Puget Sound - knowing when to move spots

[OltHunter]

This has been our first season with a boat out on the sound. We have got coho, pinks, and chinook in the boat, got the sonar dialed in thanks to memebrs here, and got most of the gear one would ever need!  I've learned a lot and read a lot and talked to a lot of great people.

I feel comfortable with all of that, but I'm curious how you all get to a spot and decide it's time to move if it's not productive? I've been trying the before work trips so usually have 3 to 4 hours on the water and focusing on the hour or 2 before and after a tide change.

I went to Jeff's head for the 10 closure and was dealing with grass and sticks most of the time, didnt find any bait, and had 1 hook up that shook on the surface.

Now I know a bite can all of a sudden turn on, but how are you deciding if it's time to stay put or try a new spot?

Are you trolling around 5 to 6 mph first before you drop gear to scout it out?

Are you giving it a few passes with gear in before pulling up and leaving?

Or are you just picking a spot and hashing it out win or lose till you got to go?

Thanks all!

[Crunchy]

I have incoming and outgoing tide spots.  Fish them according to the tides.  Also consider how big of a tide change can also switch things up a bit.

[skidynastar33]

Great question. Friday night we hit Jeff head. Was working a bait line and did 3 passes with plugs with no love. Switched to a spoon and hootchie and doubled up.
Did the bite turn on? Did they not like the plugs? I am not totally sure. I usually work spots depending on tide.

[hollymaster]

A lot of times switching things up can produce. Also think of the path the fish take to get to the spawning grounds.

[Stein]

There are flood spots and there are ebb spots for sure, but you never really know.  Fish are fish and they do what they do without reading our rule books.  It's a game call and you do the best you can.

I would tend to stay put until it's obvious it isn't going to happen or you have too much grass or dogfish.  If you can't keep the grass or dogs off your line it doesn't matter what else is going on.

For most seasons you can pull out binos and see if there are fish being caught within eyesight.

I rarely make big moves as the time and gas and odds of it actually being better almost never pencil out.  Moving from one side of a bar to the other or around an area sometimes pan out but I place a ton of value in having hooks in the water in fishy areas for the most amount of time possible.

[blackpowderhunter]

usually the prime fishing times are such short windows, it's hard to pick a spot...realize it's not producing today and be able to move to another spot during said time window.
Just gotta take time and learn areas for different parts of the tides, have them in your game plan, and go fish!
you'll have good days, and bad days, but as long as you're learning during both days...you'll be all good.
have fun, it's fishing afterall 

[gasman]

I normally fish ,multi rods (more then one fisher) and use different  baits, spoons, flasher, depths until we find what's working. 
Found trolling with the tide works best and "Salmon University" has great maps of the PS on where and how to fish. As well as John Martinez, "Saltwater Journal".

[jeffro]

If you ha e a good depth sounder and know how to read it.
Marking fish and or bait will make me stay put.
An over abundance of seals will make me pull-up and run elsewhere. Usually dragging coho flys at about 10mph, the seals will follow. I lead them to the biggest concentration of boats I can see and then run back to my spot at 50 mph
If I’m marking fish and there is lots of grass and debris, I’ll switch to mooching jigs, herring and buzz bombs.

[CP]

If you ha e a good depth sounder and know how to read it.
Marking fish and or bait will make me stay put.
An over abundance of seals will make me pull-up and run elsewhere. Usually dragging coho flys at about 10mph, the seals will follow. I lead them to the biggest concentration of boats I can see and then run back to my spot at 50 mph
If I’m marking fish and there is lots of grass and debris, I’ll switch to mooching jigs, herring and buzz bombs.

I'm sure the other fishermen appreciate your generosity.

[OltHunter]

Thanks all for the replies and great info. I've got the saltwater journal and read up on the other sources of maps, so I have an idea of where to fish on what tides, depths, and tackle and have sort of put those all together to get on some fish on a decent basis and have some confidence.

But I was just curious how you all were determining when to stay or when to go or if you did any "scouting" trolling without gear in the water.  It seems like I've seen a few boats, come screaming in around me, then move around in the water like 6 to 10 miles an hour and zig zagging around, with no gear in the water.

I think based on opinions, it doesn't make sense on short trips to pull up and run to a whole new spot when the grass, seals, or bait isn't playing well.  Just move deeper, shallower, or east, west to try and bracket something different.  I might try maybe doing a quick high speed check out of grass and bait first, but makes sense to just have the gear in the water and see what happens!

[gasman]

For me, it's more of when it's to crowded, not if the bite is off 

We have  our normal spots here around Tacoma we fish, and crowds will send us else where. Running from one spot to fish to another is seldom  more then 10 minutes away, so it's not uncommon for us to fish 3 or 4 different areas a trip.