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Last Chance La Push Chinook! 2

Oct 04, 2019 by Tom Nelson

Traditionally, October brings birds, bucks and bulls to mind but for my friend and co-worker at 710ESPN Brock Huard, October meant his last chance to put a few salmon in the freezer before the season truly ended. For the last decade, The popular daily morning drive “Brock and Salk Show” has been keeping him in the Seattle studio five days a week. Now that B&S has transitioned to a weekly podcast, Brock can actually get out on the water a little bit more. Brock has a few friends that have been fishing the late season coastal chinook & coho fishery known as the La Push “bubble” for several years and had the fishery fairly dialed in. He was very fired up to go, asked me if I could get my Duckworth Offshore out there and I was already saying “yes” before he finished asking!

First Beach comes into view and the stunning beauty of the La Push coastline makes the ferry ride and drive across the Olympic Penninsula more than worthwhile!
The next stop was the Quileute Harbormaster to get a slip assignment then hit the launch which was merely yards from my slip. Perfect!

The Quileute Oceanside Resort & RV Park offers cabins -basic and deluxe- as well as campsites with hookups for a variety of trailers, campers or motorhomes. When they use the term “oceanside”? Well, it’s definitely NOT hyperbole….

The sunsets over the ocean with James Island in the foreground are all you’ll bother looking at from the comfort of your room or deck and if you wish to get your feet wet in the ocean, the beach is only a few yards away. It would be a gas to get out here and watch a wintertime storm come ashore!

Fortunately, storms were not in our October first forecast. The reports from the fishery both in the Quileute River and out over the bar were very encouraging with good numbers of coho and much larger chinook than in past seasons.

October’s first sunrise comes up and we’ve already got our gear down. It’s hard to blame Brock Huard for taking his eyes off the rod long enough to take in the magnificent view!
The port rod slams down and a hot fall chinook peels line out of the Islander reel but Brock is equal to the challenge and I get the net under this beautiful chrome hen!
The action continued all morning and the fight in these fish surprised us both. After a summer of deep trolling for salmon these shallower-running, bait-biting kings were a very pleasant and welcome surprise!
Brock has not landed a chinook since he joined us in Sitka back in May but it’s clear this athlete’s fish playing talents have not suffered a bit!
The bite continued steadily all morning and by noon we had our four fish limit and the memory of a great day on a flat calm ocean. Some folks ask me why I have a boat with black trim. Well, when you catch a dark male chinook, it looks brighter against a dark background!

The La Push bubble is a limited fall opportunity that is very weather dependent as a southerly can easily close the bar due to rough seas and a big rain will pull these fish rapidly upriver. However, if you hit this fishery right, well…it’s a memorable experience and one that you’ll want to repeat!

Tom Nelson   The Outdoor Line  710 ESPN Seattle Theoutdoorline.com 

Posted in Boating , Destinations , Nelly's New Blog , Outboard Motors , Salmon Fishing Uncategorized
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2 comments

Gary on Oct 10, 2019 at 3:15 am said:

Myself and my partner were out there that day and we saw you fishing in close when we tried to catch our salmon after catching our limits of ling cod and sea bass up at hand rock. When we finally got there for the salmon, the bite was over. I've been a licensed captain for 40 years and skippered charter boats out of Neah Bay and Port Angeles. Since I live here in P.A. it's only a 1 1/2 hr run to La Push. We were mainly out to get our bottom fish for the freezer although salmon would of been nice too. Good job. Gary Gorss Gary's Custom Rods & Repair Port Angeles, Wa.98362 360-452-8155

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Jim on Oct 07, 2019 at 11:33 pm said:

A new to me fishery, and I have been around a long time. LaPush is a long tow, but sure looks worth it when the weather / ocean / fish all come together. Beautiful !

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