(SFR) Best base for year-round SW fishing?

[Walt K]

Hi, all. Been reading this board for a few months now and finally decided to register and see if you'd indulge a stupid question. My wife and I plan to retire to Washington (we're now in the "other" Washington) in a year or two and have been doing some househunting in the Gig Harbor and Kitsap areas. I like to fly fish from a boat in the Chesapeake Bay (there's very little fishing from shore here) and plan to do a lot more in Washington upon retirement. The boat would be moored rather than trailered, so having a home port close to a year-round fishery is important. If you could live anywhere on the Sound, where would you live if you wanted to be able to fish in the Sound on a boat throughout the year? Thanks for any input, and I'd be happy to provide info regarding the southern Maryland portion of the Chesapeake to anyone with questions.

P.S. You don't have to worry about me taking your fish since (1) I mostly C&R, and (2) I ain't that good a fisherman ... :)

[Stonefish]

Walt,
Gig Harbor would be a great choice in my opinion. Blackmouth, migrating and resident silvers and sea run cutts all within easy striking distance of there.
Brian

[Scott Salzer]

I concur about Gig Harbor. Another option might on the Steilacoom side, like Days Island. Good access to the The Narrows, and across the channel to Fox Island, Hale Passage & Carr inlet. Olympia might be a little farther south than you want to go.

[Teeg Stouffer]

They're in the process of creating a new bridge across the narrows, which connects Tacoma to Gig Harbor. Upon completion, that will be a toll bridge. So it would cost you, then, to come to the Seattle / Tacoma / Olympia side (or a very long drive). If you want access to the cities, you want to live on the east side.

Personally, I look forward to the day when I don't need access to things like airports and shopping malls. If that's you, then yeah - the Gig Harbor side. Property values on Kitsap peninsula are relatively affordable (but then, compared to DC, probably everything appears to be) and there are some neat places over there.

[Walt K]

Thanks for the responses! We were out looking in August and didn't see a whole lot of houses for sale in the Gig Harbor area. The nice thing about having a year or two to search is that we can wait for the right property. And you'd be surprised about relative "affordability" compared to DC. We thought we'd be able to trade up a little, but it appears that speculators buying multiple houses have done a fine job of driving the prices up in antcipation of our move ...

I've already learned quite a bit by reading your forum and will look forward to participating.

[Bob Triggs]

Check out Port Townsend!

But I promise you, you will miss those stripers back home every fall.

[gt]

i would suggest you check out the weather for various locations in western WA as an aid to making your decision. if you pick the 'wrong' location, you will be in the gray gloom for months on end during the winter months.

[Walt K]

We actually did look in the Pt. Townsend area. Believe it or not, there aren't any cardiologists in the hospital up there (retirement planning is so much fun ...), and we'd also like convenient access to some larger city. From what I understand, that pretty much rules out a lot of the Banana Belt, so we may need to learn to deal with the gray gloom. Any good local microclimate info out there?

[Blake]

My wife and I are currently looking for a home in Gig Harbor as well. With that said, the housing market has slowed down since August and people are cutting prices like crazy since houses aren't selling and interest rates are going up. You might want to wait a little bit and see if housing drops a little bit more.
Also if you plan on moving in the next two years, I would recommend buying a house around the holidays. The holidays are always the worst time of year to sell a house (I'm experiencing this now) but for a buyer that could be a really good thing.

[ibn]

Gig Harbor sounds like a good fit for you. You might consider picking up a smaller boat that you can trailer, there are a ton of boat launches around the puget sound. It's really a hit and miss fishery that requires a lot of exploration and notation about when and where you caught what.

If I were in your shoes I'd consider moving to Sequim (Port Angeles would be the closest "big city"). It's got a nice rainshadow so it's not dumping and as grey there, you're within an hour drive to some of the best steelhead and salmon rivers in the state, and even closer to the Dungeness which can be good for salmon and dollies. Most importantly you have better access to the straits of juan de fuca, which in my opinion better saltwater fishing then the puget sound does. You wont see as many searun cutthroat as you do in the sound, but you have rockfish, more migrating salmon that are more apt to eat your fly, and there is a healthy population of halibut.

I grew up out here, then moved to Baltimore for a while, then ended up coming back because I missed the mild weather and good fishing. I love it here, you're in for a treat if you enjoy the outdoors and can handle the grey winters.

[Mike McCluskey]

There was an intersting article in today's Seattle PI about housing prices. Not sure about Gig Harbor, but it seems to be not increasing as much as has been.....but I haven't seen any cutting in prices!

[gt]

the olympic mtns rain shadow also impacts a part of whidbey island if that's any closer in for you. don't know about medical care on the island, but you would be a short ferry ride from seattle metro.

[Walt K]

According to their website, there are a couple of cardiologists at the Whidbey hospital ... How's the fishing up there?

[Stonefish]

Walt,
One other area you may want to check out is the Miller Bay / Indianola area. Not far from Poulsbo, Silverdale or Bremerton.
Brian

[Old Man]

Since you are still in the looking phase you ought to try the Seattle area. There are numerous small towns in the area with good access to many hospitals. If the rivers ain't open the lakes are and if the lakes ain't open the salt beaches are.

