Westport Salmon

My son Noah and I have been trying to catch a salmon in Puget Sound for years. We are shorebound anglers, and I have caught a couple of small salmon from the beach. However, my poor son has never caught one. Tired of failure, I decided to take him on a charterboat out of Westport, WA for a little salmon fishing on the Pacific Ocean. We also took my dad on the trip because he has always wanted to fish for salmon on the ocean. We left the dock at 6 in the morning and endured a 105 minute boat ride to the salmon grounds. When we arrived, Captain Rhett explained that we would be mooching for salmon. Mooching is a technique for salmon that is simple and fun to do. We used a cut plug herring on a tandem hook rig dangling on a six foot leader beneath a 4 ounce weight. The angler slowly lets out line to the depth the fish are at, and reels up to the surface at a moderate speed. The herring will spin in a circle like it was dieing, and the salmon can't resist that presentation. After explaining the technique, we dropped the lines and started fishing. Noah hooked up with a fish in five minutes but lost it after a tough fight. We were into fish all day. With 20 fishermen on the charterboat "Slammer", the cries of "FISH ON!" were heard often. We took home six fish, and my Dad and I caught multiple fish. Noah only boated on fish, but hooked up with several and had great fun. We caught Chinook and Coho. It was a great eight hour trip.