By Wayne Kruse
For The Herald
The 30th running of the Stanwood Eagles Blackmouth Derby is set for April 22-23, and, yes, organizer Ed Keller is aware that the 22nd is the opening of general lowland lakes trout fishing season.
“I know that’s the trout opener, but you can still buy a ticket and fish trout on Saturday and salmon on Sunday,” Keller said. “Doesn’t get any better than that.”
He said he couldn’t pass up good tides that weekend.
This is a public, all-weather derby in Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2, with the tickets at $50 per person. Tickets and derby fliers are available at Stanwood Eagles, Ted’s Sports Center, Holiday Sports, John’s Sporting Goods, Camano Marine and the Elger Bay Store. First place is worth 45 percent of the total entry fees; second, 20 percent; third 15 percent; fourth 10 percent and fifth, 5 percent. There will be a random draw for $100 from among all the derby entrants.
Last year’s derby drew a big entry list of 125 boats and weighed 70 chinook. The first-place fish weighed 14.5 pounds and was caught by Patrick Monroe. Second went to Tina Taylor at 12.9 pounds; third to Gary Hamlin at 12.9 pounds,and fourth to Chuck Bright at 12.81 pounds.
For more information, call Keller at 425-308-9437.
State creel checkers Saturday at the Washington Park ramp in Anacortes tallied a very good catch of 26 chinook for 52 anglers on the first day of the Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands) reopening. Checks at Port Townsend Saturday showed 47 anglers with 19 fish; at Cornet Bay Saturday, 13 with three; and at the Camano State Park ramp on Saturday, 32 with seven. On Sunday, 51 anglers were checked at the Port of Everett ramp with six fish, and at Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, 32 anglers had seven chinook.
Early Trout
State Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery tank trucks have been burning up the roads (well, maybe not quite, but moving right along, anyway) planting rainbows in area lakes for the spring assault by cabin fever-stressed anglers. Here’s a list of recently planted Snohomish County lakes, all open year-around and all stocked with fat rainbows in the half-pound range. These lakes are rod and reel ready:
Lake Ballinger got 9,100 fish on or around March 20; Lake Cassidy received 3,500 fish total, in two separate plants, around March 6-7; Gissberg Pond (Twin Lake) north, 500 fish about March 14 (remember this lake is open to juveniles only); Gissberg Pond (Twin Lake) south, 1,500 trout about March 14; Lake Ketchum, 2,000 fish about March 15; Lake Shoecraft, 7,100 trout about March 14; Lost Lake (Maltby), 1,500 fish about March 21, and Panther Lake, 1,500 fish about March 21.
Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center in Lynnwood said anglers have been doing well at Lake Ballinger since the plant. The lake has public access, a ramp and a pier, and Chamberlain said most anglers are fishing from the pier or the shore. The lake is on Highway 104, the Edmonds Ferry Terminal route, just west of I-5.
“Try a Kastmaster spoon, one-eighth or one-quarter ounce, in gold or silver-green,” Chamberlain said.
Razor clams
The first dig of the current season on morning tides has been approved by coastal shellfish managers for Thursday through Sunday, with three important factors to remember: First, it will be morning tides only – no digging after noon. Second, last season’s licenses expire at the end of March, so diggers need a new 2017-18 fishing license and an applicable razor clam digging license for the last two days of the dig. Third, the dig alternates between Mocrocks and Copalis beaches, with only one beach open each day.
The tides are as follows: Thursday, minus 0.6 feet at 8:58 a.m. on Mocrocks beach; Friday, minus 0.6 feet at 9:47 a.m. on Copalis beach; Saturday, minus 0.5 feet at 10:40 a.m. on Mocrocks beach; and Sunday, minus 0.1 feet at 11:39 a.m. on Copalis beach.
Long Beach and Twin Harbors remain closed to digging because they have not met state testing requirements for marine toxins.
Razor clam licenses include an annual razor clam license, a shellfish license, or a combination fishing license. A three-day razor clam license also is available, but it is restricted to digging days in a single licensing year.
All licenses are available online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov and from sporting goods stores and other licensing outlets around the state.
Copalis Beach extends from the Grays Harbor north jetty to the Copalis River and includes the Copalis, Ocean Shores, Oyhut, and Ocean City areas. Mocrocks Beach extends from the Copalis River to the south boundary of the Quinault Reservation near the Moclips River, including the Iron Springs, Roosevelt Beach, Seabrook, Pacific Beach and Moclips areas.
The next dig on the horizon is tentatively scheduled for April 13-16, with the following tides: April 13, 0.0 feet at 8:43 a.m., Copalis Beach; April 14, plus 0.1 feet at 9:18 a.m., Mocrocks; April 15, plus 0.3 feet at 9:55 a.m., Copalis; and April 16, plus 0.5 feet at 10:36 a.m., Mocrocks.
Springers
Joe Hymer, a state biologist in Vancouver, said the Columbia is still running high and dirty, and that there hasn’t been much success by the few anglers out in catching spring chinook. There are a few fish being taken, however, and Hymer said a weekend check by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife showed 700 anglers with two fish.
The season is scheduled to close April 6, but a joint Washington/Oregon meeting April 5 probably will result in a swift reopening.
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