Jim

[Dan]

Jim,

What about the Everett area? I see lots of traffic that far on the interstate these days, so people must be commuting from there to the Seattle metro area. Is Everett still in the "banana belt"?

[Jerry Daschofsky]

Gig Harbor's prices are stabalizing, but I wouldn't say dropping. All you damned Californians are the ones causing the high price jumps anyways ;) LOL. Actually, prices have skyrocketed. In about a 2 year period the costs of houses have over doubled in most of the true "Gig Harbor" area (that is incorporated GH, not the outlying smaller towns like Cromwell, Artondale, KPS/KPN, etc). The house I had looked into buying before I blew my back out has almost tripled in price now that it's back on the market (that was only 2 years ago mind you). Some prices have dropped, but not much (most were that the people have WAY overpriced their properties). Most I've seen for sale on my route though have sold VERY fast. Now, outlying areas may be a slower sell.

Teeg, can tell you haven't been over into the Harbor much. You really don't need to go and access Tacoma as much. All the major shopping places are now building up in GH. By the time the bridge is up and running, you'll have quite alot of the same shopping centers you'll find in Tacoma (buidling a new park as we speak on my route in fact, including a Barnes and Nobles and several other small shops).

I'm sure living on the east coast, they have experienced their share of tolls. To some, not a biggie. Key is since they are retiring out here, won't be too much of a problem. They can drive up into Silverdale if they want a mall VS. Tacoma/Seattle. Plus, some very good Cardiologists (and other doctors/dentists) in the "incorporated" Gig Harbor area. Have quite a few on my route alone (Olympic Pharmacy building is chock full of top doctors actually).

I'd actually still like to move out to Gig Harbor. But problem is UPS keeps changing their minds about building a center out there. So until they do, I don't want to move out there. Since I'm working, I'd have to commute WITH traffic to get my UPS truck, just to drive it back to GH, then go back to Fife to rehit the commute again with traffic. I'd rather just live over here for now (NE Tacoma) until something finalizes. Hopefully I'll be able to afford something over there by then. LOL.

[Blake]

Interest rates just went up and go up on the 13th to 6.25%. With that you can expect housing prices to dip. The bummer about moving right now is that my current loan I have fixed at 3.625% :eek: and jumping up to 6% is going to hurt!

[Mike McCluskey]

Unfortunately, Macro Economics is an inexact science; in fact, many call it an art! There are so many variables in the housing market, it is difficult to say X event will produce Y results. That, and we need a lot more one armed economists!

There is alsways a segment of the population that is moving or getting into houses in for some reason or another. As well, there are many varying markets within the overall US Market. I have worked in a treasury capacity for a large bank for several years, and it is incredibly insightful. The consumer markets don't always behave like the economic models say they should.

Wow Blake, is that some sort of fixed for a set amount of years? That is an incredibly low rate!

Macker

[Blake]

My dad is a financial planner and has a lendor in Seattle he works closely with. I think it's World Savings, not sure. But I guess it was a mixture of the timing and my credit.
If you guys didn't see this news headline on yahoo check this out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051207/ap_on_bi_ge/economic_forecast

[Stephen Rice]

Another location you might want to consider is the Vancouver Washington Area. Your close to Portland and Vancouver which both have excellent hospitals and the Housing is a little cheaper down here. as far as Fishing we have everything ! you can take your boat out on the Columbia, which is good for Salmon, Sturgeon, Steelhead, Bass etc.. we also have the Kalama, Cowlitz, the Lewis, the Klickitat, the Washougal, the Elochoman all good rivers for Salmon, Steelhead and Sea Run Cutthroats. If you need a big City Portland is just 20 minutes away. it's no Seattle but it has everything Seattle has without the Population. Also we have some pretty good lakes. most of which are stocked with Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroats. I used to live just north of Seattle in Edmonds(Great town by the way) and I prefer it down here. We get less Gloomy Days too !.Good luck on your choices and where ever you end up just know the guys here on the site will welcome you ! :D
p.s. Another good Benny is that there is no Sales Tax in Portland.

[Walt K]

Well, we're actually looking in the Vancouver area, too (isn't it nice not be tied down anywhere?). Let's see, live in WA with no income tax, and shop in OR with no sales tax. I'm sure WA is thrilled with that ...

I do appreciate the suggestions all of you have offered. We'll be in Bellevue visiting family over Christmas and may look up and down the east side of the Sound to get a feel for the different areas there.

[gigharborflyfisher]

The Gig Harbor area is a pretty good base for SW fishing, usually you can go out to the sound anytime of the year with a fairly good chance of catching something. Also the Olympic Mountains and cascades are each within an hour and a half of GH, which can provide some good trout fishing. The major draw back for the area though is the amount of traffic on Hwy 16...

[Walt K]

Well, looks like we'll be reconnoitering Vashon Island the Friday before Christmas. You native Vashonites (?) be merciful if you see a couple in a rental car looking confused ...