Dan Ayres was philosophical about the whole thing.
“That’s November razor-clam digging for you,” he said of the heavy surf on the coastal beaches that wreaked havoc with last weekend’s recreational dig.
“The first night, Saturday, wasn’t too bad, and we drew about 4,000 diggers, despite the weather,” Ayres said. “Twin Harbors was the only beach open, so it concentrated all the effort there and resulted in the biggest crowd I’ve seen in a long time.”
Sunday and Monday were a different story. Pacific swells estimated at a towering 19 feet cut dramatically the number of hardy souls willing to brave the wind and surf. Digging Saturday was mostly limit action (15 clams), Ayres said, but diggers Sunday and Monday struggled, averaging about eight clams per person. “If I had been planning on taking my own family out on Sunday, I wouldn’t have,” he said.
Ayres’ rule of thumb for decent digging conditions is a swell height of 10 feet or so. “Anything 11 feet or above, I would start having second thoughts about,” he said.
One consolation — most of the Twin Harbors clams were a nice size, except for the south end of the beach, where they were a little smaller.
The next tentatively scheduled opening is a long one, nine days from Dec. 10-18. There will be some daylight digging, and some very good tides of minus 1.6, 1.7 and 1.8 feet. Unfortunately, those tides are all three on weekdays.
The first two days will open all of the state’s coastal beaches to digging, except for Kalaloch. The remaining seven days will involve Twin Harbors and Long Beach only. Ayres will have enough information on domoic acid levels by the end of the week to form a better idea of whether or not the whole package will fly. The only iffy spot at midweek was Long Beach, he said.
Domoic acid, a natural toxin produced by certain types of marine algae, can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in sufficient quantities, and cooking or freezing does not destroy the toxin in shellfish.
The best digging should be at Mocrocks and at the north end of the Long Beach Peninsula, according to Ayres, but there are plenty of clams at all the beaches.
Local blackmouth
State Department of Fish and Wildlife creel checks from Marine Areas 9 (closes today), 8-1, 8-2, 10 and 6 are as follows:
Saturday: Camano ramp, five anglers with one chinook; Dagmar’s Landing, two anglers with one chinook; Edmonds Marina, three with one; Port of Everett ramp, 47 anglers in 18 boats with eight chinook; and Port Townsend, 11 with eight chinook.
Sunday: Camano, 13 with three; Edmonds Marina, two with five; Everett ramp, 52 with five; Port Townsend, 19 with 10, and Shilshole (Seattle), eight with two.
The last weekend for a while in Area 9 (Possession Bar, Double Bluff, Point No Point) was not bad. Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sport Center said a scattering of nice fish in the 10- to 15-pound class have been taken so far, and that Area 9 has been better than 8-1 and 8-2. If he had to choose one spot now that Area 9 is closed for two months, it probably would be Columbia Beach, he said.
Marine Area 7, the San Juan Islands, opens today, and Chamberlain said there are a lot of good spots in the islands for this first weekend: Thatcher Pass, President Channel, Fidalgo Head, and a bunch of others.
Bits and pieces
Chamberlain said squid jigging is still going strong on the Edmonds pier and other places — better in Seattle and south than in our area, and that it has been “an intense year.” The word “intense” can be considered a euphemism for “downright nasty” because of some anti-social behavior at times on the piers. Arguments, and sometimes more than arguments, have probably resulted from the growing popularity of the activity and an influx of new squidders who aren’t familiar with pier etiquette (such as crowding the folks who’ve brought a generator and squid-attracting light), Chamberlain said.
There was even a rumor that police had to be called to clear a brawl recently on a popular pier in West Seattle. A brawl? Over a bucket of squid? You’ve gotta be kidding.
No word on smelt jigging yet, but it should be underway by now at La Conner, Cornet Bay, Oak Harbor and other spots.
Rivers have mostly been out of shape lately, but between the storm fronts a few winter steelhead have shown up at Reiter Ponds on the Skykomish and in the Wallace.
The usual hot winter fishery for big cutthroat in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish is underway, producing some beautiful cutts in the 14- to 18-inch range. Closer to home, Lake Goodwin is also putting out top winter action for rainbows averaging 14 or 15 inches, Chamberlain said. The water toys are gone now, and serious trout fishermen can get to work, trolling small spoons or stillfishing Power Bait.
State biologist Paul Hoffarth in Pasco said steelheading at Ringold Springs on the Columbia, north of the Tri-Cities, has been slow. One check last week tallied only one steelie for 59 anglers. Columbia River steehead runs this year have been weak in general.
There are still bright coho to be had in the middle Skagit, Chamberlain said, with a little releasing of dark fish. Try twitching jigs, Vibrax spinners or casting or backtrolling Brad’s Wigglers in fire tiger pattern.
Swan line
The state is monitoring the effects of lead shot poisoning in trumpeter swans, and has re-opened a hotline to report dead, sick or injured swans in Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties. The number is 360-466-4345, extension 266.
Some trumpeter swans in the three counties die each year from lead poisoning, even though lead shot has been banned for waterfowl hunting in Washington for more than 25 years. Lead shot can still be picked up, however, in shallow feeding areas.
The state and other agencies and organizations have been working since 2001 to reduce swan mortalities and locate the sources of toxic lead.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
