Doc Hastings has less than a month to try to ensure continued high-country trout fishing for hike-in anglers in North Cascades National Park, according to his communications director Charlie Keller, but prospects are good.
The Fourth District Republican congressman, based in Pasco, has once again introduced legislation in the House to allow planting of sterile rainbow, cutthroat and golden trout in about half the lakes historically planted in the park. A similar bill introduced last year passed the House, but languished in the Senate.
The currrent bill was being heard on the House floor Tuesday, and was expected to pass easily, Keller said.
“As the top Republican on the (House) Natural Resources Committee, Congressman Hastings feels there is a very good chance of passage in both the House and the Senate by the July 1 deadline,” Keller said. “The legislation has the support of almost all the various interest groups, and there is virtually no organized opposition.”
The National Park Service has issued an ultimatum, saying that if there is no congressional authorization to continue planting, the process will be stopped on July 1, and killing of existing “non-native” species (trout) will begin.
Trout planting in the backcountry waters of the North Cascades has been going on since around the turn of the last century on an individual basis. The job was eventually taken over by the Washington Department of Fish and Widlife, which accomplished the task via aircraft drops and by five-gallon buckets of trout fry on the backs of volunteers such as the Washington Trailblazers, a longtime hiking/fishing group.
The park was created in 1968, and trout planting has been an issue almost from that point. After a long study, the NPS has decided to allow planting of sterile (non-reproducing) trout in 42 of the 91 lakes with a proven historical planting record. But only if Congress specifically allows it.
It seems obvious that if their study had found really significant negative impacts from the planting of high-country lakes, the service would have been calling strongly for the complete elimination of the program, and would have enlisted heavyweights from the preservation community. That hasn’t happened.
A little common sense here should dictate that careful recreation can co-exist with careful conservation, as state fish managers and Washington sportsmen have been saying for years, and that there’s no need for the feds to break out the gill nets and rotenone.
Big trout: Great weather and lots of nice, fat rainbow is a combination difficult to beat, and so last weekend’s kids’ fish-in at Twin Lakes County Park succeeded without half trying. The annual event was sponsored by, among others, the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, Snohomish County Sportsmen’s Association, Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club, and the SnoKing Chapter, Puget Sound Anglers. One very pleased young angler on Saturday was 10-year old Mitchell Sawyer of Marysville, who wrestled a jumbo 5-pound, 8-ounce triploid ‘bow to the bank, probably the largest of the day according to fishing club members helping with the event.
Tulalip chinook: The Tulalip Bubble opens Friday, and while fishing is generally slow to spotty early in the season, at least there should be no conflict this time between salmon anglers trying to plot a trolling path and tribal crab gear.
“In past years — particularly the last two years — there have been some substantial problems between the two parties early in the bubble season,” said Gary Krein, fishing activist and All Star Charters owner/skipper in Everett. “I’ve been talking with Kit Rawson and some other tribal fisheries managers and they have agreed to keep their crab gear out of the bubble area for at least the first two weeks, and are considering extending the policy farther into the season. I think we owe them a vote of thanks for agreeing to do that.”
Krein said the standard approach to fishing the bubble is to work over 50 to 120 feet of water, with your gear down 50 to 90 feet. His choice of lure would probably be a frog racer Coyote spoon, 38 to 40 inches behind a flasher.
Halibut: The recent Port Angeles Halibut Derby featured a lot of really nice fish, but none of the barn-door trophies which have won the event in the past few years. First place and $5,000 went to Steve Marmon of Bellingham, at 77 pounds, second to Stratos Flanders of Corvallis, Oregon, at 75 pounds, and third to Mike Buss of Bonney Lake, at 74 pounds. Marmon, according to rumor, hooked his prize winner with only an hour to go on the derby’s final day.
Derby coordinator Norm Metzler said the top 30 fish all went 40 pounds or heavier.
Just under 700 participants bought tickets, which is down a little from the nearly 800 in some past years. Metzler, however, said the derby committee was pleased with the turnout, particularly considering that the Hood Canal bridge was still closed, the Memorial Day traffic was horrendous and that some anglers were turned off by a minus low tide series during the event.
More halibut: The state has decided there is enough quota left to reopen marine areas 3 and 4 (La Push and Neah Bay) to two more days of halibut fishing, today and Saturday, and if there are still fish available, a final day on June 18. Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) closed Friday, and Marine Area 2 (Westport) will be open one more day on Sunday. The fishery remains open five days a week in the Strait and all othere areas of Puget Sound except Hood Canal.
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Checks: State creel checks over the weekend indicated outstanding halibut fishing on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where 79 anglers out of Olson’s Resort in Sekiu had 40 halibut and 15 pacific cod on Saturday, and 84 anglers on Sunday had 48 ‘butts and 16 cod. At the Washington Park ramp west of Anacortes on Saturday, 48 fishermen had 25 rockfish and 15 lings, while at the Cornet Bay ramp on Sunday, it was 117 fishermen with 13 rockfish, 15 lings, and 9 halibut.
Hear the boss: The Tuesday meeting of the South Snohomish Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association will feature the movement’s prime mover himself, Gary Loomis. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Bayside Marine in Everett, next to the Port of Everett boat access off Marine View Drive. Come hear why the CCA is fast becoming the largest, most effective recreational fishing/conservation organization in Western Washington.
Roche derby: The popular Roche harbor blackmouth derby has added a little poker to its party and now calls itself the Roche Harbor Hook ‘em and Hold ‘em Salmon Derby and Texas Hold ‘em Tournament. Coordinator Debbie Sandwith is already selling tickets for the Dec. 3-5, 2009 event, and said she already has 30 entrants out of the total 150 allowed, on the books. Tab is $100 per angler, which includes entry to the poker game (to be held Fri. and Sat. nights), three nights of moorage, hosted dinner, and a shot at $10,000 in prizes. For more information about hotel and lodging packages, or the derby itself, call Sandwith at Roche Harbor Market, 360-378-5562 or e-mail at market@rocheharbor.com.
Sturgeon: Interest in lower Columbia sturgeon fishing is picking up for the summer, and state checks on anglers out of Ilwaco showed a legal kept for every 6.2 rods on charter boats, and one for every 14.2 rods on private boats.
Small shrimp open: Pink and coonstripe shrimp fishing opened Monday in marine areas 8-1, 8-2, 9, 11 and 13, with a 150-foot maximum fishing depth restriction, and the north/central portion of Marine Area 7 also opened, with a 200-foot maximum depth restriction. All spot shrimp must be returned to the water; small mesh pots may be used according to rules on pages 132 and 133 of the fishing regs pamphlet.
Shad: Numbers of shad passing Bonneville Dam on the lower Columbia contine to increase, with counts between 63,000 and 83,000 fish the last few days, much higher that last year at this time. Anglers are catching good numbers of shad in the Vancouver and Kalama areas, but no reports were available from Bonneville.
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