After a dismal showing in 2006, when just 375 salmon were weighed in, anglers in last weekend’s big Everett Coho Derby came back strong and once again found silvers in abundance, both in saltwater and in local rivers.
Some 2,524 adult tickets were sold for the event, according to Jim Brauch of the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, the co-sponsor of the event along with the Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club, and an excellent total of 1,166 fish were entered. That compares well with the 1,018 coho weighed in for the 2004 derby, and 1,241 for the 2005 event.
This year’s derby weighed eight coho over 15 pounds. First place and $2,500 went to Adam Dierck of Marysville for his 17.11-pound entry; second and $1,500 went to Larry Munson of Everett, at 15.98 pounds; third and $1,000 went to Marcella Rockenbach of Snohomish, at 15.79 pounds; and fourth ($750) went to Matt Stone of Everett, at 15.57 pounds.
The winning coho in 2004 weighed 18.14 pounds and came from the Snohomish River; in 2005, 18.4 pounds from the area between Possession and Double Bluff; and last year, 16.82 pounds from Marine Area 9.
Marcella Rockenbach, with husband Greg, owns Greg’s Custom Rods and Tackle in Lake Stevens, and the pair certainly knows which end of the stick to point at the water. They were trolling the edge of Possession Bar on Saturday, Marcella using a Hot Spot flasher/Silver Horde green spatterback squid combo, down 91 feet. She dressed up the squid, she said, with a bit of twinkle skirt and a small herring strip soaked in Dick Nite salmon scent.
The same setup had scored a week earlier, when the Rockenbachs’ guest placed ninth in the Lions’ derby for the blind.
Rockenbach led the derby most of the day Saturday, but got bumped to third on Sunday. “I can live with that,” she said.
And, to add a little drama to the story, her nearly 16-pound coho almost ended up on someone else’s table — it had a second, broken-off hook in the other side of its mouth.
Brauch said entries included 225 coho of 10 pounds or better, and that the top derby fish came about equally from saltwater and the Snohomish River. There were 368 youth tickets given away (kids fished free), and they entered 121 coho for prizes — a much better than usual number for the youth division. Top prize of $100 went to Jason Nemnich, at 13.07 pounds; second and $75 to Nick Mingen at 12.98 pounds; and third ($50) to Brewster Camden at 12.57 pounds.
The event’s most coveted prize — a 23-foot, center console Pacific, with motor and trailer — was up for grabs courtesy of the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s Salmon Derby Series promotion. Since the Everett derby was the last in the year-long series, the winner of the boat was drawn there and Steve Herrmann went home with the new craft. Appropriately enough, Herrmann qualified for the drawing by entering the Everett derby, as opposed to others around Western Washington.
A second boat from the NMTA, a 14-foot StabiCraft offered to anglers 14 and under, went to Zach Loescher, also from the Everett Derby.
The identity of the new owner of the third and last boat drawn — a 17-foot Alumaweld with 40-hp Mercury outboard and Rogue trailer, donated by Three Rivers Marine — was a nail-biter. The first four names drawn were not present and therefore could not win. Finally, Brianna Rogers walked to the mike and claimed the $17,000 package.
Meanwhile, coho action in local saltwater has been spotty and scattered, according to All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein in Everett (425-252-4188).
“We’re hearing that a lot of people are catching a fish or two, but that there aren’t a lot of limits being boated,” Krein said. “That indicates to me there’s no concentration of fish around, and that it pays to keep covering water.”
He recommended the stretch of shoreline between Mukilteo and the shipwreck, between 40 and 80 feet depending on the time of day, using flasher and white glow squid.
Checks from the Strait of Juan de Fuca peaked earlier and had started to drop by the weekend, which may mean the peak of the run is currently in local saltwater and/or rivers. Some 166 anglers checked at Van Riper’s Resort in Sekiu on Sunday had 121 coho, down from a check of 334 fish for 195 anglers out of Olson’s, a week earlier.
Remember that Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 close to salmon fishing on Oct. 1, leaving Area 9 as the only option close to home.
Muskies: Since this seems to be derby results day, we might as well include the Sept. 15-16 tiger musky tournament on Mayfield Lake, the big Cowlitz River impoundment and the first lake in the state to be planted with the northern pike/muskellunge hybrid. The father-son team of Frank and Mike Haw took first place with a fish of 42.75 inches (about 24 pounds), and if the name Frank Haw sounds familiar, it’s because he was a longtime Department of Fisheries biologist (before its merger with the Game Department), sportfishing advocate when it wasn’t popular in that agency, and widely noted expert saltwater angler.
The second-place fish — about 22 pounds — was caught by the husband-and-wife team of Tom Schafenacker and Jill Blakeway, and third, about 16 pounds, by Roger and Ron Jutte.
More information on the tournament, tiger muskies and the Northwest chapter of Muskies, Inc., can by had at www.nwtigermuskies.com.
State biologist Bruce Bolding said the tiger musky program has expanded to the point where there are now at least four lakes in Washington holding a fish heavier than the current state record of 32-plus pounds: Mayfield and Merwin on the westside, and Curlew and Newman east of the Cascades. The fish are now being planted in seven state lakes, both to enhance the sport fishery and to help eliminate undesirable species without the use of rotenone.
Smallmouth tournament: And third, the $1 million bass tournament held last week on the Columbia River near the Tri-Cities was won by pro basser Charlie Weyer of West Hills, Calif. Weyer won $100,000 for his four-day catch (and release of) 20 smallmouth weighing 53 pounds, 1 ounce.
Both Weyer and the second-place finisher fished about 50 miles downriver from the Tri-Cities, with Weyer using a Carolina rig tipped with a 5-inch green pumpkin Zoom lizard and a Yamamoto green pumpkin tube. He focused on fishing the tube shallow early in the morning, and moving out further on the rockpiles as the day progressed and the fish reacted to pressure.
Waterfowl tour: For anyone interested in learning the ins and outs of duck hunting in this area, a can’t-miss opportunity comes up once each year when the Northwest Chapter of the Washington Waterfowl Association holds its “Skagit Tour,” which is open to the public. It’s a priceless introduction to hunting on the Skagit delta, historically the most important public-oriented duck and goose hunting habitat on Puget Sound.
The tour covers the Skagit Wildlife Area “headquarters unit,” west of Conway and south of the Fir Island Road, then launches and heads out toward the bayfront for a low-tide hunting discussion. After that, run back up and inspect the “farmed island segment” from several different landing spots, then explore Milltown Island and head back out to the bayfront for a high tide view.
Northwest Chapter president Rone Brewer said club experts will also discuss other areas to hunt around the Skagit.
Meet at noon on Oct. 7, at the Skagit headquarters boat ramp. Bring a duck boat if you have one, lifejackets and knee or hip boots. Brewer asks that interested participants RSVP at 360-652-1264 or nwducks@snohomish.net, so the club has an idea how many people it will have to accommodate.
Take the Highway 534 exit (Conway, La Conner) off I-5 south of Mount Vernon and drive west across the Skagit River bridge onto Fir Island and toward La Conner. Mann Road and a sign to the Skagit Wildlife Area is on the left, a little over a mile past the bridge. Drive south and look for the sign.
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