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, June 26, 2008 5-foot, 55-pound sturgeon wins derby By Wayne Kruse Herald columnist It took a 5-foot fish to win the firefighters' benefit sturgeon derby over the weekend, which, since 60 inches is the upper end of the state's slot limit for the species, was pretty much what everyone expected. The suspense came in who caught one that fit the slot, and how much it weighed. It turned out Mike Clark caught it, weighed it in at 55 pounds, and walked off with the $1,000 first prize. Jim Cochrane took second for a 58.5-inch, 50-pound fish, and won the Brutus Ace Line Hauler, and Austin Rabel took home $300 in third-place money for a fish of 60 inches and 40 pounds. The unique derby didn't weigh a lot of sturgeon, but it drew well and raised a substantial amount of money for Steve Goforth, a firefighter/paramedic due for a heart transplant. Headquarters was at Priest Point, and the derby water included the Snohomish River, its sloughs, and adjacent estuarine areas. "We weighed in a total of seven fish," said Pat Cook, a Lake Stevens firefighter who lives at Priest Point and organized the derby, "but there were more than that caught, counting those too small and too big to fit the slot, and the ones hooked and lost." Three of the entered sturgeon came from the Snohomish River, Cook said, one from Union Slough, and the rest from the Priest Point area. Almost all were caught on sand shrimp. "If I were to do it again, I would probably include the Stillaguamish in the derby area," Cook said. "We were a little afraid of that on our initial attempt; that we might encourage more fishermen than we were equipped to handle." He said the event drew 140 entrants, and raised a little over $10,000 for the Goforth fund. Somewhere between 70 and 80 fishermen stayed on the beach at Priest Point after the weigh-in for the free barbecue. "All the guys I talked to said they enjoyed the day," Cook said. Baker sockeye: The sockeye fishery at the mouth of the Baker River finally came on, said Bob Ferber at Holiday Sports in Burlington, citing a customer who fished there Tuesday and reported seeing salmon jumping and at least a dozen landed. Others have reported seeing sockeye rolling farther down the Skagit as well, Ferber said. The run is predicted to be a good one this year. If it does, indeed, turn out to be large, there has been talk of at least the faint possibility of state Department of Fish and Wildlife looking into a season on Baker Lake proper. Most anglers at the confluence of the Baker and Skagit plunk with a No. 6 or 8 Spin N Glo in red or pink, on a high-water rig including a 3- or 4-ounce pyramid sinker. Be sure to check the regulation pamphlet for two closures coming up: June 30 through July 2, and July 11. Columbia sockeye: According to state biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver, the 66,468 sockeye counted at Bonneville through June 19 appears to be the highest number for that date recorded since the dam was built in 1938. The 15,543 fish counted on the 19th is the highest daily count since 1955, a year in which the peak daily count was recorded on July 7, at 27,112 fish. "Not only do we have large numbers of sockeye returning this year, but they're biting," said Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River policy coordinator for the state. "Usually sockeye ignore the lures and just sail upstream." That hasn't been the case for a couple of weeks, as anglers fishing hatchery steelhead have reported a surprising number of sockeye being hooked and released. So many, in fact, that the agency has opened a catch-and-keep sockeye season on the Columbia from Bonneville to Priest Rapids Dam through July 31. The huge run may -- or may not -- bode well for the possibility of a Lake Wenatchee fishery, depending on how it splits between the Okanogan and Wenatchee segments. That split may not be known until mid-July. Lake Stevens kokanee: Pretty good fishing now, for kokes to 15 inches or so, but cool water continues to keep the fish scattered over much of the lake, both in terms of location and depth. Warmer temperatures this weekend may lead to better stratification of kokanee at a specific level, knowledgeable fishermen say, but until that happens, they're where you find 'em. Marine Area 10: It opens for catch-and-keep coho fishing (release all chinook) on Tuesday, and there should be some pretty good silver