Neah Bay
by Dexter

Neah Bay now holds a place in my mind that I will always cherish. It's almost a magical and sacred place for any angler who wishes to experience the saltwater opportunities in the Pacific Northwest. Gamefishin.com has been making an annual pilgrimage to Neah Bay for several years. It has been the most anticipated trip every year - the one trip not to be missed. I took heed of the stories and advice by the ones who has been there and made sure that I would have ample time to spend at Neah Bay.

We arrived on a Friday afternoon and waited by the marina for the Gamefishin.com crew to come in. We observed anglers of all types come in with coolers full of fish and on their way to the fish cleaning station. Having seen wheel barrels full of fish was enough to get me excited for my adventure for the following day. Finally, the Gamefishin.com crew arrived from the day's fishing and all I could see were big smiles. One look at Bruce's fish covered deck or John's stuffed cooler and I could tell that the boys had a successful day out on the water. Wow, was all I could think to myself. I just stood there in awe, gazing at all the fish (LingCod, Halibut, various Rockfish, and Cabezon) strewn all over Bruce's Trophy boat.

My anticipation was running high as I tossed and turned on the bed trying to get some sleep. Of course, all I could think about was my turn to fish. The day finally came and Kandi and I were at the boat slip at the designated time. A few minutes to fill up our tanks with gas and we were on our way with 4 other boats in tow. I reveled in the feeling that on the 3 other boats following us were all our friends and all had one common goal for the first half of the morning. - Catch our limits of Halibut. On our way to the Halibut grounds we came across a huge pod of Dolphins (maybe they were Porpoises) and a Gray Whale. It was a calm morning mixed with fog and cloudy skies. Nevertheless, the run to the fishing grounds was smoother than I expected. We spent a few hours at the Halibut hole with Bruce and Bug picking up 2 fish. All Kandi and I can muster were a couple of DogFish. We also learned that we needed a bigger reel with better gears to help turn the crank while hoisting 3-4 lb. weights over 300+ deep waters. A Penn 340 GTI seemed to be the norm.

By noon we were headed to spots closer to shore for some bottom fishing action. This was also my very first glimpse of the many bottom fish species found up and down the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Soon enough, I was hoisting fish (Sea bass and Cabezon) into the boat as fast as I could drop my jig. We were able to find schools of sea bass and catch our limits in no time at all. We had many occasions were we had multiple hook-ups. Bruce elected to try to catch the bigger LingCod by employing other tactics - he was successful. When he had a hook up I knew it would be a large fish. I would just automatically drop my rod and grab the gaff ready to help. We had our limit of Lings in no time and then concentrated on the rest of the bottom fish. It was a kick in the pants catching the bottom fish species with medium/heavy gear. I highly recommend rods rated with this action and paired with either a medium to large capacity spinning reel or casting reel. My particular set-up was spooled with 17 and 25 test line. For large Lings, heavier action rods and large capacity reels would be appropriate. Wire leaders might be a good idea since this fish has some sharp teeth.

With the boat loaded with our limits of fish and with aching arms and tired bodies we headed back to the marina. We took our time as we motored past the rugged and beautiful landscape along the shoreline. It's hard to describe the feelings and thoughts that I had while at Neah Bay. One thing is for certain; it'll be on my yearly list of thing to do.