Everett, Wash.
Published: Thursday, June 25, 2009

Plenty of optimism for coastal fishing this summer

By Wayne Kruse
Special to The Herald

 With reasonably priced, closer-to-home vacations in the works for many folks this summer, plus predictions for a banner salmon year in place, coastal charter fishing operators are more than just cautiously optimistic about this weekend's openers.

"We're keeping fingers crossed, but it looks awesome," said Westport Charters spokesperson Kelly Westrick in Westport. "Lots of birds, lots of bait, lots of fish around."

The Westport season opens Sunday on the usual Sunday-Thursday schedule, then switches to daily fishing on July 24. Ilwaco, where this summer's coho fishery should be excellent, also opens Sunday, while the LaPush/Neah Bay season begins Saturday on a Tuesday-Saturday schedule, switching to daily fishing on July 18. The Strait opens July 1 for coho and clipped chinook.

The coastal fishery, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department biologists, should be pretty fair for chinook and much better than that for coho. Recreational quotas this year are 176,000 hatchery coho and 21,000 chinook, compared to 20,000 coho and 20,000 chinook last season.

Westrick said bottomfish trips out of Westport have been hitting good numbers of incidental salmon, mostly coho but with a sprinkling of chinook. She said one of their boats hooked and released seven salmon last week, an unusually large number. About half the salmon being taken incidentally have been clipped fish of hatchery origin, she said.

Canadian seasons along the south shore of Vancouver Island are already open, and anglers - including Americans running over to Sooke, Saturna and other spots - have been finding good fishing. Additionally, the treaty troll fishery off the Washington coast has been a strong one this year.

Bookings started slowly but have come on strong, Westrick said, as positive word of this summer's prospects began to circulate.

Up north, Anthon Steen at Holiday Sports in Burlington said the outlook for the July 1 salmon opener in Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands) is a good one. He particularly recommends the Rosario Strait locations, such as Lopez Flats, Thatcher Pass, Eagle Bluff, Tide Point, Obstruction Pass, and Point Lawrence.

Jay Field has qualified for a charter license and is offering fishing trips to the islands out of Anacortes. If the name sounds familiar, it's probably because he has been the most high profile name behind the really impressive development of the Anacortes Salmon Derby. He's a knowledgeable fisherman and if you're interested, you can find out more by calling 360-293-6450, or going to www.dashonecharters.com.

RIVER FISHING: Steen said the Cascade/upper Skagit chinook fishery has picked up after a very slow start, as water conditions improved.

Guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram said the Skykomish has dropped into prime fishing shape now, and is producing what he feels is a better than average summer steelhead season so far, with better numbers of chinook showing each week. He looks for the king fishery to peak by July 4, he said.

Over on the eastside, guide and Brewster resident Rod Hammons (randr@swift-stream.com) said the July 1 upper Columbia summer salmon season opener was likely to be a slow one.

"They're coming over Wells Dam," he said, "but there aren't enough fish yet off the mouth of the Okanogan to privide a top fishery. I look for prime time to start about July 15 or so."

These are hogs, he said, with some in the 40-pound range, so if you're planning to participate make sure your tackle, line and hooks are in good shape. Stock up on dodgers, flashers, Wiggle Warts, Brad's Super Baits, and good herring.

Flows on the Yakima have stabilized now, according to WDFW biologist Jim Cummins in Yakima, and action on spring chinook has picked up from Union Gap up to Roza Dam.

"I expect to see a significant increase in fishing effort and success the rest of the season, especially in the next couple of weeks," Cummins said.

About 6,500 springers have passed Prosser, and 900 have passed Roza, meaning there are lots of salmon in the prime stretch of river. About 45 percent are fin-clipped, Cummins said.

WDFW checks the first week in June showed 57 anglers with 11 hatchery kings kept and five wild fish released.

STURGEON: The lower Columbia River catch and keep sturgeon fishery is approaching an early-summer peak, with state creel checks at the ports of Chinook and Ilwaco showing an average of one legal sturgeon kept for about each rod and a half on the charters, and one for every three and a half rods on private boats. Bank anglers along the lower river were also taking some keepers.

EASTERN WASHINGTON TROUT STREAMS: Now's the time for those who like to prospect for their trout in moving water to plan a trip to the east slope of the Cascades, where streams are settling down from the spring runoff. The Yakima, Naches, Tieton, Bumping, Little Rattlesnake, Cowiche, Ahtanum, Wenas and others can all offer good fishing and a day in the sun.

Bait is productive - worms, grasshoppers, crawdad tails - if the regulations allow. If not, try flies, small spinners or small Flatfish.

Be sure to read the regulation pamphlet carefully, as the rules vary widely from stream to stream, as to closures, tackle allowed, and other factors.

SHAD: The shad run on the lower Columbia has passed its peak, but there is still action available. Checks over the weekend from Camas up to Bonneville Dam showed bank anglers averaging 1 to 2 fish per rod.

NEW COMMISSIONERS: Governor Gregoire filled three vacant spots on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission late last week, bringing the nine-member citizen oversight body up to full strength. The three newcomers are all very well qualified, but they are also career bureaucrats. How they will fall on the philosophical scale which includes widely divergent user groups remains to be seen, but recreaionists might have felt a little more comfortable if their biographies had included phrases such as "avid salmon angler," or "lifetime member of the Inland Empire Big Game Council," or something similar.

One name, ROLLIE SCHMITTEN, is familiar. The Chelan resident was director of the (then) Washington Department of Fisheries, before its merger with the state Game Department. He has been a Cashmere city councilman, Chelan County Port commissioner, state representative, administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, and on and on.

DAVID JENNINGS lives in Olympia, is employed by the state Health Department in the division of environmental health, has been the water protection program manager for the agency. He is a past president of the Black Hills Audubon Society, which named him conservationist of the year in 2006. His degrees are from the universities of Georgia and Oklahoma, in forest resources and public health, respectively.

DR. BRAD SMITH is a Bellingham resident and dean of the Huxley College of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University. He served as the first director of the Office of Environmental Education for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, served on the Interenational Scholars Program for the U.S. Information Agency, was a Fulbright Scholar to Great Britain, and a research fellow for Environment Canada and the Canadian Fish and Wildlife Service.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA