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Sequim Bay

4K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  Jim Wallace 
#1 ·
Off the wall question as I am not familiar with this area... Sequim Bay itself... we will be visiting non-fishing friends nearby. Is there fly fishing in the bay itself or do you need to go outside the bay and into the San Juan Straights (Dungeness Bay, etc.) ? I was wondering if, on a calm day, is Sequim Bay float tubeable or is that simple insane? Again, apologies for my ignorance. Insights appreciated.
Thanks !!
 
#3 ·
Soooo.... float tubing is an option there, I may assume? Hummm... maybe I need an extra day or two to explore. I fish freshwater and this would be out of my norm by far. I don't even know what I would fish for (yes, "fish", but beyond that...). Blackmouth? Halibut (on a 5 or 6wt fly rod... oh, yeah.. or not) or... gawd knows what. I'm not keeping anything but I would like a photo of anything silly enough to take a fly. Insights appreciated.
 
#5 ·
Soooo.... float tubing is an option there, I may assume? Hummm... maybe I need an extra day or two to explore. I fish freshwater and this would be out of my norm by far. I don't even know what I would fish for (yes, "fish", but beyond that...). Blackmouth? Halibut (on a 5 or 6wt fly rod... oh, yeah.. or not) or... gawd knows what. I'm not keeping anything but I would like a photo of anything silly enough to take a fly. Insights appreciated.
Well sure float tubing is an option but in general at this time of year before the migratory salmon start running the fun around there is in catching searrun cutthroat trout. So some ideas for you on that would be to look up threads that Bob Triggs, Leland Miyawki, Roger Stephens, and others have posted, not to mention books like Les Johnson's.

Those fish love knee to 15 feet of water depths, love currents, and in general not the best things to have to navigate Puget Sound waters in a float tube. It's serious water out there, 4-season cold too. You're better off in a real boat, a kayak, or better still on shore so you can cover a bunch a ground, follow the currents as the tides change and so on. Your freshwater setup should do fine and clouserish patterns are a good place to start.

I would leave the halibut and blackmouth alone if you're more of a freshwater fisherman with a 5-6wt. And be fair warned the searrun is an in-the-water (not on the rocks + in the water) only photo with a barbless hook catch and release deal. You can get your license at Fred Meyer or online http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/

But seriously guides up there can make a sorta interesting day into an awesome day, possibly even one involving your friends. And as for spending a couple of extra days, you'd be crazy not to, that part of this world is awesome.

Alternatively if your plans are flexible, consider coming back in late August, not far from where you will be that place will be hopping with fish, fish that will, as Katy Perry says re Californians, Melt your Popsicle...

Which incidentally is a pretty good fly to tie up either now or then...
 
#8 ·
Port Williams is a boat launch just northeast of Sequim and just outside the mouth of Sequim Bay. It can provide access to several miles of beach both to the north and south and one can usually find cutthroat somewhere along there.
That's kind of rough boat launch there, more suitable for smaller trailered skiffs. It is not maintained, and is pretty slick. I wouldn't recommend launching a larger craft from there, like a cabin cruiser or anything very heavy. Car-toppers and kayaks, and smaller trailered rigs are more suited here. Larger boats can easily be launched at John Wayne Marina in Sequim Bay, which has some nice facilities, to boot.

The park at Port Williams has a couple of pit toilets. A couple of picnic tables. I can't remember if there is any potable water or faucets. I don't think so, since I always have rinsed my reel back at my rig with fresh water i've brought along, or dipped it in a nearby run-off trickle.
Its a nice little county park where locals like to walk their dogs up and down the beach. They carry doggy doo bags and scoop the turds, though, and there is hardly any litter along there. Its a nice beach for a mellow walk, unless you don't like dogs.

The beach is backed by high eroding clay banks to the NW. About 3/4 mile up that way, one encounters Grays Marsh Farm property which is posted No Trespassing.
To the SE, one walks about a mile to the mouth of the bay, and as you walk down the beach and eventually around into the entrance, you come to the outfall of the Bell Creek estuary lagoon, and beyond there the beach segues into marsh, and is posted No Trespassing, too. From there, you have to retrace your route back to the park.
The property above and beyond the berm along the beach to the SE of Port Williams is private, too. The entire marsh area surrounding the Bell Creek estuary is a private reserve, but you can walk the public beach down to where the Bell Creek lagoon empties in, which is right inside the mouth of the bay, after which the land is private and posted.
So you have about 3/4 mile of beach to the NW, and about 1 1/4 miles of beach to the SE to explore.

Its not the best or most consistent cutthroat fishing in the area, but my Dad lives a little over a mile from there, so its an easy hit when I'm up there for a visit.

We have to cut some slack in regards to the Ancient One's use of the term "several miles of beach.":D I know how distances seem to get longer, as I grow older.
 
#10 ·
Its a regular non-stop salad bar there for sure, on the Port Williams side of the bay's entrance. The outgoing current concentrates the salad against the beach, which is on the outer side of the bend there, and it can get really thick, as all of the salad leaving the bay goes by there right in the zone you want to cast into. A stripping basket is handy.
A sea lion or two usually shows up to see what's going on. Waders are good to have, due to the boat traffic and wakes.

None of that should faze you, since a fly rod lends purpose to a beach walk there, especially if you don't have a dog.
 
#14 ·
I fish Port Williams quite a bit and it can be hit or miss. Another option if your staying in Sequim is driving over to Indian Island and fishing the Cut.
 
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