Boat Care and Fishing Savvy in Puget Sound

[OltHunter]

I've had the luxury of fishing Puget Sound for salmon for most of my life...on other people's boats.  They captained, dealt with boat launches, crowds, and care after the trip.  I just had to man my line and reel in fish and call it a day.

My family got our first fishing boat recently, primarily going to be used in salt water for salmon.

I'm wondering if any of you could shed some light, insight, tips for me on a few things:

          1. Caring for your boat/trailer and truck once you take it out of the salt water and bring it home, what should I be doing? 
          2. Any unwritten rules or savvy about trolling/mooching in crowds and right of ways?  I don't want to be that guy that...

I've got some young toddlers so figure I have about 2 season to get it all figured out before I start to bring them on board for some salmon fishing. 

Thanks all! 

[h20hunter]

Handle your business at launch and take out. Prep is not done 9n the launch.

Know up front that every time you dunk it in the salt you are putting wear and tear on your boat and motors. Pretty harsh environment  if you think about.

Relax.....running your own boat is 100% different than going along. You become the guide.

Mix it up. Sleep in and go crabbing sometimes instead of 3am alarm and odark hundred runs to the grounds.

Light tackle and flatfish are frankly a lot of fun.

Don't sweat a small scratch.

Be safe and make sure your fuel is topped off and batteries in good condition. I use a trickle charger.

Take folks.....take someone that normally may not have access. Crab is usually plentiful and it is really rewarding to share.

[Mfowl]

Take your boat/trailer to a freshwater launch and back it down the ramp, run the motors thouroughly and rinse it down inside and out. Before you leave, back your trailer further in than you need to launch your boat and try to flush it out of the saltwater. I usually rinse my rods/reels/lures while doing this as well.

[CP]

Flush your motors - a hose works.
Wash the salt off your boat and trailer
learn the rules of the road - (you will be in the minority if you actually know what side to pass on)
learn to back your trailer before you take it to the launch
parking lights only when launching

[Viking360]

When your trolling, pay attention to what direction everyone else is trolling, don't be the guy crossing in front of other boats or if you are mooching do not drive up and stop in front of someone trolling and drop your lines, dick move, seen it many times.  Also I use Salt Away when rinsing my motors, you can get it on Amazon. Everything that touches salt water should be rinsed with fresh water and that includes your truck.

[Alchase]

When mooching with the current at the end of a run, pick up and drive around everyone back to where you want to start your mooch run again. To many think because their boat is capable of doing 50 MPH, they need to do it right through all the other boats. Be conscious of all the smaller boats who may not enjoy your wake. When trolling, think ahead of time which side you should pass on. If Someone is playing a fish, do not crowd in. You never know when a nice King will ripoff some line or which direction they will run. Basically be courteous and aware of your fellow boaters.

[funkster]

Handle your business at launch and take out. Prep is not done 9n the launch.

Know up front that every time you dunk it in the salt you are putting wear and tear on your boat and motors. Pretty harsh environment  if you think about.

Relax.....running your own boat is 100% different than going along. You become the guide.

Mix it up. Sleep in and go crabbing sometimes instead of 3am alarm and odark hundred runs to the grounds.

Light tackle and flatfish are frankly a lot of fun.

Don't sweat a small scratch.

Be safe and make sure your fuel is topped off and batteries in good condition. I use a trickle charger.

Take folks.....take someone that normally may not have access. Crab is usually plentiful and it is really rewarding to share.

For sure, the boat ramp or dock is not the place to load gear. Remember when retrieving, most boat launches have a tie down lane.

Flush your motors - a hose works.
Wash the salt off your boat and trailer
learn the rules of the road - (you will be in the minority if you actually know what side to pass on)
learn to back your trailer before you take it to the launch
parking lights only when launching

It is a great idea to go out at practice trailering, backing and launching your boat. Get familiar and comfortable with it. This will save you a lot of stress, headache and the potential middle finger. You’ll find yourself almost alone on a cloudy mid day.  Also once you’re in the water, use stationary buoys to get comfortable using your controls, this will help when you have to dock, jockey or pick up pot buoys!

