Sports

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, March 13, 2008 Club's trout plant plans a mystery By Wayne Kruse, Herald Writer Mark Spada is normally one of the friendliest and most forthcoming individuals you'd ever want to meet. But just ask the president of the Snohomish Sportsmen's Club when, exactly, the group is going to plant those big, triploid rainbow trout in county waters, or where, exactly, they plan to start, and there is an immediate transformation. He zips his lip, assumes attack posture, and strongly encourages you to pursue a different line of questioning. Which is entirely understandable, of course. The club has worked hard to raise the funds to buy fat, feisty, trout from a private producer, and although willing to put those fish out there for public recreation, would also prefer that a horde of anglers not descend on a specific lake in the immediate wake of the tank truck. Spada is willing to negotiate a bit, however, and after an intense interview, which came perilously close to physical violence, here's what he came up with: The first plant of the spring will be (or maybe has been) "one day this week." After this week, plants will be made every two weeks through mid-May. The fish this year will be mostly 2 to 3 pounds in weight, and each plant will consist of "several hundred" fish. "Where" gets a little iffier. "In the past we've generally planted Blackman's, Flowing, Panther, and Chain lakes," Spada said. "The club hasn't decided yet whether or not all those lakes will again be included in the program. But fishermen will probably remember that, regardless, we've always concentrated our efforts in Blackman's and Flowing." Spada said the trout will probably be found relatively close to the surface for a while after they're planted, probably the top 10 feet of the water column, or shallower. Bait fishermen, floating Power Bait or a mallow up off the bottom in shallow water from the piers, should score, but trollers will probably do better. Dick Nite spoons, Roostertails, Triple Teazers, and other such gear will all work, as long as they're kept relatively shallow. A dark, streamer-type wet fly, fished on light (4-pound max) monofilament with a single small split shot, and trolled along the edge of shoreline weeds, should work very well. So don't nail me to the wall on this one, but if you're ready to shed cabin fever by waltzing with a nice 'bow or two, and you happen to see rods at work on Blackman's and/or Flowing lakes this weekend, there might be a clue there. And while on the subject of local trout lakes, anglers have reported both good news and bad from Lake Stevens. Water temps continue to warm in the big lake, and trout fishing continues to improve for anglers on the docks, but there have been reports of wormy rainbow being taken. Really gross tales of fish heavily infested with 6-inch worms of some kind in the body cavity. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Chad Jackson at the agency's Mill Creek office said the stories are probably true, and they're not unexpected. "That's a common occurrence in Lake Stevens," Jackson said, "particularly in trout and coho; not so much in kokanee." Jackson said the parasites could be tapeworms or roundworms, and that the level of infestation varies from year to year. He said that if anglers can get around the distasteful idea, the fish are safe for human consumption when the parasites are removed and the fish are well cooked. MORE TROUT: Considering conditions, early-opening trout lakes in the Columbia Basin and the Okanogan have generally been providing pretty good fishing. State district fish biologist Jeff Korth, from Moses Lake, said ice on some lakes, and windy conditions, have bothered anglers to varying degrees since the March 1 opener, but with a little exploring, rainbow limits have been possible. Some of the best fishing has been at Upper Caliche Lake, which is completely ice-free. A lot of five-fish limits have been checked, going a foot in length on the average, and taken in an hour or less of fishing time, Korth said. Martha Lake was mostly ice-free and also produced lots of limits in an hour or less of fishing. About two percent of the trout coming out of Martha were rainbow broodstock in the 18- to 26-inch range. Burke Lake was partially ice-covered early, but anglers still managed to take about four trout per person, mostly 13-inch yearling rainbow with 14 percent carryovers in the 15- to 19-inch range. Quincy Lake was minimally fishable, but anglers there harvested an average of four 12-inch rainbow per person. Of the early-opening "quality" waters under selective gear rules and one-fish limits, Dusty Lake was completely ice-free, but wind has been a problem. Anglers checked there had caught and/or released two fish each, running 14 to 20 inches. Lenice and Nunnally were also ice-free for the first week of the season, but wind often kept trips on the duo short. Checks showed fishermen on Lenice averaging fewer than one fish each, but they were mostly nice 17- to 21-inch rainbow and browns. On Nunnally, it was 4.5 fish, mostly rainbow, also going 17 to 21 inches. Lake Lenore was 80 percent ice-covered on the first few days of the season and that, along with the fact that it's catch and release this time of year for its population of big Lahontan cutthroat, kept most fishermen away. DERBY RESULTS: Good weather conditions greeted participants in the first-ever Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club Blackmouth Derby on Saturday, and they took full advantage of it. Some 165 tickets were sold for the event, and 34 fish were weighed, in pursuit of the $3,400 total cash purse. A lot more were caught but not weighed, said club spokesman Jim Brauch. First place and $1,360 went to Gayle Gilchrest, with a chinook of 10.33 pounds, cleaned weight. Second and $1,020 was taken by Kelli Mack, at 9.76 pounds cleaned weight; and third, worth $510, went to the top male angler, Carl Rienstra, at 9.04 pounds, cleaned weight. All of the top three prize winners were caught in Elger Bay, Brauch said. Mack's fish was taken on a Grand Slam Bucktail behind a flasher, and Rienstra's on a green hoochie with herring strip, also behind a flasher. Rienstra, an ESSC member, said in addition to his prize winner, his party brought four or five other fish to the boat, all in Elger Bay. State checks at the Port of Everett ramp showed 146 anglers on Saturday with 37 chinook, and 74 anglers on Sunday with 11 fish. And speaking of derbies, Anton Steen at Holiday Sports in Burlington said the upcoming Anacortes event is now completely sold out of its self-imposed limit of 800 tickets. BLACKMOUTH: Steen said reports indicated slower fishing inside the San Juan Islands recently, but creel checks at the Washington Park ramp showed fairly good results. Some 45 fishermen on Saturday were checked with nine blackmouth, and 51 fishermen on Sunday had 12 fish. Lopez Flats, Guemes Channel and Point Thompson have produced fish, Steen said. SPRINGERS: Popular Drano Lake and Wind River open to hatchery spring chinook Sunday but, since only a half-dozen springers had been counted over Bonneville as of March 7, fishing will likely start slowly. Skamania County has restrictions on hours vehicles may be parked at the Wind River and Drano Lake launches, and the county will also be actively checking that boat anglers pay for launching at these sites even if they park along the road/highway areas. STILLY SEASON?: A mention in this column of the likelihood that a depressed chinook run and coho numbers below those of last year may result in no salmon season this summer on the Stillaguamish was challenged by state biologist Steve Thiesfeld. He said that state personnel are certainly going to try to find enough fish through negotiations in the North of Falcon process to provide some kind of Stilly season. He also said he doesn't find it fair that river salmon fishermen should always have to accept the "leftovers" from marine fisheries farther up the line. TURKEY CALLERS: Want to hear some guys who are really good at what they do? The top three turkey callers in the 2008 national championship event, including champion Stephan Richardson of Springdale, Arkansas, are scheduled to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman, tonight on CBS.

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