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, November 5, 2009 Blackmouth season off to a good start It’s one thing to be given an expanded winter blackmouth season in local waters, but often quite another to find enough fish on hand to make the longer season worth the effort. Results since the opener on Saturday seem to show salmon anglers have hit the jackpot. A full six-month blackmouth season opened in Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 on Nov. 1 for the first time in several years, and in Marine Area 9 for the month of November. This is a huge improvement over last year, when local waters didn’t open until Jan. 1. And if you rolled the ol’ Bayliner down the Port of Everett ramp Saturday morning, ran out to Possession and got skunked, you definitely were in the minority. You probably were doing something seriously wrong, as well, since state Department of Fish and Wildlife checks at the ramp showed 58 boats and 116 anglers with 79 chinook. Up Saratoga Passage, at the Camano State park ramp, it was 26 boats and 52 anglers with 35 chinook. Those are top-of-the line results for the resident chinook fishery around here, and action has remained strong since the opener. “Most everyone with any knowledge at all about how to do it is catching blackmouth,” All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein said, “and we’re seeing nice, high-quality fish in the 7- to 9-pound range. That’s a little larger than usual for this early in the winter season.” Fishing has been so good, in fact, that Krein has been able to play around a little bit and run out plugs for his clients — the plugs are easier to fish and more fun than a flasher/squid parade. Green squids are probably the superior fish-getters, he said, but 5-inch Ace Hi or Tomic plugs in white Mother of Pearl are quick and slick and catching all the chinook the boat can use. Krein said the largest fish he saw was a 13-plus-pounder, and he added that there seemed to be few shakers so far this winter. The tide hasn’t made much difference in the bite, and neither has the time of day. Krein said Elger Bay was good on the opener, and the racetrack — between Hat Island and Camano Head — was fair to good. Possession Bar was probably the star venue locally, and it didn’t seem to make much difference which side you chose to fish. “I like the east side of the bar on the outgoing tide and the west side on the flood,” Krein said, “but there have been enough fish and bait around that it hasn’t seemed to make much difference so far.” Drop your ’rigger ball down to just above bottom in 100 to 150 feet of water, and it should be hard to miss, he said. EARLY STEELHEAD Tacoma Power reported nine winter steelhead in the trap last week at the Cowlitz salmon hatchery. The winter steelies started showing up two weeks ago. Substantial winter steelhead activity normally starts in the Cowlitz around the Thanksgiving weekend. And speaking of steelhead, the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club holds its annual steelhead and river salmon clinic at Floral Hall in Forest Park from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m on Nov. 14. This is a hands-on affair, free and open to the public, with speakers and demonstrations showing what to use and how to use it. Learn what parts of what local rivers are best at different times of the year, how to float fish, how to drift fish, how to work spinners and spoons, and a basic primer on fly fishing for salmon and steelhead. Sam Ingram will be one of the presenters, and will bring along promotional materials from Dick Nite spoons. Call Everett Parks and Recreation at 425-257-8300 for more information. CRABBING AND CARD PROBLEMS Marine Areas 9 and 10 reopened for recreational crabbing on Sunday, and both the turnout and success rates have been reasonably good. A problem has reared its head, however: Several readers have mentioned they were all set to give it a shot when they realized they had already sent in their crab catch record cards. The state encouraged that, with a release saying, in effect, “send in your cards right away if you don’t intend to crab this winter.” That latter statement came out before local crabbers knew for sure that certain waters would reopen. Don Velasquez, a shellfish manager at the state’s Mill Creek office, said many of those frustrated at this situation may simply have sent in their summer crab card, either forgetting or having never known, that a winter card also was available and required after the summer card was no longer valid. License dealers were supposed to mention that at time of license sale, and ask the customer if he/she wanted a winter card as well. If that’s your problem, go to a license dealer and have them look up your license account. The system should be able to tell you if you never received a winter card and, if you didn’t, the card is free. If you did receive a winter card, and have turned it in, you’re flat out of luck. For those equipped to crab, Velasquez recommends Useless Bay, on the west side toward Double Bluff; the mouth of Cultus Bay, although it gets hit hard, and across Admiralty Inlet in Port Townsend Bay. In Area 10, try the Port Madison area; the south side of Apple Tree Cove; or, closer to Seattle, Four-Mile Rock. CHUMS The prediction for chum this fall is for a smaller run than the past couple of years, but still a decent one. Right now, the Skagit is probably the best local river, and fishing has been only fair. Slower than that on the Skykomish, and spotty on the Snohomish, where plunkers are taking fish between high water periods — a mix of darkening coho and bright chums — on shrimp/egg/bobber combinations. Jim Strege at Triangle Bait and Tackle in Snohomish said popular Spin N Glo colors include purples, blues and greens, and particularly the metallic colors. Strege said both coho and chums are mostly running 7 to 12 pounds, with a few larger. An exception to the “iffy” chum run label is over on Hood Canal, where the annual Hoodsport Hatchery circus is in full swing. It’s about the peak of the season there, hatchery specialist Drew Burkhard said. “If you can’t catch a salmon or two here, right now, you’d better give it up,” Burkhard said. The Hoodsport hatchery return usually peaks about Thanksgiving weekend, he said, but it’s been getting earlier. State checks late last week showed 42 anglers with 37 chums, so if you’re interested, best get over there soon. Try not to hit it on Tuesdays or Thursdays, however, when Skokomish tribal nets are in the water. For the most recent fishing conditions, call 360-877-5222 for a recorded message. LAST PHEASANT ON SAMISH This weekend will see the last pen-raised pheasant of the season released on the Samish Unit of the Skagit Wildlife Area, according to area manager John Garrett. The Samish releases were a temporary program to replace lost habitat at the Skagit WA’s “headquarters unit,” now mostly under water as part of a salmon enhancement project. The Samish program was negotiated between user groups, and waterfowl hunting now takes the place of pheasant, as per the agreement. Garrett said there will be no new pheasant unit to replace the Samish, but that the additional birds will be spread between remaining release sites: Leque Island, west of Stanwood; Lake Terrell, near Ferndale; and the Stillwater, Cherry Valley and Crescent Lake areas of the Snoqualmie Unit of the Skagit Wildlife Area. Maps of the release sites are available at wdfw.wa.gov, then “hunting,” then “Western Washington Pheasant Release Program.” WATERFOWL Both duck and snow goose hunting on the Skagit delta have been outstanding so far, Garrett said. Windy weather has played a major part, but there also are plenty of birds around, and heavy rain has produced enough low-area puddling to pull birds off the bays. The snow goose season in Skagit and Snohomish counties runs through Jan. 31 without a break, but hunters need written authorization to hunt snows, and written authorization to hunt the Snow Goose Quality Hunt units on Fir Island and in the Stanwood area For more information on how to participate in the quality hunt program, which is a cooperative project with several local landowners and residents, visit the state’s Web site at wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/water/snow_goose. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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