Only a handful of fishing derbies around the state qualify as major happenings, and one of the biggest is always the Port Angeles Halibut Derby, which draws upward of 900 avid anglers to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
This year’s event – scheduled for May 26-27 – should be no exception. And where else do you have an honest shot at putting several thousand dollars in your pocket and more than 100 pounds of prime eating in your freezer?
The derby, one of the largest on the West Coast, is drawing from a wider and wider constituency. “More entries every year are coming from Portland and other out-of-state spots, along with heavier participation from Eastern Washington – Yakima, Ellensburg, Cle Elum and others,” said derby coordinator Norm Metzler, with the Port Angeles Salmon Club.
While average sizes of halibut entered in the derby have tended downward the past two or three years, the winners are still exceptional fish. Top dog in 2004 was a fish of 157 pounds, and the best five entries that year were all over the century mark. In 2005, a halibut of 134 pounds took the top cash prize, followed by fish of 104 and 89 pounds, respectively.
The winner last year weighed in at 124 pounds, followed by fish of 95, 71, and 69 pounds in second through fourth places. There were 15 halibut in the 50s entered, and it took a fish of 40-plus pounds to make the prize list.
Halibut fishing in the Strait so far this season has been spotty, according to Bob Aunspach at Swain’s General Store in Port Angeles, the area’s best information source. Fishing has probably not been up to last season’s standards so far, Aunspach said, but a handful of fish over 100 pounds have nevertheless been landed. All the usually productive spots – Green Point, “the humps,” “the rockpile,” Freshwater Bay, and even right out front, off Ediz Hook, have been putting out fish, he said.
Tickets for the derby are $30 per person for one or two days. Information is available at Swain’s via phone, at 360-452-2357; or information and purchase of tickets online at their Web site, www.swainsinc.com; or tickets via mail to Port Angeles Salmon Club, P.O. Box 836, Port Angeles, 98362; or tickets are available Friday, May 25, at the Port Angeles Yacht Club Derby Headquarters. For information on accommodations, contact the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce at 360-452-2363; e-mail www.portangeles.org. For Boat Haven moorage information, call 360-457-4505.
The cash prize list starts at $5,000 for first, $2,500 for second, and 1,500 for third, and runs down to $135 for 30th place.
Port Angeles-area tides on derby weekend are as follows: Saturday, low at 6:51 a.m., 1.54 feet, and high at 12:59 p.m., 4.47 feet; Sunday, low at 7:17 a.m., 0.78 feet, and high at 2:11 p.m., 5.09 feet.
A different derby: A smaller, more laid-back, but perhaps just as enjoyable derby of another stripe is also on tap weekend after next. The Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce will again sponsor a surf perch derby, on Saturday, May 26, for a $20 entry fee.
“Last year’s inaugural event was so much fun and so well received, that the chamber may spring for more than one this year,” said unofficial surf perch guru Jim Jackson, at Angler Charters in Westport. “But so far, the May 26 event is the only one set in concrete.”
Tickets are available at several outlets in Westport, Grayland and Tokeland, or online at Jackson’s Web site, www.anglercharters.net. The site also has full derby rules and a comprehensive rundown on tackle and technique used to surf cast for the sporty little (state record is slightly over 4 pounds) fish. The prize list will pay out 80 percent of net entries, with 25 percent going to largest single fish, 30 percent to heaviest five fish, and on down the line for five-fish stringers.
Jackson’s phone number is 1-800-422-0425.
Shrimp (closed): Recreational spot shrimp fishing is closed now in marine areas 8-1, 8-2, 9 and 10, because the quotas in those areas have been reached. Areas 8-1 and 8-2 will reopen for non-spot shrimp fishing on June 1, with a 150-foot maximum fishing depth restriction.
Shrimp (open) and other good stuff, in the islands: At time of writing, the recreational shrimp season in Marine Area 7 was still open and, according to Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington (360-757-4361) the pot soakers were doing pretty well in a number of places, as tides have improved. Remember the islands are now on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule this year, probably the reason why the fishery is still underway. Biz Point has been as good a bet as any, Ferber said.
He called ling fishing in the islands “pretty decent,” with numbers of fish coming through the store.
But maybe the brightest spot in northern waters, Ferber said, has been an excellent halibut season. Hein Bank continues to be the big producer, for fish from the teens to about 70 pounds. Drifts with the outgoing tide, along the west edge of the bar, using squid or herring, have been productive, Ferber said.
About a week ago, Anthon Steen (another employee at Holiday Market Sports) and friends hit Hein Bank on a halibut trip and managed to limit out with four fish going from the teens to 50-plus pounds.
“Unfortunately, when we got back to the launch,” Steen said, “we didn’t see the fish checker, a game officer, or anyone that we recognized, so we couldn’t show off our fish and fool anyone into thinking we knew what we were doing. We called quite a few people on the ride in to brag, though, and there are pictures at the store.”
Bottomfish checks: Creel checks at the Cornet Bay ramp on Saturday counted 254 fishermen with 40 rockfish, 40 lings, one halibut, and 41 greenling. At the Washington Park launch west of Anacortes, 59 anglers had 18 rockfish, 18 lings, four cabezon, and 12 greenling.
Some 117 fishermen were checked Saturday at the Ediz Hook ramp, Port Angeles, with 25 halibut.
At the Port of Everett ramp Saturday and Sunday, a total of 129 anglers had 24 rockfish, one halibut, and eight lings.
Moved: Hook, Line &Sinker, the tackle shop at Smokey Point, has hauled its hooks, lines and sinkers westward, closer to the freeway, at 17306 Smokey Point Drive, just north of Buzz Inn. The phone number – 360-435-5052 – remains the same.
Springers: The spring chinook run on the Columbia River has been tracking at about the rate (only fair, compared to last year) the WDFW predicted this season, although once again running late. Fishermen are taking springers on the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis, with the Lewis the best of the three at a king for every other rod (boaters).
Checks at the Wind River showed a chinook for every six rods (boaters), and one for five bank anglers. At Drano Lake it was one for every four boat rods.
Shad season opens on the Columbia May 16 below Bonneville Dam, and over 13,500 fish have already been counted over the dam.
Crab: Sport crabbers fishing Puget Sound this summer will find the upcoming season similar to last year, although there are significant changes in catch reporting procedures.
Crabbing will open seven days a week on June 18 in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca and southern Puget Sound – marine areas 4, 5 and 13; on July 4 in marine areas 6, 7 South, 8-1, 8-2, 9, 10, 11, and 12, Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, and will close the evening of Sept. 3 for a catch assessment; July 18 in Marine Area 7 East, Wednesdays through Saturdays only; and on Aug. 15 in Marine Area 7 North, Wednesdays through Saturdays.
Reporting procedures have changed, and will be as follows:
1. Two-card reporting system: All sport crabbers in the Sound will report their crab catch on separate summer and fall/winter catch cards during the course of the season. The new cards will be separate from the multi-species card used to record salmon, halibut and others.
2. On-line reporting: Recreation fishermen will have, for the first time, the option of reporting via the Internet in lieu of mailing in their catch cards. The Web site address will be printed on the catch cards along with the reporting deadlines.
3. No coastal reporting: Cards are no longer required from the coast, marine areas 1-4.
Under the new system, sport crabbers must report their catch through Labor Day by Sept. 15, either by returning cards or by filing a report on the new Web site. The deadline to report for the fall/winter period will be Jan. 15.
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