One more important factor is watching the tides.

Have you gotten your boaters license?

[WSU]

Having everything ready the night before and finishing loading before you are clogging the launch will help avoid mishaps and forgotten items.  You end up getting in a hurry and forgetting gear, straps, plugs, etc.  Get organized ahead of time so you don't make mistakes when you are tired at 4 in the morning and in a rush.

[Skillet]

Great suggestions, a few more-

Inline fuel/water separator should be as standard as lifejackets on any boat in the salt. They're cheap.  Keep extra filters on board.  And a filter wrench.

Pair of binos on board almost as important. (Be subtle when checking other boats gear tho  ).

CorrosionX (or similar) on ALL electrical connections.  Loosen nuts (or spade connectors), hit with small spray, wiggle to work it in there, retighten.  I go through a can a year just doing maintenance.

Get a VHF radio, learn how to use it, including your weather channels.
Also download and learn to use the free WindyTY app.  It is pretty good at predicting localized conditions.

Don't let the workaday world force you into questionable decisions about what you and your boat can handle weather-wise.  Be realistic about what is safe for you and your family.

If you do get caught out in a blow,  try and avoid opposing wind and tide areas when the wind kicks up.  Some of the nastiest chop I've seen is in the Puget Sound on opposing wind & tide.   Give notorious points a wide berth at these times.  Sometimes it takes several miles out before you get clean water to run in.

Finally, be on the lookout for ships and ferries.  They move a lot faster than you think. If crossing behind a ferry at a dock,  check its propwash. When it goes calm, the ferry is coming out. Give it plenty of space.

 

[OltHunter]

What great responses and helpful info!  Thanks all and keep it coming if anyone else thinks of anything, this is awesome!

I should have mentioned I have a lot of experience with trailers and backing up so I'm not worried about that but all the other info about boat launches is very useful.  My in-laws live on a lake and I'm the dedicated launcher and trailer-er, but I've never had to deal with long launch lines or being in a rush.

And yes I have my boaters license, and have ran a ski boat quite a bit on lakes around the state.  But again, never has it been my boat.

The boat has a VHF radio and I've got all the safety gear in hand, I'm paranoid about all that stuff, especially with kids so will have it all dialed in.

Ordered some Salt-Away today and sounds like I'm going to order some inline water/fuel separators too!  I have one of those motor/hose attachments to run motors out of the water and will be able to flush it too.

[WSU]

Where do you live and where do you plan to fish?

[funkster]

Olthunter, it sounds like you’re  a responsible person and safety is high on your list especially with the kidos! Mixed in with your general water knowledge, sounds like you’ll do just fine!

[Switchback]

I have a pretty small boat, and the biggest issue for me was figuring out how far to back the trailer in when taking the boat out. It's one of the things you can't really practice except at the boat launch. The first few times I had the trailer backed in just a few inches too far, and it made loading take an extra couple minutes. We finally one day had a clear ramp, so I took extra time and experimented with trailer depth until I found the sweet spot and took a reference point on my front roller (it's about half submerged). Now I can always back it to that reference point and loading goes smoothly. So when loading the first few times, pick a reference point (further up the trailer is better), and take note of where it is (under/above water or partway submerged) and if loading was easier/harder than the last time. Then when you find the sweet spot it's easy to replicate, and it seems to work on ramps with different angles.

Of course, I could just be an idiot and maybe nobody else had this problem. But when I was putting the trailer too far in, it was tough to get the boat seated properly. And too far out, I had to really run the motor (or crash into the trailer) to get it loaded.

[OltHunter]

Where do you live and where do you plan to fish?

I'm on the Eastside (Seattle) and plan to primarily hit 10, 9, and 8-2 out of Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Everett.

[h20hunter]

Skip the mukilteo launch.  Terrible. Very exposed and easily worth bypassing and launching in Everett. I would not use Muk if you paid me.