Everett, Wash.
Published: Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Outdoor Outlook: Head north for winter blackmouth

Wayne Kruse

 Farther from here was better than closer to here on the winter blackmouth reopening in Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 late last week. The northern portion of Saratoga Passage put out fishing far superior to the Hat Island "racetrack" and other spots closer to Everett, according to All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein.

The first two days of the season -- Thursday and Friday -- were windy and cold, Krein said. He fished the racetrack and around Camano Head, but hit no fish and found it too lumpy for comfort. He moved over to the more sheltered Whidbey side and finally nailed one legal blackmouth in the Langley area. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife creel checkers tallied six anglers with no fish at the Port of Everett ramp on Friday.

On Saturday, Krein said, he moved north, still on the Whidbey side of Saratoga Passage, and got into fish around Baby Island. He finished that day with four prime, fat blackmouth in the box, between 7 and 11 pounds, in two to three hours of actual fishing time, lost three others which may or may not have been legal, and released four shakers.

Checks on Saturday showed 45 anglers with four chinook, and that picked up by Sunday, when 32 fishermen were checked with seven fish.

"We saw some good schools of bait up that way," Krein said, "and all the fish we caught had been feeding on small herring, in the 4-inch range."

Spoons didn't produce, so he changed to a green flasher and UV squid, in purple haze and green hornet patterns, sweetened with a strip of Berkley Gulp in herring flavor. He found the best action in 100 to 130 feet of water, right on the bottom.

"The better fishing up north is the usual pattern for this time of year," Krein said. "Some years herring spawn around the Everett area and off the south end of Hat Island, pulling in salmon, but apparently not this year."

Another factor dictating choice of fishing area in Saratoga Passage is dirty runoff from area rivers. It was already showing up over the weekend, Krein said, and will get worse under current flood conditions.

"We try to find a spot between the runoff from the Snohomish/Stillaguamish systems in the south end of the passage and around Hat Island, and runoff from the Skagit in the north end. You can usually find clean water somewhere between Langley and Rocky Point," Krein said.

Elger Bay and Onomac, on the Camano Island side of the passage, also put out fish. Krein said they were harder to fish in the wind, but he heard of blackmouth to 15 pounds taken there

"There's at least one positive element showing up early," Krein said. "All those shakers that were causing so much trouble last summer and fall have pretty much left the area. They're not a problem at all so far."

Checks at the Camano Island ramp on Friday showed 14 anglers with five chinook and, on Sunday, six anglers with six fish.

STEELHEAD: When the high water recedes, there should be some very good steelheading available in area rivers. But be sure to check the regulations for closures on the North Fork Stillaguamish, closed Dec. 29 until further notice from Whitehorse to French Creek; and the Cascade, closed Jan. 5 to Jan. 31, below the Rockport-Cascade Road. The reason is that hatchery facilities are short on winter steelhead broodstock (see below).

Before the rains, fish were being caught in both rivers and, according to Anthon Steen at Holiday Sports in Burlington, the Skagit run is predicted to be as strong as last year's, which was a pretty good one.

Steen said customers have been scoring on a fairly consistent basis off the Bush Point and Lagoon Point beaches, using the standard Spin N Glo/hoochie rig.

And yes, it's true that the state has been killing "excess" hatchery winter steelhead returning to both the Wallace River hatchery and to Reiter Ponds, giving the fish to food banks. The carnage (100 to 115 fish through mid-December) is a result of the relatively new and increasingly controversial state steelhead management plan, which dictates minimizing contact between hatchery and wild stocks. At least some of the eggs from these fish would have probably been used in the past to plant other area streams which came up short on brood stock (see Steelhead, above), but new management plan rules forbid plants from an alien watershed.

And if that seems to be an obscenity, and many are screaming about it, then where were you three or four years ago when the plan was being formulated and public meetings were being held?

RECORD ELK: Perhaps the largest elk ever produced in the wild -- a Utah bull taken in 2008 by a hunter on public land -- has been confirmed as a new world record by the Boone and Crockett Club. With official data back to 1830, the non-typical rack's gross score of 4993/8 and three-eighths makes it the only American elk on record with a score approaching the 500-inch mark.

The giant bull has nine points on the left antler and 14 points on the right. The larger antler has a base circumference over 9 inches.

The hunter, Denny Austad of Ammon, Idaho, hunted the Monroe Mountain District in south-central Utah, connecting after 13 days in the field. The trophy had been dubbed "spider bull" for its unique antler configuration.

The previous record non-typical elk was found dead, frozen in Upper Arrow Lake, British Columbia, in 1994, and was entered into Boone and Crockett Club records by the B.C. Ministry of Environment on behalf of the citizens of British Columbia. The previous top hunter-taken non-typical came from Apache County, Arizona in 1998.

Boone and Crockett also keeps records for Roosevelt and Tule elk, but the world records for those categories are substantially smaller than those for American elk.

To see a photo of the new record head, go to www.boone-crockett.org.

RAZOR CLAMS: Don't forget this week's coastal razor clam dig -- four evenings at Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks, Jan. 8-11, and at Long Beach for three evenings, Jan. 9-11. The tides are: Jan. 8, minus 0.2 feet at 4:13 p.m.; Jan. 9, minus 0.8 feet at 5:07 p.m.; Jan. 10, minus 1.1 feet at 5:58 p.m.; and Jan. 11, minus 1.2 feet at 6:45 p.m.

State clam manager Dan Ayres in Montesano said clam populations are in good shape, and clams are of a nice size, largely because rough weather during the fall openers prevented people from getting out in force. Wind and surf conditions are critical factors for a successful dig, particularly during the winter.

Another dig is tentatively scheduled for next month, Feb. 6, 7 and 8.

SMELT: The Cowlitz smelt dipping season runs Saturdays-only through March 28. The run is predicted to be a poor one again this year and it's too soon for any action, anyway. The Columbia River temperature Tuesday at Cathlamet was just under the 42 degrees smelt prefer.

Jigging remains productive, off and on, from the Deception Pass State Park pier on Cornet Bay.

LAKE WENATCHEE SOCKEYE: Salmon aficionados could be looking forward to another Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery this summer, if biologists' predictions come true. Last summer's fishery, July 24-Aug.31, produced more than 3,000 sockeye for sport fishermen and drew anglers from across the state.

The prediction last year was for 75,600 fish. but the run ended up at 214,500. The forecast this year is 183,000, and is based on last summer's jack sockeye return, the largest in 24 years. If the forecast is understandably conservative, the run could conceivably be larger than last year's and result in another recreational happening.

HUNT REPORTS DUE: Reports on hunting activity are due Jan. 31, for each 2008 bear, deer, elk, or turkey tag purchased, and failure to meet the deadline can result in a fine. All hunters, whether successful or not, are required to submit activity reports by calling 877-945-3492, or on the Web at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov. Be prepared to give the game management unit hunted, and the individual WILD identification number, printed on license documents.

Hunters who miss the deadline must pay a $10 penalty before they can purchase a 2009 hunting license.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA