It wasn’t quite like the series of “Million Dollar” salmon derbies which brought saltwater anglers in these parts out of the woodwork in the 1970s, trying to catch that one planted coho with a dorsal tag worth seven figures.
Nor did it have quite the heft of the Seattle Milk Fund and other mega-derbies of the 1950s, which gave away handfuls of new automobiles for jumbo chinook in the 50-pound bracket.
But for this supposedly salmon-challenged new millennium, last weekend’s local Coho Derby, sponsored by the Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club, the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, and the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, wasn’t half shabby.
Touted – probably with some accuracy – as the largest fishing derby on the West Coast, the event drew over 2,300 adult participants, at $20 a head, and more than 300 youngsters, with free tickets. The adults weighed in 849 silvers, averaging a very strong 10.3 pounds each, and the kids added another 134.
Recreational fishing becoming irrelevant in an increasingly urbanized Pacific Northwest? No interest any longer in the traditional outdoor sports? Add unticketed friends and spouses to the derby numbers, and a lot more who wished they had purchased a ticket but did not, and you have a truly impressive batch of anglers on the water over the weekend, catching fish, enjoying the autumn sunshine, and having a blast.
First place and a check for $2,500 went to Clay Erickson, for a coho of 16.09 pounds. Except for admitting that he caught the fish in saltwater (local rivers were also legal), Erickson exercised the age-old fisherman’s prerogative of keeping the exact location, lure, and other vital stats to himself, according to derby coordinator Mark Spada of Snohomish.
Second place and $1,500 went to Norman Berg Sr., for a fish of 15.85 pounds; third, and $1,000 to Sharon Jorgenson, at 15.80 pounds; fourth, and $750 to Jeff New, at 15.69 pounds; and fifth, worth $500, to Jeana Bell at 15.45 pounds.
In the youth division, Valerie Stahl took a 14.07-pound fish and $100; David Cline, 12.61 pounds and $75; and Tyler Bergquist, 12.34 pounds and $50.
The smallest coho in the derby weighed in at 0.23 pounds for Hope Jacobs, and the oldest angler to weigh a fish was a magnificent 85 years.
Besides the top cash prizes, Spada said there were another 450 quality merchandise prizes awarded, and the randomly-drawn grand prize of an Alumaweld boat, trailer and Yamaha outboard, donated by Three Rivers Marine, went to John Lane of Snohomish.
Then there was Lake Stevens resident Kevin Lachapelle, who fought and landed a heavyweight silver of 18.5 pounds – should have been worth $2,500 – on the Snohomish River. On Thursday. Two days before the derby.
Spada said two of the top 10 coho came from local rivers, but that “probably three-quarters of the fish were taken in saltwater.”
He’s an expert coho fisherman, and says extremely warm, low water in the Stillaguamish and Snohomish systems probably prevented more derby fish from being taken there.
Anglers at Sekiu are still doing extremely well on coho in the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, indicating lots of fish still to come, and Spada says the next month should provide top fishing both in the bay and, increasingly, in the rivers.
Razor clams on tap: The state’s first razor clam dig in more than a year has been scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday on all the coastal beaches except for Mocrocks (Copalis River mouth to the Quinault Reservation, including Iron Springs, Roosevelt, Pacific, and Moclips beaches). The four beaches open, to evening tides only, include Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, and Kalaloch.
“This week’s opening falls outside our normal scheduling procedure,” says Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife coastal shellfish manager Dan Ayres in Montesano, “but the tides are favorable and we’d like to give people a chance to get some clams before October, when a new outbreak of domoic acid (a marine toxin which often forces closure of scheduled digs) is historically most likely to occur. Especially after this past year, we don’t want to let any opportunities for a dig go by.”
Digging should be excellent on all the open beaches, Ayres says, urging interested diggers to purchase current shellfish licenses before going to the coast.
“People have been waiting for this opening for a long time, so things could get hectic at the beach,” he says. “It would be a shame to waste time waiting in line to buy a license when you could be digging razor clams.”
Low tides on the three open days are: Friday, minus 0.3 feet at 7:35 p.m.; Saturday, minus 0.8 feet at 8:20 p.m.; and Sunday, minus 1.0 feet at 9:07 p.m.
Ayres says diggers should start about two hours before low, which means a lantern will be necessary for most of the digging time.
Mid-Columbia salmon: The big river is where it’s at right now and for the foreseeable future, as summer chinook above Wells Dam, and fall chinook from Wenatchee down to the Hanford Reach, approach epidemic proportions.
“It’s just getting started here,” says a spokesman at Hooked On Toys (509-663-0740) in Wenatchee, “but the fish are big this year. A kid took a 50-pounder from the beach last week, and I’ll bet we’ve weighed in twenty fish over 40 pounds the last two weeks.”
These are the same fall chinook anglers have been chasing for years on the Hanford Reach. Successive strong runs have pushed the fish above Priest Rapids Dam, and made them accessible over a much longer length of river.
Hooked On Toys says a relatively new Velcro lure called a Bait Buster, plus herring and backtrolled plugs, are all taking fish. Two hot areas are off Walla Walla Point, about a mile below the mouth of the Wenatchee River, and under the Wenatchee bridge.
This year’s fall chinook run is expected to be so strong, that WDFW has just raised the limit from two to four adult chinook per day on the Reach, from the Hwy 395 bridge at Pasco upstream to Priest Rapids Dam. The final run tally at McNary Dam should easily exceed 200,000 kings, according to regional fishery manager John Easterbrooks.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the Okanogan/Similkameen hatchery summer kings have now cleared Wells Dam and are loafing in the Brewster/Chief Joseph Dam area, waiting for rain to raise the Okanogan. That’s a bunch of fish, just hanging around.
“We’re now taking limits every day out,” says guide and Brewster resident Rod Hammons (509-689-2849; starr@nwi.net). “It’s the good old days, with fish ranging from 15 to 25 pounds and occasionally over 30. They’re more readily taking plugs now, such as the flame orange Hot Shots and various colors of Magnum Warts and Flatfish. Of course, the old standby dodger/herring is still a good bet.”
Local pinks and coho: The Snohomish/Stillaguamish/Skagit rivers are still hot for pinks, even though some quality degradation now means a little sorting is necessary for a take-home limit. Coho are showing more each day in all three streams, but low, warm water means the best fishing is limited to early mornings, on the lower ends of the rivers, and on fresh fish showing on a high tide.
Use a green or chartreuse number 1 Dick Nite on four feet of 8-pound leader, with a quarter- or half-ounce piece of pencil lead or a slip sinker, for both species. Experts say pinks will take coho colors much more readily than the reverse, so why not use the greens, or the 50-50 brass/nickel. Don’t “jig” the spoon when trying for coho, however, as a slow, steady retrieve – staying just over the bottom rocks – seems much more effective.
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