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, April 3, 2008 Cold can't keep derby from success Dandy king brings Mount Vernon woman top prize at Anacortes Salmon Derby By Wayne Kruse, Herald Writer You know those old black and white photos everyone's seen? Of 1800s whaling ships stuck in the ice, up around Nome somewhere? That must have been the way it felt Saturday for 800-plus participants in the Anacortes Salmon Derby, as they fought frigid temps, hail, snow, and rain showers, and generally froze their ferns in the San Juan Islands. But you can dress for the cold, so even that was far better than the gale-force winds which made last year's event a very difficult proposition. "And Sunday turned out sunny and flat -- a beautiful day to be on the water," event chairman Jay Field said. So it was that the derby everyone loves to love cruised onward in its impeccable journey toward piscatorial stardom, again putting out a fine, mixed harvest of early spring kings and big winter blackmouth. The top fish and a check for $10,000 went to Nancy Cabe of Mount Vernon, who pulled a flasher/squid setup off Sucia Island on Sunday morning to nail a dandy king of 24.2 pounds. What would have been the second-place chinook, a fish of 22-plus pounds also caught on Sunday, was disqualified because the entrant apparently failed to read the derby rules carefully enough. Cabe said she lived on Orcas Island for 18 years and has fished all through the islands, but that this is the first derby she's entered. Second place and $5,000 went to Keith Olson of Bellevue, at 19.64 pounds; third and $2,500 to Rod King of Victoria, B.C., at 18.34 pounds; and fourth to Chris Dahl at 17.88 pounds. The 10th-largest derby fish weighed 15.8 pounds. Twelve-year-old Nicolienne Francois of Mount Vernon took top youth honors, at 17.76 pounds, and Susie Carpenter of Mount Vernon won the women's division with a 13.36-pound blackmouth. Field said there were 149 fish weighed on Saturday and 79 on Sunday and that the total cash/merchandise prize list was worth $35,000. Prizes were awarded to the top 80 fish weighed. Derby proceeds fund scholarships for young people pursuing careers in fisheries or related sciences. Last year's event provided $24,000 in scholarships, Field said. Bob Ferber at Holiday Sports in Burlington said an informal survey of customers who fished the derby indicated good results at Lopez Flats, Spring Passage, Point Thompson and Parker Reef, Humphrey Head, and Black Rock. He said Salmon and Hein banks are also holding fish, when wind conditions allow access. There's an interesting bit of trivia concerning Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife checks at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes during the derby. Some 183 anglers -- the vast majority obviously derby entrants because the marina was a check-in point -- were checked Saturday by the WDFW, and they had 121 chinook. On the same day at the Washington Park ramp west of town, 45 non-derby-entrants were checked with no fish. Does that mean all or most of the area's really good fishermen were in the derby that day? Or that even mediocre fishermen work a lot harder at it when there's big money on the line? Or both of the above? I'm not touching that one, folks. ANOTHER DERBY: The Stanwood Hotel and Saloon Blackmouth Derby runs April 12-13, for an entry fee of $60, in marine areas 8-1 and 8-2 only. Tickets and rules are available at the hotel/saloon, 26926 102nd Ave. N.W., Stanwood, also the site of the weigh-in, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. April 13. Cash prizes are 45 percent of total entries for first; 25 percent for second; 15 percent for third; and 5 percent for fourth. For more information call 360-629-2888. TROUT: Year-around lakes are receiving their trout plants already, most notably Blackmans and Flowing, which have been stocked with nice triploid rainbow in the 2- to 3-pound range, courtesy of the Snohomish Sportsmen's Club and the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club. State plants are also underway: Blackmans, 7,000 rainbow 8 to 12 inches, in addition to the club plants; Flowing, 10,000 rainbow 8 to 12 inches, in addition to the club plants; Gissburg Ponds (adjacent to the west side of I-5 at Smokey Point), 8,500 rainbow, 8 to 12 inches in increments through May; Chain, 2,500 rainbow 8 to 