Fishing Report, Whitney Charters

 Hello,

There's still plenty of space between fish out there but with the help of the warm water it's made the search a little easier. Good numbers of nice kings have been showing up anywhere from 60 to 120 FOW. Most of the fish are coming on meat rigs or paddles and flies fished from about 35 - 70 feet down on riggers, 200 - 300 foot coppers and high divers from 90 - 150 back. The most consistent combo has been the big white paddle with fish scale tape and a Frosted Fern, Illusion or Oceana fly. I can't really point to a particular meat rig as almost everyone I have has had a good trip or 2 but then dies. The Moo Moo behind both 8 and 10" White/fish scale tape Spin Dr.'s get my vote early and late but that's the only combo that's taken a hit or 2 every time I run it.  There are some nice steelhead in the area as well and I've had good success with standard sized Dreamweavers, Super Slims and Stingray sized Stingers in the Fireball, UV Jäger Bomb and Rodman patterns. Honorable mention also goes to the UV Michigan Dolphin and Shanster patterns. These baits have been taking fish on my highest rigger, 150 copper and high divers. On calm nights we've also taken several fish that were enjoying a warm bath in 70+ degree water, including a lake trout, on 1 and 2 color lead cores pulling Jawbreakers.
The fish in the shallower waters have been shutting down pretty early but heading west has been a pretty reliable tactic and I've marked well and caught fish all the way out to 270 FOW. As you move out its been pretty much a spoon bite for me as my meat rigs and paddle/fly combos have struck out in deep water. The spoons listed above have been good outside and we've taken all 5 species of our target fish in deeper waters. We even found a nice brown the other night to complete the list. 
It's been a very busy two weeks on the water for me and as my tired eyes can hardly see the screen I'm wrapping up this report. Enjoy the warm, rocky watered, full blue mooned Coast Guard Festival and I'll see you (you'll look a little blurry though) on the water!
Matt