New Gig Harbor Resident

[Major Backlash]

Hi folks,

I am an old (68 but spry) bass fisherman and am new (moved here in August 2012) to WA, to salt water fishing. I am interested in hiring a guide / kindly fisherman willing to take me under wing for Area 13. Need to learn the wheres whens whats and hows associated with fishing this area for trout, salmon, those flat fish - from a boat (haven't bought one yet) and fishing from shore / piers in and about area 13 (S of the T-N Bridge) . Essentially, catching fish is great but mostly I have lots of questions... navigation, shore locations, types of rods/reels and terminal tackle. ALSO .... where in the heck can I find a TACKLE (not Fly Shop) store in the Gig Harbor / Tacoma area? Big 5 in Gig has a joke for a fishing department.

FYI... I have a half dozen bait casting bass rods, a 9' Salmon rod, a 7' medium heavy spinning rod with long cast spool, and a few other lite tackle rigs. Terminal tackle for salt fishing - nada!

Interested in learning area 13 particularly because these are what I consider to be my home waters..

Thanks.....
Major Backlash ( aka John )

[BentRod]

Welcome to Washington!
Gig Harbor is a beautiful town. You're asking for a lot of info, so don't think I can cover it all, but can help get you started.
There are a lot of small lakes around the entire area that hold trout, kokanee, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, crappie, and even tiger muskie....along with assorted pan fish. I suggest looking on a map of your area to find local lakes and then cross reference them on the lake index on this site to find out about access and what fish species are in the lake.
As for the Sound, the WDFW site has a public fishing pier list http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/piers/all.html.
Fox Island has one that I've driven down to, but never fished from. Chartering a guide would definitely be helpful in learning some basics, but if you want to do some research first, try visiting http://www.salmonuniversity.com. Both sites have some very good info on how to target our fishy friends.
If you're interested in river fishing for Steelhead, you can visit their sister site http://www.steelheaduniversity.com
I don't know about fishing tackle in Gig Harbor aside from that there used to be a True Value Hardware downtown that used to have a good selection, but it's been a long time since I've been there, so not sure if it's still there or not.
Tacoma undoubtedly has some good ones. You can also go to Sportco in Fife or Cabela's in Lacey. A bit of a drive, but good selection. Sportco is geared towards our local area and Cabela's is just large.
Again, welcome and hope you get to sample some of the great fisheries in the area.
Do us a favor and post reports or toss in some advice on the WL forums from time to time!
Cheers,
BR

[obryan214]

sportco in fife and wholesale sports in lacey are where I do most of my shopping.
fishing from shore in this area isn't something I'm too familair with but you can rent a boat at pt. defiance boathouse in tacoma. i'm not sure what they charge though. we're still doing well on coho with a couple blackmouth and mature kings coming in at the point and slagpile. I fish crescent lake often also but the shore access there sucks.

[narrows11]

I live in Gig Harbor as well for trout Horseshoe lake and Crescent lake are two good ones theres also a few good lakes in the KP Horseshoe also has good bass fishing as well as Long Lake which is in Port Orchard Theres pretty good salmon fishing by the purdy spit during parts of the year and i have also heard of a lot of people fishing for cutthroats on the spit The Puyallup River has good salmon fishing especially during the pink runs and if your into combat fishing the Minter Creek Chum run is always a lot of fun! hope to see you out some time!

[natetreat]

I grew up in Olympia and spent a lot of time fishing out there. In the salt there are lots of dogfish, lings and perch to be had, and in season you'll find coho and chum milling about. I fished mainly the deep south 13, Eld and Totten inlets, the reef on the far side of the island.

As for salmon and steelhead, you're not that far away from the thick of it down there. I love those rivers and small streams. Across the water you've got the Puyallup for your salmon fix, and the Skok behind you about an hour. Every year I live north I get more and more nostalgic about fishing the rivers down south.

[Major Backlash]

Thanks Folks... your info is appreciated.

AND...... SportCo..... Holy Smokes whatta store. Not 15 minutes from home. If they don't have it.... you don't need it!

[geljockey]

Just saw this post. There is a fly shop in Gig Harbor. It's called the Gig Harbor Fly Shop. It's on Harborview Drive and a very short walk from Skanie Brothers Park.

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