Pilot Point a good bet for chinook as Marine Area 9 runs dry

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 8, 2017

By Wayne Kruse

For the Herald

The Marine Area 9 winter blackmouth season dropped off significantly after the first week, according to charter owner and fishing activist Gary Krein of Everett. He said there are a few fish around, but action has been spotty and anglers are working harder for their salmon.

Possession Bar is almost always a good bet, but if you would like to see some new scenery, Krein said the Pilot Point area is holding chinook. It’s also slightly better protected from prevailing southwesterlies, is an easy fishery to learn and has a forgiving bottom structure.

“All you have to do is put yourself on the 120-foot line and follow it along the shoreline for about two miles,” Krein said. “You can work it from Eglon all the way to Point No Point.”

A green flasher, 38 inches of leader, and a Kingfisher spoon in cookies ‘n cream or cop car patterns would be a good starting setup.

The tide runs pretty heavily in that area most of the time, so trolling is almost always with the flow. The exception is on the tide change and for about an hour after, when you can troll in either direction.

“There are little pockets along the trolling line that tend to hold fish, but their locations are easy to learn,” Krein said.

And while on the subject of local salmon fishing, anglers were becoming apprehensive that Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 would be closed soon. Both areas have had somewhat better winter blackmouth seasons than anticipated, and the fishermen expected biologists’ guidelines would be met long before the scheduled end of the season.

That’s why a conference call Tuesday afternoon among state Department of Fish and Wildlife salmon managers, user groups and citizen advisers ended in a mild surprise. State projections suggested there were “encounters” left to be utilized and that the recreational fishery could continue.

“We (sportfishing advocates) hope to get at least two more weeks,” said Krein, a participant in the conference call.

Check www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing for the latest on the seasons, including the ongoing North of Falcon salmon season setting process.

The state has set up a series of public meetings where anglers and others can comment. The closest upcoming meeting in this area is from 6-8 p.m. on March 16 at the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Mill Creek office at 16018 Mill Creek Boulevard. It’s purpose is to foster “public discussion of preseason forecasts and possible salmon fisheries.”

Humpies

The pink salmon run is an odd-year mainstay for sport fishermen, both in local saltwater and in the rivers. You can always count on the pinks, right? If every other fishery goes south, pinks will save the summer, right?

And then state biologists come up with a 2017 forecast 80 percent below the 10-year average.

That sounds really bad, and it is, but it’s not a death knell for a summer humpy fishery. Granted, the three rivers expected to take the biggest hits are the Skagit, Stillaguamish and Snohomish, the heart of our local pink salmon river fishery, and the runs that make “Humpy Hollow” tick.

Still, a forecast of 1.15 million pinks to Puget Sound remains a bunch of fish, we’ll just have to chase them a little farther in saltwater.

“The south Sound forecast is for pink numbers at, or a little above, average,” Gary Krein said. “Those fish will pass through areas 9 and 10 and they should provide at least a decent fishery. Maybe it will take four hours to catch a limit, instead of two.”

Sockeye

One truly bright spot in a forecast of summer bummers is the Baker Lake sockeye run, expected to be about 47,000 fish. If that number comes even close, it will be better than last year’s 42,000-fish actual return, and provide a sport fishery in the lake similar to 2016.

It also probably would provide enough fish for a Skagit River opening, although the river has never been as solid a fishery as Baker Lake.

“Last year the river was very slow fishing,” state biologist Brett Barkdull said.

Outdoor show returns

After an absence of several years, Puget Sound Anglers has decided to raise the Monroe Sportsman Show from oblivion as a source of funding for efforts on behalf of Washington’s sportfishing community. The show is scheduled for April 7, 8 and 9, at the Monroe fairgrounds, sponsored by the Sno-King PSA chapter and Three Rivers Marine.

There will be a trout pond for the kids, guest speakers, and vendors offering significant show discounts.

Tickets are $6 for adults, and are free for youngsters under 12 and active duty military.

Visit www.monroesportsmanshow.com for more information.

The PSA has 17 chapters in the state, dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing the sport fisheries of Washington.

Don’t ditch Carpenter

Jim Goerg, publishing editor of The Reel News, wrote in the February issue that Gov. Jay Inslee is considering eliminating one of our strongest sportfishing advocates on the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission. That would be Larry Carpenter, whose term is up for renewal.

“Believe me,” Goerg wrote, “we need Larry on that commission.”

Carpenter owns Master Marine in Mount Vernon, is an avid salmon angler and a sportfishing advocate.