Everett, Wash. Published: Thursday, November 22, 2007
Give thanks, then land a chum
By Wayne Kruse, Herald Writer
Clams and crabs and salmon, Oh My! And if you hurry, you just might be able to put all those and more in the cooler over the four-day holiday.
This could be the peak weekend for chum salmon in local rivers, according to guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram. Some look down their noses at chums, but if you get them early in the run, while they're reasonably fresh, they're decent on the table and in the smoker, and there isn't a stronger, meaner, better fighting fish in the river. A fresh, 20-pound chum will splinter your rod, pop your line, and then come up the bank snapping at your retreating heels.
Ingram recommends the Skykomish, between Sultan and Monroe. "That stretch is full of chums right now," he said, "and a lot of them are fresh in from saltwater. I went out Monday and we hooked 10, kept 4 going 9 to 15 pounds, still with sea lice, all in about three hours on the river."
Ingram said he fished from the two-bit hole down to Ben Howard, and saw fish rolling in every hole. Bank anglers were also scoring, he said, but good-sized chum salmon are so strong that if you can't follow a 15- or 20-pound fish, there's no way you're going to slow him down.
Pulling plugs is popular with boaters, and Ingram recommends a K-14 Kwikfish or M-2 Fatfish in funky chicken, pink or purple patterns. Either wrap a small filet of sardine on the underside of the plug, or use a lot of sardine scent, he said. When you find a hole where fish are rolling, anchor at the top and feed the plugs slowly down through the slot, adding a dropper and one- or two-ounce lead ball if the hole is deep or the current heavy. If you're prospecting for fish, you can cover more water by working your plugs through the hole with the boat.
A second popular technique for chums is to drift a float-and-jig rig in shallow "seam" water. Good jig colors include purple/green and purple/pink.
Chums tend to show on the surface, and Ingram said it's critical to not waste your time where the fish aren't. If you don't see anything rolling, move right along.
"This is the weekend," he said. "Dress warm, take a kid, and get in some practice for the steelhead season."
Speaking of kids, Ingram went down to the Cabela's opening near Olympia last week and said the huge store is not only a great sportsman's destination, but is also very kid and family friendly.
"But don't even head in that direction unless you have at least three hours to spend there," he said.
Clams: The first razor clam dig of the winter is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Long Beach, Copalis, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks beaches, and an additional two days -- Sunday and Monday -- at Twin Harbors only. Kalaloch Beach remains closed.
Tides are as follows: Nov. 23, minus 1.3 feet at 5:21 p.m.; Nov. 24, minus 1.7 feet at 6:11 p.m.; Nov. 25, minus 1.8 feet at 7 p.m.; and Nov. 26, minus 1.6 feet at 7:48 p.m.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish biologist Dan Ayres said clam populations remain strong on all beaches except Kalaloch, and particularly at Twin Harbors. He expects a crowd for this Thanksgiving weekend dig, a traditionally popular opener among clam aficionados.
The last dig, at the end of October, produced razor clam digging about as good as it gets -- plenty of clams, great weather and surf conditions, and lots of happy diggers. Ayres said a crowd of about 35,000 people pretty much dug limits for all hands, harvesting a little over 540,000 clams.
Other digs on the horizon include Dec. 21-22 on all beaches except Kalaloch, with an additional day, Dec. 23, at Twin Harbors only.
Crabs: Don't forget that our local saltwater, marine areas 8-1 (Skagit Bay, Hope Island, north half of Saratoga Passage) and 8-2 (Port Susan, Port Gardner, south half of Saratoga Passage), are open to recreational crabbing today through Sunday. They join, briefly, areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu), 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 9, 10, 11 (Seattle, Tacoma), 12 (Hood Canal) and 13 (south Sound) which are open seven days a week through Jan. 2. Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands) will not reopen, because the summer catch slightly exceeded the annual quota.
All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein said both the Everett Jetty area and the shoreline between Everett and Mukilteo should produce crab, but he warned that because of previous commercial crabbing activity, recreationists will have to put in their time for a five-crab limit.
"Those spots have been worked over pretty good, but there should still be crab available," Krein said. "Most of the commercial buoys I've been seeing have been in fairly shallow water, so you could argue either that you should then stay farther out, or that they must have been fishing there for a reason. Take your pick."
Krein recommended starting at perhaps 70 feet or so, but said crab often go deeper in the winter, particularly after all the commercial activity earlier, so don't be afraid to move outward.
Fish parts are the best crab bait, he said, but cheap chicken and/or turkey parts are a good substitute.
Blackmouth: Krein said winter blackmouth action remains at least fairly strong in Area 9, particularly the southeast corner of Possession Bar, for fish from just legal to about 8 or 9 pounds. They've moved a little deeper since the opener, however, and he's been fishing right on bottom between 120 and 200 feet.
The 4-inch Coyote spoon in green/white, 34 to 36 inches behind a flasher, has been a top producer, as has the number 603, glow-white, Tomic plug.
A few fish have also been reported from areas 8-1 and 8-2, including Columbia Beach, the Langley shoreline, Baby Island, and Greenbank. To the south, Jefferson Head is a top prospect this weekend.
State creel checks at the Port of Everett ramp on Saturday showed 43 anglers with 19 chinook.
Steelhead class: Steelhead University (www.steelheaduniversity.com), the online learn-to-fish Web site, offers its annual one-day class to "catch more steelhead," Dec. 8, at Sportco in Fife, at a cost of $88. That's not cheap, and it's a ways to drive, but it features seven of the best steelheaders in the Northwest, each presenting a separate class on a specific technique. For information, or to register, call Terry Wiest at 206-387-9293.
Pheasant: The Western Washington pheasant release program ends at the end of the month, but for practical purposes, the Thanksgiving holiday is all she wrote for this year. John Garrett, manager of the Skagit and Snoqualmie wildlife areas, has been releasing about 450 birds per week at several sites on both areas, and usually manages to save a few extra for Thanksgiving. For information about the release sites, see the Western Washington Pheasant Release pamphlet at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/water/wwapheas.htm.
Garrett said, by the way, that while ducks continue to arrive on the Skagit delta, hunting has been generally pretty good on stormy days. Those working Padilla and Samish bays have been seeing primarily widgeon, while those on Skagit Bay have noted a lot of mallards.
While Garrett classified duck hunting as "good," he called snow goose action so far "sensational."
And while on the subject of waterfowl hunting areas, there was a lot of interest in the announcement last week of the state's acquisition of 850 additional acres on Ebey Island for public access. The leased acreage joins 450 acres already owned by the agency and makes up an impressive chunk of the island. Looking at an aerial photo, the already-owned acreage consists mostly of the forested chunk within the bend of Ebey Slough and south of the trestle. The leased portion is farmed, and lies between the woods and the trestle, stretching westward almost to Homeacres Road
Personnel from the Mill Creek state office hoped to have the whole new area signed and ready to go by this weekend.
Currently, State Region 4 wildlife program manage Lora Leschner said the best access is to take the Homeacres exit off Hwy. 2, swinging east on the frontage road which runs under, and parallel to, the trestle. Take that road east to where it dead-ends against the Ebey Slough dike and still under the trestle. Parking may be limited until permission from the Department of Transportation is received to open the gate there. Use of the dikes in the area is authorized by the diking district, according to Leschner.
