Winter blackmouth season opened in local waters over the weekend, and while Sunday got a little lumpy for many folks, the Saturday opener was a good one.
The Bayside Marine derby Saturday and Sunday saw some quality fishing. A lot more tickets were sold (213) than for the 2013 event (164) — usually a pretty good indicator of the expected strength of the fishery. The $2,000 first-place chinook weighed 14.04 pounds, which compares favorably with the top fish last year, a blackmouth of 10.36 pounds caught by Kaylee Olson. In last year’s derby, just the top two fish weighed more than 9 pounds, while the top 12 entries were more than 11 pounds this year.
Some 81 fish were weighed, most on Saturday before the wind came up. Joe Stephanson, son of Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, nailed the big one and top money. In second was Dan Crawley at 13.07 pounds, and third, at 12.76 pounds, was Jim Davis. Jeff LaLone of sponsoring Everett Bayside Marine said 90 percent of the entries were caught in Marine Area 9, which usually means Point No Point, Double Bluff and Possession Bar. LaLone also said the derby collected 6,390 pounds of food for the local food bank.
All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein called the opening weekend “good but not spectacular,” and said that Area 9 was holding fish. He boated four chinook and one coho on Possession Bar on Saturday. Another All Star skipper, Nick Kester, fished Point No Point and landed five chinook. Krein said most of the blackmouth were in the 8-pound range, but were fat and in excellent shape. Regulations in areas 8-1, 8-2 and 9 allow two fish daily, and chinook must be fin-clipped.
Krein did most of his business with Kingfisher Lite, 31/2-inch spoons in green/white and chrome, on 38 to 40 inches of leader, behind a green Gibbs flasher. He likes the west side of Possession Bar on an incoming tide, and the east side on the ebb. Both sides produced fish over the weekend, he said, along with No Point and Double Bluff.
Deer numbers
Limited check station numbers indicate good hunting during the rifle season in a couple of areas of the state. The Winthrop check station in the Okanogan was manned both weekends of the season, and while the opening weekend got off to a slow start, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department biologist Scott Fitkin, the final results were positive.
A total of 249 hunters, with 63 deer, were contacted during the two weekends. That’s participation similar to last year, and a success rate, 25 percent, well above the five-year average for the area. Additionally, about one-third of the bucks harvested were plus or minus 41/2 years old.
Dana Base, state biologist in Colville, said two stations were manned in whitetail country. The Deer Park station, north of Spokane, tallied 81 hunters with nine deer on Oct. 12, then 56 with 15 on Oct. 18, and 99 with 26 on Oct. 19. Those harvest numbers are higher than last year’s, Base said.
At the Chattaroy station, 39 hunters on Oct. 18 had six deer, and on the 19th, 85 had 12, and one moose.
Skagit county
A couple of options exist north of us, according to Kevin John at Holiday Sports in Burlington. There are a lot of waterfowl on Skagit Bay, John said, and particularly a big increase in the number of mallards. Earlier, John said, most of the action was on pintail and wigeon.
When and if the Skagit River starts dropping from recent heavy rains, John says there should be some pretty good coho fishing from Sedro-Woolley upstream. Think bait or spinners in dirty water, he said.
Trout
The special fall planting of a number of western Washingon lakes with young “surplus” steelhead, swings into its second phase on Lake Tye, and North and South Gissberg Ponds in Snohomish County, and Cranberry Lake on the north end of Whidbey Island this week. The second plant will go in the water sometime between now and Nov. 12, and will be composed of 2,000 fish in Lake Tye, on the west edge of Monroe, and 1,250 fish in each of the two Gissberg Ponds (north pond open to juveniles only). Cranberry will receive 13,500 trout.
The first plant in the four lakes occurred late last month, and the third and final plant will take place between Nov. 17-26.
Cowlitz River
Fishermen are still doing very well on coho in the Cowlitz River, according to state biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver. Boat anglers last week averaged 1.4 adult coho per rod while bank anglers averaged better than three-fourths of a fish per person. Some fall chinook, most released, summer-run steelhead and sea-run cutthroat are also being caught.
Hymer said boat fishermen are doing best around the I-5 bridge, and bank anglers at the barrier dam.
Razor clams
The current razor clam dig on the coastal beaches started Tuesday and will continue through Nov. 11. Tides and open beaches are as follows: Today, minus 1.1 feet at 5:59 p.m., on Long Beach and Twin Harbors beaches; Nov. 7, minus 1.2 feet at 6:42 p.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks; Nov. 8, minus 1.1 feet at 7:24 p.m. on all beaches except Kalaloch; Nov. 9, minus 0.7 feet at 8:05 p.m. on Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks; Nov. 10, minus 0.3 feet at 8:47 p.m. on Long Beach and Twin Harbors; and Nov. 11, minus 0.2 feet at 9:31 p.m. on Long Beach and Twin Harbors.
The next tentative seeries is scheduled to run Nov. 20 through Nov. 26, with the lowest tide, minus 1.1 feet, on Nov. 24.
Columbia steelhead
State biologist Paul Hoffarth in Pasco said steelhead fishing is finally picking up in the Ringold area of the Hanford Reach. Creel samplers checked 129 bank anglers with 65 steelhead last week, and 20 boats with 20 steelhead. Bank anglers took an average of 6.3 hours of on-water time to catch a fish, and boat anglers, roughly 8 hours.
Anti-hunters defeated
An interesting bit of information for hunters came out of Maine after the Nov. 4 elections. According to a release from the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, Maine voters rejected a ballot initiaative backed by the Humane Society of the United State, which would have prohibited the use of bait, dogs and traps when bear hunting.
This was the second time in 10 years that the issue has been defeated by publc vote, the USSA said in the release.
For more information, go to www.ussportsmen.org.
Smoke a turkey
Cabela’s Tulalip offers a seminar on smoking the perfect Thanksgiving turkey, presented by certified meat cutter Jon Blank, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Nov. 16. The presentation will cover brines and injectors, smokers, timing, recipes how to properly carve your turkey, and more. Free samples!
RSVP by calling 360-474-4880.
Derby
The fifth running of the Resurrection Derby is scheduled for Dec. 5-6 this year, at the Port of Friday Harbor, San Juan Island. The date once again coincides with the opening week of the winter blackmouth season in the San Juans, and sponsor Fidalgo-San Juan Islands chapter, Puget Sound Anglers is offering a $10,000 first prize for this second stop in the 2015 Northwest Salmon Derby Series lineup.
Entry fee is $400 per team (up to four anglers per boat) and the field is limited to 100 teams. Tickets are on sale now; information at www.resurrectionderby.com.
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