One Hundred Thousand Dollars.
Had a pleasant ring to it. Rolled off the tongue. Nice, round number.
Simply catch a big king salmon and pocket a hundred grand.
Great concept, got a lot of high-liners’ attention did Jay Field’s entrepreneurial idea for a mega-money salmon derby, ala Mississippi bassin’ or world championship billfish tournaments.
Only problem is that it’s not going to fly.
Field, the Anacortes businessman/charter owner said this week that the grand event, scheduled for July 1-2, has attracted only about a dozen entries — at $6,600 per five-angler boat — and that’s not close to the minimum 45 needed.
The for-profit derby would have made Field a modest amount of money and would also have provided funding for salmon enhancement projects in the area.
“Sure, I’m a little disappointed,” he said, “but then I haven’t always hit a home run with some of the wild ideas I’ve come up with.”
So what happens now?
Field said he was ready to “just stick it in the loss column, refund the money, and move along.”
But he got to calling around, to the fishermen entered and some other interested folks, and started changing his mind.
“It sounds like everybody still wants to fish,” he said. “So we might just drop the entry price a little, cut the payout, throw all our dough into a hat and go fishin’.”
He said the pot might provide $20,000 or $30,000, and there would be no payment to the organizer nor to fish enhancement. It might be one day, or the original two, he hasn’t decided yet, but would probably still be in the early July time frame.
Contact Field for more information at jay@dashonecharters.com.
Razor clams
The last razor clam dig of the season runs this weekend, on the following low tide schedule: Saturday, minus 1.6 feet at 8:15 a.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks beaches; and Sunday, minus 1.6 feet at 8:58 a.m., on Long Beach and Twin Harbors only. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish manager Dan Ayres said the next dig will likely be in October.
Trout
Blackmans Lake in Snohomish received its latest plant of triploid rainbow on May 6, according to Mark Spada, president of the Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club. The plant consisted of about 200 fish, most in the 14- to 16-inch range, but with 30 to 50 multi-pounders in the mix.
Other good trout bets include Heart, Erie, Padden, Clear, Goodwin, Roesiger, McMurray and Ki.
East of the Cascades, state biologist Bob Jateff in Omak suggests Pearrygin for foot-long yearling ‘bows plus 15-inch carryovers; Alta, for a large triploid plant; Conconully Lake and Reservoir, for larger fish going one to 2 pounds, plus 11-inch yearlings and 15-inch carryovers; Spectacle, always good in May and early June; Big Twin (selective gear), fishing well for 12- to 18-inch rainbow; Blue (selective gear) in the Sinlehekin for ‘bows going 10 to 16 inches and a few larger browns; and Chopaka (flies only), where you won’t be lonesome but should find good fishing for 12- to 18-inch rainbow and a few larger.
Springers
The spring chinook fishery between Bonneville and McNary dams closed Monday, but the closure did not include Drano Lake (50-percent success last week) or the mouth of the Wind River (40-percent success last week). The season for hatchery summer chinook above Bonneville will open June 16.
Portions of the Yakima are now open to hatchery chinook, and state biologist Paul Hoffarth in Pasco said about 20 kings were landed in the lower river last week. Some 8 wild fish were released by anglers averaging 39 hours on the water, per salmon.
The fishery at Ringold, on the Columbia above the Tri-Cities, was better. Checks last week showed a harvest of 225 hatchery chinook and the release of 44 wild fish, for an average of one king for each 17 hours of fishing time.
As the springer run continues moving up the Columbia, the Icicle River recreational season opened this morning, from just above the mouth to just below the hatchery barrier dam. Fishing should improve a little later in the season.
Big game points
Reader Darrell Prowse (like a lot of Washington big game hunters) is a little confused about the new point system for big game special permit hunts. He says he has points accumulated, elk and deer, from previous years, and says he will probably not apply for a special elk drawing this year, but probably will for a deer special hunt.
What happens, he asks, if he does not submit for an elk hunt and is not drawn for a deer permit?
“Would we only have 2011 deer points, all in the one single category for 2011, or a combination of 1 point for a failed draw and multiple points in categories that we did not apply for?” he asks. “Will we still have multiple elk points for 2011 that would apply to ALL categories, since we would not have used any of our previous year’s old-system points?”
State game management customer service specialist Cody Arocho said Prowse is making things more complicated than they really are.
“Any points you had at the end of 2009, generic category, you now have for EACH sub-category in that species, Arocho said. “If you had 5 points for elk last year, you now have 5 points for EACH sub-category you may apply for. The points will remain in your possession until you are selected for a hunt, so if you do not apply, the points will wait for you.”
Arocho is available to answer questions on any big-game issue at 360-902-2515.
Wenatchee river kings
Anglers may be able to target kings on the Wenatchee River for the first time in a couple of decades, if state biologists decide this year’s big spring chinook run on the Columbia provides enough hatchery salmon to prevent over-fishing on protected wild stocks. The decision had not been made at time of writing, but will probably come down very shortly.
The fishery would probably be a very popular one, since the river is smaller and more accessible to driftboaters and bank anglers than the Columbia, and not locked up in private property like the Icicle.
Bottomfish
Better tides over the weekend than fishermen found on the May 1 opener for lings and halibut resulted in significantly improved success rates. Best halibut fishing was on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where state creel checkers counted 112 anglers at the Port Angeles west ramp on Friday with 61 halibut, and 210 fishermen at the Ediz Hook ramp on Saturday with 68 halibut.
Up north, a crowd of 376 fishermen were checked on Saturday with 40 lingcod and 32 halibut.
At the Port of Everett ramp on Saturday, it was 107 anglers with 9 halibut, 9 lings, and 2 cabezon.
Big halibut
Everett residents Craig Sunderland and Niles Jelvik landed a barn-door halibut of 120 pounds off Port Townsend on May 6, the largest fish taken by any of the 70-some members of the Edmonds Chapter, Puget Sound Anglers, on the club’s annual outing to the area. Sundereland said the big flattie took almost a half-hour to subdue.
Omak cutthroat
Chelan resident and fishing guide Anton Jones said top spring fishing for big Lahontan-strain cutthroat in Omak Lake (Colville tribal permit required, and single barbless hooks) is still going strong.
“Work Silver Horde darting plugs with the single hook harness, or the same Kingfisher Lite spoons we’re using on Lake Chelan for Mackinaw,” Jones said. “Another great choice is the Rushin’ Salmon Wobbler by Critter Gitter.”
New bottomfish depth rule
“If you’re planning to fish halibut and lings in the same day,” said Anthon Steen at Holiday Sports in Burlington, “do the halibut first and lings second. The new 120-foot depth restriction applies to all bottomfish except halibut. If state enforcement checks you while you’re halibut fishing in over 120 feet, with a ling on board, he might ticket you for targeting bottomfish deeper than allowed. And remember that the new maximum size on lings has dropped to 36 inches.”
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