Salmon seasons look similar to last year

  • Wayne Kruse / Outdoor Writer
  • Wednesday, April 14, 2004 9:00pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

The summer salmon fishing seasons have been tentatively set, pending review by federal fisheries managers for compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

If approved, the seasons will look a lot like last year’s.

“About the only major change in Everett-area saltwater regs is an increase in fishing opportunity in the Tulalip bubble,” said All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein, a participant in the “North of Falcon” season-setting procedure. “We can start fishing the bubble June 18 instead of July 1, giving us a couple of additional weeks.”

On the other hand, anglers lost two weeks of the Skykomish River chinook season. The Sky opens to kings on June 16, as opposed to June 1 last year.

“The tentative Skykomish season is June 16 to July 31, with a two-fish limit,” said guide, Arlington resident and fishing activist Sam Ingram. “The area will be the same, from the Wallace downstream to the Lewis Street bridge in Monroe.”

Ingram said sport-fishing representatives to the North of Falcon process were successful in advocating for a season on even-year pink salmon (humpies) this summer, and the Snohomish River will open the month of August for two pinks per day.

“We weren’t successful in getting a chinook fishery on the Skagit,” Ingram said, “but there was no major opposition to it, and we set the foundation for perhaps getting a season next year.”

Skagit aficionados will, however, get a bonus three-fish daily limit on a predicted abundant run of coho this summer and fall.

A Lake Washington sockeye fishery is still probable, but still dependent on last-minute counts of adult fish coming through the Ballard Locks.

“We’re likely to have a season, but it will almost certainly be a short one,” Ingram said. “Get on it fast when it opens, because sport fishermen took something like 30,000 sockeye in five days the last time the fishery opened, and that’s about the number of harvestable fish they’re predicting this year.”

Ingram said another, and rather unusual, river fishery opens June 1. A “trout” season on the Cedar River will be the first one there since 1993, and is designed to control fish that prey on migrating sockeye smolts.

“That one will be fun to watch,” Ingram said, “because the rumor is that there are fish to 6 or 8 pounds in the river.”

The surprisingly popular and productive hatchery-specific chinook fishery on the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca will be repeated this summer, again requiring anglers to release any king with an adipose fin. The season begins July 1 and runs for 41 days, or until 3,500 hatchery chinook have been landed.

Coastal chinook seasons in marine areas 1-4 open June 27, with a minimum length of 26 inches. Coho caught in the coastal areas must have a clipped adipose fin.

Following is a rundown of salmon seasons for popular waters in this area:

Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands): May 1-June 30, closed. July 1-31 open for two fish daily in a limited portion of the area (see regs), only one chinook. Aug. 1-Sept. 30, two fish daily, only one chinook. Release unmarked coho and release chum. South Rosario Strait and eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, closed Aug. 1-Sept. 30. Oct. 1-31, two fish daily, release chinook. Samish Bay closed Oct. 1-15. Nov. 1-30, two fish limit, only one chinook. Dec. 1-Jan. 31, closed.

Marine Area 8-1: May 1-July 31, closed. Aug. 1-Oct. 31, two fish daily, release chinook. Nov. 1-30, two fish daily, only one chinook. Dec. 1-Jan.31, closed.

Marine Area 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner): May 1-July 31, closed. Aug. 1-Oct. 31, two fish daily, release chinook. Nov. 1-30, two fish daily, only one chinook. Dec. 1-Feb. 13, closed. Tulalip bubble (tentative), June 18-Sept. 27, Friday through noon Monday, weekly, two fish daily.

Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet): May 1-July 15, closed. July 16-Oct. 31, two fish daily, release chinook, release chum Aug. 1-Sept. 30. Nov. 1-30, two fish daily, only one chinook. Dec. 1-Jan. 31, closed. Edmonds Pier, open year-around with a two-fish limit, only one chinook. Release chum Aug. 1-Sept. 30.

Local blackmouth: If you read this early enough to give the boss a credible excuse, Marine Area 9 is worth a last hurrah. Areas 8-1 and 8-2 are both closed, and 9 closes after today, but Everett charter skipper Gary Krein said some big fish are there for the taking.

“It hasn’t been fast, numbers-wise,” he said, “but on Monday we took our four fish, and they weighed a total of 50 pounds. Every one was in the 13-pound range.”

Krein was fishing Point No Point, pulling Coyote spoons in funky chicken and green/white patterns, on the deck in 100 to 110 feet of water. He saw a couple of other fish caught, about the same size, and heard that Possession Bar also produced fish.

Shrimp: The Puget Sound shrimp season opens Saturday, so it’s time to rig the pots and stock up on Puss ‘n Boots cat food. Everett resident and fishing fanatic Mike Greenleaf said tribal commercials have been in the water for the best part of a week and have been doing well.

“They haven’t touched the shoreline from Mukilteo south, though,” he said, “nor the Whidbey side, from Sandy Point south, both good shrimping areas.”

They have fished the east side of the “racetrack,” the bar between Hat Island and Camano Head, and on up into Port Susan, he said, but experienced only spotty success in that area.

Gary Krein lists the shoreline from Pigeon Creek in south Everett down to Mukilteo as one of his favorite areas, particular off the oil docks in Mukilteo, in 180 to 240 feet of water.

He also likes the northeast corner of Hat Island, at 180 to 200 or 300 feet, and off Camano Head, on either side of the bar.

Another popular spot, Krein said, is off the “Bait Box” in 240 feet of water, just “inside” the southeast corner of Possession Point. He warns, however, that a lot of inexperienced shrimpers lose their pots there because the tidal current is very heavy in that area and it’s necessary to weight pots with up to 10 pounds of lead or zinc, and use up to twice the amount of line as the depth being fished.

“Otherwise,” Krein said, “your whole rig is going to end up on Possession Bar, fouling some salmon fisherman’s downrigger.”

Krein advises newcomers to work their pots, not to just park them and leave them there all day. “A distance of 100 yards can be as critical as in crabbing,” he said. “Check ‘em after a couple of hours, and if they’re not fishing well, move ‘em.”

Spring chinook: Anglers at Drano Lake and the mouth of the Wind River, on the middle Columbia, are starting to take a few fish, finally, but not enough just yet to get excited about.

Local trout: Sam Ingram said both trollers and bait fishermen on Blackman’s and Flowing lakes are starting to take trout, about equally. Most are the state’s hatchery rainbows, in the 10-inch range, but with a fair sprinkling of trout to 15 or 16 inches and the occasional multi-pound trophy.

North Gissberg Pond changes to juveniles-only regulations on May 1, and the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club plans a kids’ fish-in on May 2, with both state plants and some of their own pen-raised triploids of 4 or 5 pounds and larger. Club president Jim Brauch said the group will also try to have some tackle available to loan.

Another great kids’ fishing opportunity comes up April 25, the day after the general trout opener, at Lake Tye in Monroe. This will be the fourth year for the outrageously popular fish-in sponsored by the Sky Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The event drew 1,000 participants the first year, 1,500 in 2002 and more than 2,000 kids and family members last year. The kids fish from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in one of two netted areas, depending on level of expertise and whether or not they have their own gear. Adults then take over (for a fee) for a derby.

The chapter hopes to purchase several thousand dollars worth of trout, from 8 inches to 10 pounds for the event, but a slow economy and a tight budget for the City of Monroe have forced the club to solicit public donations. Make checks payable to Sky Valley Trout Unlimited, and send them to Ron Lavigueure, Labro, Inc., 16311 177th Ave. S.E, Monroe, Wash., 98272

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