Newly named Everett No Coho Blackmouth Derby this weekend

Published 5:45 pm Wednesday, November 2, 2016

If the state says you can’t keep ‘em, you have to look elsewhere. So what was — for lo these many years — the Everett Coho Derby is now the the Everett No Coho Blackmouth Derby.

The event runs this weekend, and the name change was necessary because a depressed coho run to Puget Sound forced salmon managers to put silvers off-limits, at just the wrong time. That may turn out to be the proverbial blessing in disguise, however, because results on opening day (Tuesday) for chinook/blackmouth were excellent.

“It’s been a long time since the summer chinook season closed, and we were able to actually fish north Puget Sound,” said avid angler and ESPN radio talk show host Tom Nelson, “so I was way fired up for the blackmouth opener. Fortunately, the hatchery chinook were very cooperative.”

Nelson’s party of four limited (one hatchery chinook per angler) on fat winter chinook, once they found bait on the southwest corner of Possession Bar. They were trolling Coho Killer spoons in the new “Herring Aid” pattern, behind green stripe Coyote flashers at 1.5 to 2.5 mph., on bottom in 120 to 150 feet of water. Action was steady all morning long, Nelson said.

All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein was also a happy camper Tuesday morning, fishing the same area on Possession Bar.

“It was very good,” he said. “Lots of fish around, including plenty of keepers, and the shaker ratio was only about one to one.”

Krein also trolled spoons, Kingfisher Lites in green/white, on 38 to 40 inches of leader behind a Gibbs flasher in 100 to 120 feet of water. He noted a lot of bird activity and plenty of bait on the bar.

According to reports, Marine Area 10 put out good fishing as well.

“If Tuesday morning was any indicator, this weekend’s “No Coho Blackmouth Derby” should be a whale of an event,” Nelson (www.theoutdoorline.com) said.

The derby offers cash prizes of $4,000, $2,000, $1,000 and $500 for the four top fish, plus separate kids’ cash prizes through three places. Tickets are $30 for adults, free for kids 12 and under, and are available at John’s Sporting Goods, Everett Bayside Marine, Harbor Marine, and Performance Marine, all in Everett; Holiday Sports in Burlington; Greg’s Custom Rods in Lake Stevens; Ted’s Sport Center and Ed’s Surplus in Lynnwood; Outdoor Emporium in Seattle; and Three Rivers Marine in Woodinville.

Friday evening features a free seminar by tackle shop owner and expert angler John Martinis on successful blackmouth fishing, starting at 7 p.m. at Everett Bayside Marine, 1111 Craftsman Way, 425-252-3088.

Crab closure

Marine Area 10 (Seattle, roughly south of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry line) will close to recreational crabbing Nov. 15, well ahead of its scheduled Dec. 31 ending date. The reason for the early closure, according to state shellfish managers, is because of low crab abundance. Additionally, areas 11 (Tacoma) and 13 (south Sound) will not open for the winter crabbing season because recreationists have taken their quota for the year.

Currently, eight marine areas remain open seven days a week through Dec. 31: areas 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-1 and 8-2, 9 and 12.

All Dungeness crab caught in the late-season fishery must be recorded on winter catch cards, available at license vendors across the state. Winter catch reports are due to WDFW by Feb. 1.

Razor clams

All coastal beaches (except Kalaloch) are tentatively scheduled to open for recreational razor clam digging Nov. 17-19, but that’s not likely to happen. Marine toxin levels in clams have been bouncing above and below acceptable levels so far this fall, and this next dig will probably be no exception.

Copalis and Mocrocks are looking good for the opening, according to coastal shellfish manager Dan Ayres in Montesano, and could be the only two to open. Long Beach is almost certainly out of the picture, Ayres said, because domoic acid levels have been holding consistently high. “We had the same situation at Long Beach last year,” he said. “We couldn’t open it until Jan. 7. And that’s too bad, because Long Beach right now has probably the highest clam population I’ve seen since I’ve been in this position. The good news, I guess, is that the clams will just be getting larger and fatter.”

Toxin tests at Twin Harbors are right on the line, Ayres said, and his guess is that the Twin Harbors beaches will probably not open. New test results are due back from the state Health Department Thursday or Friday, he said. Decisions on whether or not to open will appear first on the department web site, www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish.

Steelhead

The 2015 steelhead smolt stocking program has been released by WDFW for both summer and winter-runs, the plants from which a majority of returning hatchery adults will come this winter and next summer. Plants in selected streams are as follows:

North Fork Stillaguamish, no winter smolts; 76,200 summer-runs, about 5,000 more fish than last year; Tokul Creek got no plants, down from 26,000 smolts last year; Skykomish, 144,800 winters, down about 10,000 from last year, and 190,800 summers, down about 8,000 from last year; Wallace, 34,000 winters, up 14,000 from last year; Elwha, 194,800 winters, up 91,000 from last year; Elochoman, 66,000 winters, down 28,000, and 29,000 summers, down 3,000; Cowlitz, 541,600 winters, down 193,000, and498,000 summers, down 120,000; Kalama, 114,400 winters, down 16,000 and 122 summers, down 6,000; North Fork Lewis, 182,000 winters, up 60,000, and 236,000 summers, down 4,000.

And Grande Ronde, no winters, 207,000 summers, down 2,000; Columbia at Ringold, 198,000 summers, up 55,000; Wenatchee, 159,000 summers, up 41,000; and Methow, 195,000 summers, down 152,000.

And, Bogachiel, 124,300 winters, up 18,000; Calawah, 55,000 winters and 33,000 summers, both the same as last year; Hoh, 100,000 winters, up 28,000; Humptulips, 132,400 winters, up 2,000 and 32,300 summers, same as last year; Wynoochee, 89,000 winters, down 80,000; and East Fork Satsop, 61,000 winters, up 4,000.