Partridge Bank is a popular spot and easily accessed from Port Townsend, Keystone on Whidbey Island or John Wayne Marina in Sequim. The bank will produce fish throughout the area but my experience is limited to the areas in yellow. On an outgoing tide I troll the southwest area then turn to the north. During incoming tides I start on the southwest side and troll the 120-foot contour line to the east then turn north. The Southern end will attract bait and in turn blackmouth. The bait will also school along the shallower areas of the bank so don’t be afraid to troll in the 60 to 80 foot areas as well. Again, search for bait, find bait and you should find feeding blackmouth. Some tides will force bait and blackmouth into deeper water. When currents are strong, you might be forced into pulling gear and moving up current and then dropping gear to troll with the current. Be sure to get your gear working properly, especially when trolling with the current which means trolling fast enough for a flasher to rotate. If using bait you can troll slow and expect good results if you keep the bait close to bottom.

In addition to trollers you will find jiggers and moochers here. Jiggers search for bait and then drop their jigs. After hitting bottom, they work the jigs up and down occasionally tapping the sandy bottom. When the jig goes slack jerk it’s likely a fish. Moochers will do the same but will hit bottom with their sinker then reel off bottom, wait then reel up 20 to 40 feet and drop back to the bottom. Successful moochers work the water column and keep their baits spinning to attract bites.

Best Tides: high or low

Best depths: 60 to 140-feet.

Best methods: trolling within 5 to 10-feet of bottom.

Best trolling lures: mini FAT Squids, Squiddy Squids, Coho Killers, Kingfisher Spoons and Floochies.

Mooching & Jigging: both techniques work well here.

Best jigs: Point Wilson candlefish jigs and Dungeness Stingers available at Dartjigs.com

Size of jigs: 2 1/4 to 6-ounces. Use the smallest weight jig possible to stay on bottom. When currents are strong you will need to use heavier jigs

Boat launches: Best access is from Port Townsend, Keystone and John Wayne Marina in Sequim.