Taking it to the Limit - Spring fishing update - Looking ahead near term

Now that May is over and June upon us, I'm taking advantage of a day off the water today due to winds/rain/weather to update everybody on the status of Season 7.

Our catches throughout most of May have been absolutely phenomenal with us returning to port with limit after limit (after limit!) of coho salmon. There were many trips in May where the fishing and catching was so fast that we could hardly keep up. Some of you reading this witnessed the fast action.

May of 2014 is one for the books and has been the best spring fishing I have seen since returning to the industry as a captain seven years ago and better, on a day over day, trip over trip basis than I can remember in my first-mate days back in 1986-1993. Many of the captains that have been fishing much longer than me say it's been some of the best they have ever seen too.

The excellent fishing this spring could not have fit any better with how I planned to carry out a somewhat new approach to my seasons; to schedule as much business and fish about as much as possible from the beginning of the season in early April until about mid-June. Without scheduling hardly any days or even afternoons off and letting weather be the reason for keeping me off the water. The philosophy behind that thinking evolved from taking advantage of the usually good spring fishing in both the morning and afternoon as well as my high energy levels in which I start each season. The plan has been executed well with fishing being as good as it gets, pretty mild weather in April and May that cancelled us only a few times, and business levels at at full capacity. A very busy schedule remains over the next couple of weeks until I begin to run many more 6 and 8-hour morning charters nearly every day while being more selective as to how many afternoon trips I run. When it's hot out, it's harder for me to run twice a day and the afternoon fishing in the summer usually is not as good as in the morning.

One little snag that occurred in this plan is the physical toll it takes on a body. While not exactly heavy lifting, this is a very physical and exhausting occupation from sunrise to sunset and all the many other duties that need to be taken care of in between. I still drop weight during the season and I had to auger another hole in my belt last week. In the meantime, I developed a condition in the heel of my foot called plantar fasciitis with nerve damage that had me hobbling around on the dock and deck for a few days, unable to apply hardly any pressure on that area of my foot. Fishing through the pain and still limping a little, after several doctor appointments and more to come, two cortisone shots (right in the heel), some special stretching and icing, and ultrasound therapy, I'm on the mend there and I'm hopeful the rest of the season will turn limp-free so I can look forward to enjoying some hiking back in Yosemite and Redwood NP's in November.

Back to fishing though. The outstanding catches could not last forever and we are beginning the annual transition from spring to summer. What this means is fewer coho but more kings, steelhead, and lake trout. Our catches have remained pretty good still over the past week but we are not coming back to port early with the kind of crazy numbers we saw in May. Spring is not over however and we can see some excellent coho fishing to come still. And we hope that potential is fulfilled with some increasing catches of large king salmon and steelhead.

I'll start to wrap up the letter here by telling you that the Photo Album on the website has been updated. There are plenty of fish photos as well as sunrise shots and also a few of a windless afternoon last week when we did battle with swarms of gnats that descended on us in biblical proportions. We have bug days on the water sometimes but I have never seen anything like this. I had to fix a bandanna around my face to keep them out of my nose and mouth while my customers sought shelter and hid in the cabin for some relative relief.

Available spots to fish on the weekends over June, July, and August are down to just a few afternoons left. Some weekday morning availability still remains but what is left will go quickly in the next two weeks. Beyond that, don't forget about the the second half of September and first two weeks of October where we go offshore (5-10 miles) and fish for a combination of 3-year old, 5-15lb king salmon and also huge lake trout on offshore structures which proved very successful last season.

As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to 'Like' the Windycitysalmon Facebook page which I update just about every day with photos and comments.

Attached are a few of the updated photos.

Capt Rick