It was cold, the wind was blowing a minor gale and most salmon fishermen — those who could get out at all — were hugging the shoreline of Saratoga Passage and looking for any small patch of protected water they could find.
Last weekend?
Nope. Last year in the 2011 edition of the Everett Blackmouth Derby.
The sixth annual version of the event rolls around Saturday, and derby anglers are hoping for better weather conditions, despite recent wind, snow, rain and hail, as they plan their trolling strategies.
About 175 intrepid souls fished last year’s derby, fighting the elements and weighing in just 11 blackmouth. First place and $3,000 went to Troy Moe of Lake Stevens, with a nice 17.5-pound chinook taken off North Bluff, on the slightly more protected Whidbey Island side of Saratoga Passage. Second place and $1,500 went to Trevor Gatreaux at 13.4 pounds, and third, worth $500, to Hans Aarhus at 12.8 pounds.
Saratoga Passage has definitely been holding some feeder chinook. The Stanwood Hotel Tavern derby last weekend reportedly weighed 15 blackmouth for 33 ticket holders, with the top four places all 12-plus pounds. That’s not half-bad winter salmon fishing.
John Martinis of John’s Sporting Goods in Everett said upper Camano would probably again be top choice. Both sides of the Passage from Elger Bay up to Rocky Point. For those wishing to stay closer to Everett, Martinis said Columbia Beach is absolutely worth a shot. He would run a Hot Spot flasher, 42 inches of leader, and a 31/2-inch Kingfisher spoon in either cookies n’ cream or red racer color combinations.
All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein of Everett said the “racetrack” between Hat Island and Camano Head is a possibility as well, particularly if the prevailing southerly wind is blowing. He picked up a couple of blackmouth there last weekend in the 6- to 8-pound range, zig-zagging back and forth over the 90-foot bar and out to about 120 feet.
Krein also likes the 31/2-inch Kingfisher Lite, in cookies n’ cream or neon green, 40 inches behind a Hot Spot flasher on 25-pound leader.
Krein said that if the weather allows, outer Possession Bar is a possibility. It has offered at least fair fishing recently, in the breaks between storm fronts.
This is a team derby, at $100 per boat with up to four fishermen. Tickets are available at John’s Sporting Goods, Everett Bayside Marine, Greg’s Custom Rods, Hook Line &Sinker, Ted’s Sport Center, Ed’s Surplus, Three Rivers Marine and Performance Marine. Harbor Marine will open at about 5 a.m. for bait and other necessaries.
Springers
It’s not yet prime time for spring chinook in the Vancouver portion of the lower Columbia, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department biologist Joe Hymer, but the run is building daily.
“The catch rate has been a little on the slow side,” Hymer said, “and better down around Cathlamet than in the Vancouver area. Nice fish, though — up to the low 30s.”
Traditionally, Hymer said, the next three weeks should see the peak of the recreational season in that area (the season closes April 6 but could reopen later if quota remains). The run is predicted to be the fourth-largest on record — some 116,000 more upriver spring chinook than was forecast for last year’s very good season — and fishing conditions almost certainly will be better than 2011’s high, cold, dirty water.
A book could be written on where to fish spring chinook on the lower Columbia, but for starters you might join the crowd at and below the I-5 bridge. It’s easy to find and access (big ramp just upriver on the Washington side) and nice drifting water.
Hymer said to rig with either plug-cut herring or whole herring in a helmet on about 5 feet of leader, an attractor such as the Fish Flash at the swivel, and a 12-inch dropper on either a spreader bar or slider, with a ball sinker of roughly 6 to 8 ounces, fished in 15 to 30 feet of water. Troll downstream, using just enough power to let your gear touch bottom occasionally.
Some anglers (you’ll see where they are) anchor and plunk sardine or tuna-wrapped Kwikfish off the stern, on an outgoing tide.
Remember the entire lower Columbia will be closed to all salmonid fishing on March 20, March 27 and April 3.
Cabela’s to open
The new Cabela’s Tulalip store opens to the public at 11 a.m. on April 19, with a slate of special guests, giveaways, drawings and more. The festivities last through the following weekend. The store is on the west side of I-5 at Exit 202, in Quil Ceda Village, and is the second in Washington for the major provider of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear. It follows the Lacey store, which opened in 2007, and precedes a planned outlet in Union Gap, near Yakima, due to open this fall. Cabela’s currently operates 34 stores across the U.S. and Canada.
The store will sell a huge array of products, including hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating and wildlife-watching gear, as well as clothing, gifts and furnishings. It will feature two 7,000-gallon aquariums, a boat shop, gun library, a discount “bargain cave,” a deli called the “Eagle’s Nest,” and will surround customers with wildlife displays and some 220 trophy animal mounts.
For more outdoors news, read Wayne Kruse’s blog at www.heraldnet.com/huntingandfishing.
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