October 19th, 2021: The original plan for the day was to try some coho fishing on the Duwamish River but when I arrived the river was glass smooth, not a salmon or fisherman to be seen. I'm still too new to that system to know if it was a timing issue with netting downstream or if its an earlier coho run compared to other rivers.
Plan B was running back home and loading up a crab pot and fishing rod to take advantage of the winter crab season. Its not every year but if the combined recreation/commercial harvest in the summer falls below the quota, then a fall/winter window opens up in some lucky units. Not the time of year I'm excited to jump in the kayak but the piers are quiet with the rush of summers only hinted at by the grooves in the rail from many, many past crab pots. I picked the old Mukilteo ferry area because it was the shortest walk from an open parking space.
I was using the classic crab bait: razor clam guts and pink salmon carcasses for my ring pot and throwing small jigs for the flounder. The pier didn't stick out as far as I would have liked, I could see my pot sitting on the bottom, it always looked empty and yet I did get a couple keepers (both Dungeness and red rock). Unfortunately, there were also a collection of single and no claw red crabs lurking in the area which suggested poachers at work taking the meatiest part of crab and then tossing them back... My best catch of the day was a starfish who deserves serious props for his effort. I was pulling the pot every 15-20 minutes so he must have been one hungry dude. Not even a nibble on the flounder side of things so back to youtube to get more educated.
Mukilteo doesn't have much of a waterfront, less than a mile of the town is on the ocean side of the tracks, but it packs a lot of history in a little space. The first picture below shows a 1950's Air Force fuel terminal which is now just empty concrete pads. The first ferry service to Whidbey Island started back in the 1920s but now has a brand new building just a tad to the north. Plus there is a 1906 lighthouse and an Ivar's! I don't need the crabbing competition but I recommend a visit February-June.
