Kelly Westrick at Westport Charters says it almost makes her feel like a criminal.
“I’ve been telling all these people on the phone that the season opens Saturday, that we can keep two chinook, and that we can fish seven days a week, and it feels practically illegal,” she says of the Washington coastal fishery. “I think it’s been 22 years since our customers could catch and keep two kings a day. May 25 is the earliest we’ve opened for a long, long time – it was July 3 last year, for instance – and most people can’t remember when we had an everyday chinook fishery around here.”
Westrick says the early opener could mean, however, that the quota may be reached earlier than usual – perhaps by about Aug. 20 – and the fishery closed.
She says early-season fishing off Westport could be quite a ways out, and fairly deep.
“The (commercial) trollers have been finding some fish 20 or 25 miles offshore, and I’m guessing the guys will be heading out that way, at least for this weekend,” she says.
Bookings have been going well, and weekends are already filling up, Westrick says. Her toll-free number for reservations or information is 1-800-562-0157.
Up the coast at La Push, the season also opens Saturday, with a two-fish limit, and is scheduled to run through June 16. Lloyd Smith, assistant harbormaster at the Quileute Marina, expects the chinook to be running close to a 20-pound average, and says limit catches should not be too hard to come by.
Halibut fishing out of LaPush has also been good, as has action on lingcod, according to Randy Lato, a charter operator out of LaPush Marina. Halibut limits have been the rule rather than the exception, he says, noting he has weighed a 65- and a 90-pounder so far. There are four charter operations in LaPush. For more information, call the Forks Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-443-6757, or visit the Web site www.forkswa.com.
Crab: Another major opener comes up Friday, with word from shellfish managers at the state Fish and Wildlife Department that most of Marine Area 8-2 reopens for recreational crabbing at 7 a.m. All of 8-2 opens except for those waters of Saratoga Passage north and west of a line from Camano Head to Sandy Point. Open waters will include Port Gardner, Port Susan and Possession Sound, Fridays through Mondays only, and all gear will be legal.
State biologist Norm Lemberg says Tulalip commercial crabbers have been conducting a 4 1/2-day season, which started Sunday.
Shells are hardening on other molting crab around the Sound and Lemberg says Area 9 will join Hood Canal and Area 8-2 as a legal fishing area on at 6 a.m. June 1. Area 9 will be open seven days a week.
John Martinis at John’s Sporting Goods in Everett (425-259-3056) suggests several local spots as being good bets for recreational crabbers:
“The west edge of Mission Bar, out between Priest Point and Hat Island, around the navigation tower there is an excellent area,” Martinis says. “Stay up on the flat, between 30 and 50 feet deep.
“Another popular area, particularly for larger crab, is the whole shoreline between Everett and Mukilteo, between 50 and 75 feet deep, usually on the deeper end of that range. The Pigeon Creek area is the most popular, but the whole shoreline can be good.
“Then there’s the little flat just west of the Hat Island Marina,” he says. “Put your pots at about 50 feet for good numbers of both Dungeness and red rock crab.”
Martinis says crabbers without a boat, using ring traps, should find productive fishing for at least the first couple of days off the Kayak Point Park pier, and off the Mukilteo fishing pier.
“Nothing beats salmon heads and/or parts as bait,” he says, “but turkey legs would be a close second. The QFC on Broadway usually has salmon parts for sale, and I have some here, too, at about $4.95 per pound.”
Shrimp: You can’t keep the big spot shrimp, but if you want to settle for smaller pinks and coonstripes, you can set your pots no deeper than 150 feet now in areas 8-1, 8-2 and 9. The depth rule, of course, is set to protect spot shrimp and all spots taken must be returned to the water. See page 53 of the “2002-03 Fishing in Washington” rules pamphlet for descriptions of the various shrimp species.
The non-spot season reopened in these areas this morning because there is a portion of the recreational share remaining to be taken. Fishing in areas 8 and 9 is open Thursdays through Sundays of each week, with a daily limit of 10 pounds.
Shad: It’s shad season on the Columbia, as counts over the Bonneville ladder start to climb. The tally on May 19 was 4,298 fish; on May 20, 6,935 fish; and on May 21, 12,191 fish. State biologist Cindy LeFleur says she uses the following University of Washington Web site to check shad numbers: www.cqs.washington.edu/dart/adult.html.
Lings and other bottomfish: State checks Saturday and Sunday at various bottomfish ports showed the following recent results: Cornet Bay, 187 anglers with 74 lings, averaging 14-15 pounds, 39 rockfish, 24 greenling, and two cabezon. At the Everett ramp, 90 anglers had 10 lings, three cabezon, and 16 rockfish. At Port Angeles, 98 anglers had nine halibut averaging 25-35 pounds.
Columbia River spring chinook: Both effort and catch rates are starting to drop at Drano Lake and the mouth of the Wind River, but creel checks show good numbers of prime spring chinook still being taken. The tally for boat anglers last week at Drano was 504 with 157 fish; and at the Wind, 364 with 90. The best fishing recently has been in the gorge section of the Wind proper, where 223 bank anglers were checked last week with 94 adult kings and five jacks. On the upper river, below the Carson Hatchery, 37 anglers had 14 fish.
Deer: Deer hunters who apply for special permits in the popular Alkali Unit, GMU 371 in Kittitas and Yakima counties will notice hunting dates are significantly later than usual. State biologist Jeff Bernatowicz says the dates are accurate, and not to call, and that the reason is increased military training and restricted access on the U.S. Army’s Yakima Training Center.
Modern firearm permits will be issued for Nov. 28-Dec. 7; muzzleloaders, Dec. 8-15; and archery, Dec. 16-29. Little, if any, scouting access will be allowed before the hunting seasons. Information is available at www.lewis.army.mil/yakima.
See the small salmon: The Boeing Employees Rod and Reel Club, and the Mukilteo Saltwater Anglers, will release some 25,000 young coho from their joint net pen project on the Everett waterfront, directly in front of Anthony’s Homeport restaurant, at 7 tonight. It’s an interesting show if you’ve never seen it happen, and everyone’s invited.
The clubs received the fish, going 24 to the pound, in January and have raised them to a five-to-the-pound size. The salmon had to be fed daily and co-chairmen Paul Rentner (MSA) and Anthony Bathurst (BERRC) are proud of the fact they had only 80 mortalities.
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