Memorial weekend had finally come and the Hawken family, and friends, were headed to Ilwaco for some red hot bottom fishing and crabbing. The first day, we were greeted with 4ft waves at 7 seconds with a south west wind of 15 to 20 KT. While a lot of boats decided to stay in that day, we hit the Bar and went out fishing. The Simon boat performed flawlessly, and we were on the fishing grounds in no time.

It took about 30 minutes and it was game on. We found a rock formation and quickly dialed in with the drift. The minute lead hit bottom, it was fish on!

It didn’t take long for the fish box to start filling up.

After about 2 hours of fishing, we decided it was time to head in due to the worsening weather. The trip back in to the Port of Ilwaco was uneventful, and it was time to start cleaning fish.

Many hand makes light work!

With the fish filleted and the boat cleaned up, it wasn’t long till the baseball gloves were brought out.

After a night of good company and fish tacos, we went to sleep, eager to get out on the water again.

Day two, it was time to go fishing! With a substantially better Bar Report, it didn’t take long and we were back on top of the rock formation from the previous day. Within the first minute, it was fish on! We caught a mix of Cabezone, Greenlings, Lingcod, and Sea Bass. With the biggest being a 24 pound Lingcod caught by Riley Hawken.

The fishing was red hot and it took us about 2 hours to catch our limit and fill the fish box completely full.

With a break in the action, a selfie was a must!

After a quick jog back into the harbor, it was time to clean some fish! It took just as long to clean them, as it did to catch them.

With a successful trip to Ilwaco under our belts, we loaded up the boat and headed home. It wouldn’t take long and the truck was filled with conversation of the upcoming buoy 10 fishery in July.

Till next time Ilwaco!

I would just like to say thank you to all the men and women who serve/have served for this country. Truly honorable and amazing what you have done for all of us.

Hope you all had a great Memorial weekend!