©2009 John Abbott and Captain Downriggin’s

It is easy to get distracted with the hungry barking seals, eagles soaring above, the hum of diesels coming from the Washington State ferries, and Seattle‘s beautiful backdrop against the Cascade Mountain Range at first light.  But as you launch the boat from the Manchester ramp the smell of fresh salt air will seem all to familiar, often fully awakening you before the thermos of coffee is finished and the first line is wet.  Yet, this is only a small fraction of what you can expect to experience.

During my 20-plus year tenure of active duty service in the United States Navy working in the visual communications and navigation fields I was very fortunate to have spent a little over half of my career stationed in Bremerton, Washington.  With immediate access to numerous charts, both paper and digital, on navigation systems valued in excess of millions of dollars, I was able to scour extremely detailed bathymetric (bottom) contours of the entire Puget Sound during my naval career- memorizing them for future use.  Although there were more well known fishing grounds, Kingston to the north and Dolphin Point (if open) to the southeast, Manchester and the immediate surrounding areas were a favorite of mine due to ease coupled with the phenomenal fishing. However, the one area that always intrigued me was Bainbridge Reef which I had seen hundreds of times on charts navigating in and out of Rich Passage.

Well over-shadowed by locals fishing the stretch from the [Manchester] fuel south to Yukon Harbor, Bainbridge Reef is a great location if the fish are not cooperating.

Strategies for blackmouth

“The Reef” as it has become to be known is located approximately 47° 34’ 05” N - 122° 31’ 07” W (red bouy no.“4”) and marks both the east entrance to Rich Passage and the end of this underwater point; which extends out from the southern end of Bainbridge Island near Beans Point. On a ebb tide forage either pushes over the top of the reef are around the underwater point seeking the lee current. Because tidal flows can be strong, forage will often hold here until something pushes further east.

The bottom substrate is rocky, a tackle collector, and anglers should use caution fishing the shallow outer edges of this prime underwater structure to avoid hanging the downrigger weights on the rocks. Although forage can hang tight to the shallower edges, anglers should focus on water in depths of 90 to 120-feet. Not only will there be more forage in these depths, but the bottom substrate is less rocky and turns more to sand and mud. These depths also present themselves as the top edge of some very quick drop offs.

“The Reef” is strictly an ebb tide fishery and will be best fished from high slack until 60 to 90-minutes after the change. There are a couple different way to fishing here. The first being setting up the first troll just south of the bouy and traveling around the reef to the northeast towards the beach. If you are fishing smaller tide

swings, trolling back and forth along the eastern ledges seem to be the most effective pattern. On larger swings the tolling path will usually include working the entire beach line to Restoration Point as current speeds will have the boat “crabbing.”

Best Times To Fish

In recent years Marine Area 10 has had it’s seasons cut short due to various negotiations during the North of Falcon (NOF) process. This is unfortunate as some of the best fishing is had just after the first of the year and April. However, don’t let this discourage you from fishing here October to December.

There’s limited opportunities for returning ocean going chinook, coho, and chums in the Manchester/Bainbridge Reef areas. Most anglers will head to either Point Southworth or Point Vashon for returning Chinook orYukon Harbor for

Tackle

Spoons: With fishing taking place primarily in the fall my custom spoons will be a huge producer.  The Acid Bath stands out perfectly against the darker days and the fish will have no problem finding it. One brighter days the Wicked Herring, Red Racer or Jailbait should bring a “notch” on your catch record card. Silver Horde’s Kingfisher spoons are always a great bet too.

Hoochies: Rest assured the Captain Downriggin’s Special! This bait takes a lot of blackmouth and is a top producer in this area. You can also add a size 4 Spin N’ Glo to any of the Blackmouth Bites series and expect a fish in the box.

Plugs: The immediate areas around Manchester are usually teaming with schools of forage and plugs are always a good choice when this is the case. Plugs also help weed out the numerous shakers that frequent this area. I first pick for plug selection would be a 3-inch Tomic Tubby in the famous #140 color scheme (bright white) followed by #602 or #603. The Tubby style pushes a lot of water and drives the blackies crazy due to their erratic movements.