action available in the Jefferson Head area. Nick Kester of All Star Charters said he'll be there bright and early Tuesday morning, fishing the south side of the Jeff Head bar on an outgoing tide, and the north side on an incoming, sometimes way out in the shipping channel over 600 feet of water. "Bright and early are the operational words," Kester said. "If you're not halfway home by 7:30 a.m., it's going to be a hard slog after that." Kester said he'll start at about 20 feet first thing in the morning, dropping gradually as the day brightens to between 40 and 80 feet. He likes the old-fashioned dodgers best for this fishery, Les Davis if he can find them, or Luhr Jensen or Silver Horde if he can't, and he trolls at 3.4 miles per hour, fast enough to force a full roll on the dodgers. Leader length is from 16 to 24 inches, longer for mini-squids and shorter for standard squids, and he likes his hoochies in light green or glow white. Tip everything with Berkley Gulp, he says. Crab: Recreational crabbing opens July 2 in Marine Areas 8-1, 8-2 and 9, after tribal and non-Indian commercial fisheries have finished. Gary Krein of All Star Charters said that while the commercial pots will have creamed the resource, there should still be crab available in some of the closer, more accessible areas. Krein said the area off the Everett Jetty is popular, in 40 to 50 feet of water, or the Mukilteo-to-Everett shoreline in the 100-foot range. He said the north and south ends of Hat Island, and the Whidbey shoreline from Sandy Point to Clinton, are a little farther away and perhaps not hit quite so hard by the commercials. Best depths can vary from 15 feet to 300 feet, so keep moving until you find 'em, he said. The Tulalip Bubble: The hatchery chinook fishery opened June 15 and, typically, has been slow. Success rates have been around one fish for every 20 anglers or so on the better days, which is about par for the bubble most years. Gary Krein said it generally improves into the mid-July period, but it will never be a red-hot fishery. Try a flasher followed by a frog racer Coyote spoon or a green squid, or a 4-inch Tomic number 603 (mother of pearl) plug, fished anywhere from the red can north. Jigging can be effective, Krein said, particularly on the evening bite, during an incoming tide just before dark. Eastside chinook: A good summer chinook run is heading up the Columbia -- predicted to be well over the 10-year average -- and the season opens on much of the river Tuesday. These are "summer hogs" in the 20- to 40-pound range, which tend to stay in better shape than the fall fish found in the Hanford Reach later in the year. Big fish; nice fish. Don Talbot at Hooked On Toys in Wenatchee said the most popular areas for intercepting a few of these chinook is below Wannapum Dam, off the mouth of the Wenatchee, below Wells Dam, and in the Brewster area, off the mouth of the Okanogan. He said the easiest place for a visiting westsider to fish, looking for a little sun and at least a reasonable chance at a fish, is the Brewster pool, trolling diving plugs, herring on a downrigger, or Super Baits. The latter, he said, is the hot item in the Columbia Basin, but practically unknown west of the Cascades. It's a lure that looks like, and spins like, a herring, but that can be opened and filled with shrimp or oil-pack tuna so that it bleeds scent. Nine of 10 guides in the Wenatchee area use Super Baits, Talbot said, fished behind a flasher, 15 feet down on a downrigger and 15 feet behind the boat. Use 48 inches of leader and troll just fast enough to roll the flasher over. Meanwhile, the Icicle has been up and down, with cold water causing most hatchery chinook to hang in a couple of holes in the Wenatchee. The Entiat has been opened to chinook, because of a predicted surplus of brood stock fish, on the bottom six miles of river, and those who enjoy exploring and walking the banks can find fish, Talbot said. The king run on the Yakima is winding down, according to state biologist Jim Cummins in Yakima, and this weekend will be the last chance to nail a fish. Boaters and bankers both score, pulling plugs or drifting eggs, and Cummins said a couple of spots worth one final shot would include the area below the Harrison Bridge near Selah (take the Yakima Training Center exit off the Interstate), or around the Terrace Heights Bridge right in Yakima.

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