A moderate crowd took advantage of the winter’s first coastal razor clam dig, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, totalling about 12,000 participants over the three days, spread across nine miles of Copalis Beach. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife opened just the single beach because it was the only one with low enough levels of marine toxins in the clams to have them pronounced safe for human consumption by the state Health Department.
Domoic acid levels have been a problem on the Pacific beaches this year, from California north — responsible for closure of both crab and razor clam seasons in various locations and for varying lengths of time.
To be declared safe, samples from a specific beach must test below a target level for two successive weeks, and Copalis — from the Grays Harbor north jetty north to the mouth of the Copalis River — was the only one of the five Pacific beaches to pass the test and/or meet clam population minimums at this point. Quinault tribal commercial diggers opened their season on Dec. 14, also on the single beach.
Dan Ayres, WDFW clam manager, said the dig was a good one. “The surf was a little high on Christmas Eve,” he said, “but it settled down and those who stuck it out did very well. Diggers on Christmas Day had no problems, and Saturday drew the largest crowds of the dig, as we had anticipated.”
Ayres said diggers averaged about 14.5 clams per person, which was almost limits around. The state’s razor clam limit is the first 15 clams dug.
Ayres said clams were very abundant and averaged between 4.5 and 5.5 inches in length. There was also a good percentage of both larger and smaller clams mixed in the harvest, he said.
More samples were gathered yesterday and today, and the results should be available on Monday. Long Beach tested safe last week, so if it passes this current test, Ayres said it’s possible a dig could be scheduled on both Long Beach and Copalis the second weekend in January.
That decision will be made next week if all goes well, he said.
Big walleye
Winter is the time to look for big, pre-spawn walleye on Potholes Reservoir, according to MarDon Resort owner Mike Meseberg. Fish of eight to 12 pounds have started showing recently along the face of O’Sullivan Dam, in Lind Coulee, at Medicare Beach and off the mouth of Frenchman’s Wasteway, among other spots. That’s the usual pattern, Meseberg said, until about the end of January, when the spawn starts and fishing drops off.
Walleye have been caught recently down to the 70-foot depth, but Meseberg said 35 feet of water would be a good place to start.
Try half-ounce blade baits, or the Rapala Jig ‘N Rap, a midwest favorite “which has been around forever,” Meseberg said. Go with silver blade baits, although different colors will also work, or the yellow perch pattern Jig ‘N Rap.
Launch at the resort, at the state park a short distance uplake, or at the east end of the dam.
“Be prepared to deal with ice on the ramps this time of year,” Meseberg said.
Blackmouth
State creel checks last week showed the best fishing, as expected, in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands. The numbers at the Port Angeles public ramp on Ediz Hook Sunday showed four anglers with two chinook. Checks during Christmas week in the islands showed little participation but five with four blackmouth out of Bellingham, and 10 with two at Washington Park ramp in Anacortes.
Kevin John at Holiday Sports in Burlington said that during recent windy conditions, most fishermen were sheltering in Rosario Strait at such spots as Tide Point, Eagle Bluff, Thatcher Pass and others. The Lopez and Waldron island areas have also produced a few fish, John said. Lots of herring in the water, so most guys are fishing bait.
No smelt jigging going on yet, John said, but saltwater still hasn’t cleared entirely from river flooding.
Waterfowl
WDFW flew a waterfowl scouting flight last week over Bellingham, Padilla and Skagit bays, but conditions weren’t good and they’ll try again early next week. One of the purposes of the flight was to count brant, so a determination could be made whether or not enough of the small geese are here to open a hunting season.
Don Kraege, WDFW waterfowl manager in Olympia, said a decision and announcement will be made shortly after next week’s flight.
Anticipating a season this year, the Jan. 12 meeting of the Washington Waterfowl Association’s Northwest Chapter will host Maynard Axelson from the Washington Brant Foundation, talking about these geese and some of their secrets. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Conway fire station, but a lot of the folks will gather about 5 p.m. at the Conway Pub &Eatery for B.S. and a bite. Email chapter president Reb Broker at lostfish01@gmail.com.
Current freezing temperatures should be a boon to waterfowl hunters on the Skagit delta, where ducks have been hard to pin down with all the ponds and puddles left by monsoon rains available to them. If nights continue cold, any open water left on the weekend should offer good hunt opportunity.
Steelhead
Most of the month of December offered only high, dirty water to steelheaders, and WDFW creel checks on the Forks-area rivers pretty much confirmed that. For the week of Dec. 21-24, three fishermen were checked on the Hoh with zip, and on the Sol Duc for the whole month, 13 anglers had nothing.
It got better from there, however. During Christmas week, 30 fishermen (27 bank, three boat) on the Bogachiel kept 18 hatchery fish. On the Calawah that same week, 13 anglers had two wild fish released, 15 hatchery fish kept, and two hatchery fish released. For the month of December on the Calawah, 94 fishermen kept 46 hatchery steelhead, and released two wild and four hatchery fish.
A group of steelhead guides is hosting what they call a customer appreciation day on Jan. 23, at 388 Geissler Road, Montesano, on the bank of the Wynoochee River. Hosted BBQ, talk with guides Casey, Ryan, Aaron and Bob about their boats, gear and plans for upcoming seasons. The whole team from Waters West Guide Service and the Washington State Fishing Guides will be there with their boats to swap fish stories and probably do some steelhead fishing.
Call 253-389-0359 for more information.
Kokanee
Pretty good fishing for nice-sized kokanee right now on Lake Chelan, at 50 feet or deeper. Anton Jones of Darrell &Dad’s Family Guide Service says the basic rig is a 00 to 0000 dodger with a short leader to a Mack’s Mini Cha-Cha Squidder. Up your hook size to No. 4 or even No. 2 to improve fish retention percentage, and bait the hooks with Pautzke’s Fire Corn.
For more outdoor news, read Wayne Kruse’s blog at www.heraldnet.com/huntingandfishing.
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