12 inches; and Lake Roesiger, 11,500 rainbow, 8 to 12 inches. RAZOR CLAMS: Assuming acceptable marine toxin levels, the state has scheduled two razor clam digs on morning tides, Sunday through Wednesday and April 19-23. If approved, Twin Harbors will be open all nine days; Long Beach will be open Sunday through Tuesday and April 19-20; and Copalis and Mocrocks, April 19-20. Kalaloch remains closed. New licenses will be required, of course, since last year's expired at the end of March, and state biologist Dan Ayres in Montesano said he strongly recommends purchasing the license before driving to the coast. Outlets there may be overwhelmed by demand, he said. "Another factor to consider for those going to Copalis and Mocrocks," he said, "is the likelihood of a traffic revision due to continuing work on the Simpson Avenue Bridge, eastbound U.S. 101 in Hoquiam. That's the only route to those beaches, so people should allow extra travel time to make sure they don't arrive late." Tides are as follows: Sunday, minus 0.7 feet at 7:23 a.m.; Monday, minus 1.2 feet at 8:09 a.m.; Tuesday, minus 1.5 feet at 8:55 a.m.; Wednesday, minus 1.4 feet at 9:43 a.m.; April 19, minus 0.1 feet at 6:40 a.m.; April 20, minus 0.4 feet at 7:18 a.m.; April 21, minus 0.6 feet at 7:55 a.m.; April 22, minus 0.6 feet at 8:30 a.m.; and April 23, minus 0.5 feet at 9:06 a.m. HALIBUT: Most in-Sound marine areas open to halibut fishing April 10, and Gary Krein, owner of All Star Charters in Everett, said both Mutiny Bay and Admiralty Bay are at least fair bets for the opener. Mutiny Bay, Krein said, puts out 20 to 30 fish per year, and Admiralty Bay produced two halibut over the century mark last season. Knowledgeable halibut fishermen work on and around the "hump," found in both bays, in anywhere from 80 to about 180 feet of water, drifting on bottom with weight, spreader bar, and squid or herring. Krein said that there's a better option for the first few days of the season, however. "Since the salmon season is open there until the 15th, a good technique is to troll with salmon gear and longer leaders in the 40- to 45-inch range, baited with herring and right on bottom, for a shot at both chinook and halibut," he said. Look for a tide somewhere between a high water exchange and a very low one, Krein said, since you need to get to the bottom, obviously, but you also need to move enough to cover a fair amount of ground. And speaking of the popular flatfish, there have been a couple of major changes in the Canadian side of our halibut equation. Apparently in a move to control the harvest of Canada-side halibut by American anglers, the Canadians quit selling non-resident licenses via the Internet earlier this year. That, of course, requires yanks to cross the border to purchase a license, a trip many are not willing to make simply to be able to catch two fish per day rather than the American-side one. The other change was announced by the state this week as a courtesy to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Effective April 1, the recreational limits on halibut caught in Canadian waters and landed in Washington became one fish daily and two in possession through May 31; and two fish daily and two in possession from June 1 through Dec. 31. The changes heavily impact charter operations out of Neah Bay, LaPush and other Washington ports which have traditionally run north to more generous Canadian limits. Dawn Lawrence at Big Salmon Resort in Neah Bay (360-645-2374) said several parties already have called to change reservations from early to later in the season, and others have cancelled. SPRINGERS: Fishing continues to improve below Bonneville Dam in the Columbia for spring chinook, with the latest checks showing a success rate in the vicinity of the Portland airport running about a fish for every 5.4 rods. That compares favorably with success rates at this point in other seasons, which have run between one in 4.7 to one in 17.1 over the past five years. Still too early, however, for the popular Drano Lake and Wind River fisheries above Bonneville. Weekend checks at Drano showed only five boats, with one chinook. HOH RIVER: It closed today to steelhead fishing, because remaining wild-stock fish are needed to meet spawning escapement goals. The river had been scheduled to close April 15.

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