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Jet Ski Fishing in the Pacific Northwest

This story comes to us from chixwithtrix.com. The story tells us a little about Spencer from Pacific Northwest Jetski Fishing. Spencer owned his first jet ski close to 20 years ago while stationed in Virginia Beach. It was a 1991 750 Yamaha 2-stroke and he liked to spend time in the bay looking for boat wakes to jump. Wake jumping is enjoyable. When Spencer left the military he sold his jet ski so he could pay for his college tuition in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Fifteen years later, he became obsessed with fishing after one of his friends took him out to fish for salmon in the Columbia River. Soon after, the guys hit the Pacific Ocean to catch rockfish. The rockfish trip led to tuna fishing and shortly thereafter, Spencer tired of waiting for his friend’s schedules to match his own for fishing trips on their boats so he bought a kayak and fished along the coast.

The years wore on and he fished some tournaments and still that wasn’t enough. Another buddy brought up the idea of fishing form a personal watercraft and Spencer was captivated with the idea. He reminisced about the good times he had on his ski in Virginia.

He soon realized that he could reach more fishing spots on a jet ski. A kayak just wasn’t doing it for him. Kayaks don’t go as fast and require a lot of energy as opposed to the speed of a jet ski. Sure, a ski is tough on the body, yet it’s powered by gas and can get through waves and more water in less time than paddling a kayak. He and his buddy worked on outfitting their skis for the purpose of fishing. Their rigs were built for toughness so they could launch from obscure places and move through areas that boats weren’t capable. Their machines put them in waters rarely fished so the taking was bountiful. As Spencer wrote, “It really is impossible to not have fun fishing from a jet ski…if the fishing is slow, you’re on a jet ski, in the ocean…”

Ocean Priselac
Ocean Priselac
An avid mountain and bodyboarder who lives by "if you don't go, you'll never know," with an affinity for wildlife and animal rescue; surf forecasting is a huge part of Ocean's life and was a winner in Red Bull's Project Swell several years ago. The 2014 LB2CAT was her first jet ski competition and can't wait to do it again!

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Could you add some info on his navigation and communications equipment?

    Photo seems to show a Satellite phone or a GPS navigator.

    Also, it would be interesting to know about the precautions, measures and survival gear taken to ensure safe return to land.

    • Safety is the top priority for sure, but there’s also no shortage of calculated risk involved either…the Pacific Northwest Ocean can be very unforgiving of error. The main safeguards I use up here would be dressing for emersion, I use the USIA ProRafter dry suit layered with polypro to stay dry and warm. GPS enabled fishfinder, Navonics App for GPS maps on my phone in a dry bag in my life vest. Stationary VHF radio mounted on the ski, and a hand held. As well as a personal location beacon. This gives redundancy for navigation and communication. A fair amount of these topics I’ve talked about on the website linked in the article: pnwjetskifishing.com

  2. Kent,

    It looks like we need wet suits for the Pacific fishing trip. Maybe we try the salmon fishing first in the Columbia River un towards Portland.

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