are the easiest fish to catch: Puget Sound rock sole (flounders) and sand dabs. The renowned Saltwater Fishing Journal states that “They are fairly easy to catch. If you mess up catching rock sole, you need to find yourself another hobby”. Our plan was to drift off the south end of Hat Island and eat anything we caught today. If we were successful, we would catch some more on Monday and use them as live bait for lingcod (an ambitious goal for newbies).

I checked multiple weather sources: the marine forecast, the standard forecast, and the Windy app. The marine forecast mentioned winds increasing to 12 knots but seas under 1 foot. It looked “good enough” to us. On the way out the seas were a little sporty but nothing unusual. I let my friend’s daughter drive with me standing next to her. It was a little challenging for a 12-year old, but she was much more confident than the first time I let her drive a couple of months ago. We had re-rigged our kokanee rods with inexpensive bottomfish tackle, and when we got close to the island I cut the engine and we dropped our lines. After some time with no luck, we decided to fish closer to the mainland. We crossed Possession Sound again, and were fortunate enough to encounter the Lady Washington under sail.

After that, the seas picked up quite suddenly. By the time we got to our intended spot just off Howarth Park, it suddenly became clear that it was no longer fun or productive to fish. We were experiencing what I had only seen on YouTube so far. Traveling down sea we were slowly riding up onto waves from behind, and then abruptly falling off their faces. When we turned around to face them, they were slapping us hard one after another. Unfortunately, to get back home we had to drive parallel to them, which was badly rolling us back and forth. I drove at angles to the waves whenever possible, zig zagging toward home. It was the worst right by the Navy base, where we took a barrage of splashes to the face. My clothes and glasses got soaked, and the stainless steel steering wheel was so wet it had become kind of slippery. I tried going slow, but quickly found that it was better to stay up at minimum planing speed with the bow up. When we finally entered the channel it became a bit calmer, and the wind helped to blow us to our dock. I later learned that we were fishing too shallow, 30-50 feet when we needed to be 65-100. Ugh. Fishing is hard, and experience is hard to earn.