Fishing with Dad at Dash Point Dock – Saturday, August 27, 2011

5:49A.M. - Oops!!!!  I can’t believe I woke up “late” with regard to fishing at Dash Point.  The general rule is that if you’re not in line by 5:15A.M., you will be hard pressed to find a place to park, and parking is very limited here.

6:20A.M. – We arrived at Dash Point and much to my surprise, there were quite a few empty parking spaces.  Shortly after parking, I got our gear ready and taught my dad the ropes of combat fishing from a dock.  He seemed to adapt fairly quickly after he made a few underhand casts.  He chose to start off with a buzz bomb and I chose a homemade jig.



Learning the ropes of jigging a buzz bomb.

Fishing was pretty good from the start, as I saw school after school pass by.  However, our initial luck was not too good.  Despite having the benefit of polarized glasses to see approaching schools of pinks before others could, and strategically placing our lures, we just couldn’t make the final connection.  The pinks were ignoring my dad’s buzz bomb and I kept blowing every opportunity from the strike to the hook up, and to fish on.  It was not a fun place to be when folks on either side of you are hooking up and catching fish successfully.  I was 0 for 5 before I knew it.  Talk about pathetic!


8:30A.M. – The tide was still rolling out and we had hit the doldrums if you were fishing the side of the dock facing the wading anglers.  Most of the action was now taking place at the front of the dock facing the deeper water.

11:00A.M. – I was ready to call it quits and bummed that I didn’t get him into fish.  However, my dad didn’t feel like giving up just yet.  It was shortly after this that I finally hooked and landed our first pink.  This renewed his vigor and fueled determination to catch at least one because he didn’t want to go home skunked.  I love that attitude and spirit!  He continued fishing while I cleaned the fish I caught.

12:00P.M. – At the stroke of the bell at noon, he threw down in front of a school and got his first hook up.  The salmon he had at the other end of the line was very feisty and was pulling out a lot of line.  By the way it fought and surged, you would have thought it was a chum.  The entire battle from fish on to fish landed had my dad’s heart beating quickly and pumping hard.  Thankfully, my dad brought her in successfully.



Dad with his first saltwater Pink off the dock at Dash Point.

We had to leave after that and were home soon afterward. All in all it was a great time spent together.



Way to go, dad!



Dash Point, WA

IB that's a cool post ! I have lots' of those good memories with my dad. Thanks for sharing. I wouldn't begin to know how to fish elbow to elbow. LOL

Yeah, that's "combat fishing" for you guys.  Grim, it is crowded but you and any of us bass anglers would adapt very quickly.  Basically the schools of salmon swim near the pier and you have to skillfully pitch your lure ahead of them and in a way that won't spook the school. Bass anglers have an edge here casting wise. Since underhanded casting (you'd get nasty looks if you overhand cast when it's crowded or don't pitch straight out) is a necessary bass angling skill you'd already be ahead of the curve.

Just don't copy my 0 for 5 batting record.  I think I've been too fixed on drop shotting such that I haven't "set the hook" for real in a very long time. 

Nice Catch!!!!