From my googling, it seems that blackmouth inhabit the sound year round. Is this something anyone targets throughout the winter? How big do they get? Something you would need a solid spey cast to reach?
I have never targeted them but the last couple of times ive poked my head into docs to see what was going on there were gear guys chucking stuff for blackmouths at high tide. Looked like buzz bombs and jigs.
Up here in Area 9 they are fishing for them off of Mid Channel Bank; roughly on line from Marrowstone Point to the Point Wilson Light, mooching and trolling, with downriggers, 40-50 feet deep on "the bank", 80-120 feet on the bottom and off of the edge of the bank ledge. They are rigging flashers and lures/bait to run just off of the bottom, to ten feet above the bottom. Fishing from the beaches with a fly you could get one, though often these winter fish are not full adults or are under legal size. And you could catch yourself a Steelhead this time of year too.
I've caught small ones from various beaches before, but the biggest was only about 8 pounds and most were 2-5 pounds. But a fun surprise when fishing for searuns! Bull Candy patterns worked well for them.
There are a couple of places that seem to put out a few every year. I've also caught quit a few in the summer while coho fishing. Most a 4-8 lbs. My largest was 7 lbs. Largest I've ever seen caught beautiful 12 lb fish that came from MA 13. What a great fish and I was glad I was there witness it being caught. If you put in your time, you might be rewarded for your efforts.
A friend of mine caught a nice caught a nice one on lightweight jigging gear. He was in a boat, but not to far from shore.
I've caught a couple of them incidentally while casting flies from the beach for cutthroats and rezzies. I used to catch a lot more of them years ago though mooching herring from a boat, but we were specifically targeting them in deep water back then.
The largest blackmouth caught in Puget Sound was over thirty pounds; definitely an exceptional fish. The problem for the fly angler, particularly fishing from the beach is the depth at which they normally feed; often exceeding 100 feet. They will occasionally feed in shallower water along the beaches but most fly-caught blackmouth are incidental/accidental. Most of these accidental catches seem to occur in the spring (perhaps coinciding with the sandlance hatch?). My best fish was a 9-pounder taken at Lincoln Park some years ago.
