In terms of direction, Weist makes a point of either trolling with the tide or crisscrossing it. Don’t go against the tide --fighting it, you won’t cover enough ground and will limit your chances of finding fish.

If the tide’s really running, fish it like a river -- going down with the tide, then picking up and running back up to start again. Then, depending on boat traffic, crisscross the tide on your way back to the start. But don’t go against it. Once you hit a fish, mark that on your GPS, and try to hit that same spot again.

FURTHER NORTH
The south Sound has no monopoly on summer kings. One famous fishery (or infamous, depending on the catch) is for kings that bounce around near the Tulalip Bubble in Marina Area 8-2, between Hermosa Point and Mission Beach just northwest of Marysville. Most anglers launch out of Everett to fish the Bubble.

This fishery typically opens up on weekends, including Fridays and half-Mondays starting in early June, when the rest of Marina Area 8.2 isn’t yet open. (Consult your regs.) The fishing can be hot or cold at any given time. The two hours before dawn are usually the best time to fish.

What makes fishing the Bubble worthwhile during the slow times -- which can be agonizingly frequent -- is the magnificent size of the kings you do hook. Fish exceeding 20 pounds are common.

Another tradition is mooching or trolling at Jeff Head in Marine Area 10, just across from Shilshole Marina. It’s primarily for coho, but also produces kings, which you must release.

Once open, this area’s early-summer catch-and-release fishing can be excellent. Admiralty Inlet, Marine Area 9, is usually closed to summer chinook, but open for winter blackmouth.

The lingcod opener in May can provide excellent sport. One proven way to get at these big, pugnacious bottom fish is to fill a livewell with sand dabs off West Point near Shilshole, then come back into Elliott Bay and rig them on a two-treble-hook rig. Put one barb of each treble through the back, so they can swim freely. Lower them to swim around the rock jetties at Shilshole Marina.

You won’t be alone, because this is a popular ling fishery. But in these rocks, there are plenty of fish to go around. You’ll know a ling is chasing your sand dab when your line starts slicing through the water.

The ling season runs for almost six weeks. In early June, it’s a good combination trip to fish for spring-run kings in Marine Area 11 at first light, then go into Marine Area 10 at mid-morning to fish for lings.

Then you can finish off the day bouncing downrigger balls off the bottom for blackmouth.

COVER GROUND
No matter where you fish on the Sound, if the salmon are present and you’re there at the right time, it’s a matter of getting the presentation in front of the fish.

“Anything you can get in front of a hungry salmon on Puget Sound, they’ll hit as long as the presentation is correct,” said Weist. “These fish, they’re predators, but they’re not scavengers. They won’t eat something that looks like garbage.”

Be sure to smell it up, with scent like Smelly Jelly to make it smell more realistic and to mask your human scent.

(Editor’s Note: Allan Dusty Routh, 46, died after a heart attack on Jan. 12 in Forks, Wash. Dusty had written numerous hunting and fishing articles for Washington-Oregon Game & Fish magazine over the years, and the staff profoundly misses his good humor and great work.)