State shellfish managers have tentatively scheduled evening razor clam digs through February on selected ocean beaches, but no, there has been no final green light given to the very popular New Year’s Eve beach crawl and clam grab. Coastal shellfish honcho for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Dan Ayres, was still waiting at mid-week for State Health to check out the second of two required safe clam samples before signing off on the proposed Dec. 30-31 dig at Copalis and Mocrocks beaches.
The decision on the two beaches will be announced next week, Ayres said. Keep an eye on http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/razorclams/current.html.
Elevated levels of domoic acid, a natural toxin produced by certain types of algae, have disrupted razor clam digs on coastal beaches for the past 18 months, Ayres said. Clams at both Twin Harbors and Long Beach currently exceed public health standards, he said and neither will open for the remainder of 2016.
The bright spot in this scenario is that for the first time since 2012, Kalaloch Beach is tentatively scheduled to open — for two days, Jan. 8-9. Located inside Olympic National Park, the beach has been closed the last few years because of a low clam population, but WDFW and park officials say the numbers now are robust enough for digs in 2017. Additional digs at Kalaloch will be announced in the coming months.
The tentative upcoming digs are as follows:
Jan. 8, plus 0.4 feet at 3:11 p.m., Kalaloch; Jan. 9, minus 0.4 feet at 4:08 p.m., Kalaloch;
Jan. 13, minus 1.4 feet at 7:17 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks; Jan. 14, minus 1.0 feet at 7:59 p.m., Copalis, Mockrocks; Jan. 15, minus 0.4 feet at 8:40 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks.
Jan. 27, minus 0.5 feet at 6:26 p.m., Copalis only; Jan. 28, minus 0.6 feet at 7:01 p.m., Copalis only; Jan. 29, minus 0.5 feet at 7:37 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks; Jan. 30, minus 0.3 feet at 8:13 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks; Jan. 31, plus 0.2 feet at 8:50 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks.
Feb. 7, minus 0.1 feet at 3:53 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks; Feb. 8, minus 0.6 feet at 4:46 p.m., Copalis, Mockrocks; Feb. 9, minus 0.9 feet at 5:33 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks; Feb. 10, minus 1.0 feet at 6:16 p.m., Mocrocks only; Feb. 11, minus 0.8 feet at 6:57 p.m., Mocrocks only; Feb. 12, minus 0.5 feet at 7:34 p.m., Mocrocks only.
Feb. 24, minus 0.1 feet at 5:21 p.m., Copalis, Mocrocks; Feb. 25, minus 0.3 feet at 5:58 p.m., Copalis, Mockrocks; and Feb. 26, minus 0.4 feet at 6:34 p.m., Copalis and Mocrocks.
The limit is the first 15 clams dug, and each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container. All diggers 15 or older must have an applicable 2016-17 fishing license, ranging from a three-day razor clam license to an annual combination fishing license, available on WDFW’s website, https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov, and from license vendors around the state.
Grand prize
Northwest Salmon Derby Series spokesman Tony Floor has announced the choice of the new 2017 grand prize boat — a 22-foot Hewes Ocean Pro, fully rigged, valued at $85,000. This will be the 14th grand prize boat the Northwest Marine Trade Association has awarded by drawing to a lucky angler who participates in one or more of the 15 salmon tournaments in the 2017 series. Floor will draw the winner at the Everett Coho Derby in September, “assuming,” he says, “we have a September coho fishery.”
New halibut seasons
For several years now, sport halibut fishers in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound have exceeded their quotas, often by a considerable amount, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission wanted that changed. Last year, for instance, the Sound/Strait had a quota of 57,393 pounds but a catch of 102,700 pounds, on an eight-day season.
Heather Reed, WDFW policy coordinator, said the new plan to be implemented in 2017 will, if it works, allow Sound/Strait sport halibut anglers less time on the water and a lower catch, hopefully within quota boundaries. It will also, Reed said, let anglers know preliminary season dates sooner each year, for planning purposes.
So, the department has aligned the Sound, the Strait, and the entire coast (except for the Ilwaco area) with the same season dates, to help prevent anglers from jumping from one fishery to another. All those areas will be open to sport halibut fishing the same three days — May 4, 6 and 11. Reed said if there is quota remaining, the department would look at May 21 and 25, and then June 1 and 4.
The all-depth fishery off Ilwaco opens May 4, Thursdays through Sundays weekly. The Ilwaco inshore fishery opens May 8, Mondays through Wednesdays weekly.
An unfortunate result of the season changes is the forced cancellation of the Port Angeles Memorial Day derby, an iconic event on the Peninsula which has been ongoing for 15 years. If the PA folks didn’t have bad luck, they wouldn’t have any luck at all, because the tournament ran practically forever as a salmon derby before being forced to change horses by a similar dislocation of chinook and chinook seasons.
Northern lites
Kevin John at Holiday Sports said this week that there wasn’t anything of much interest going on north of us to speak of. Nothing on the steelhead scene; too cold last week for blackmouth fishermen in Marine Area 7; and a lot of small fish.
One possibility, John said, is smelt jigging. Oak Harbor has been slow, but Cornet Bay has picked up the past couple of weeks.
Ice fishing
Frigid temps, for a while at least, raised the hopes of dedicated ice fishermen. But it didn’t pan out this time around, according to Mike Meseberg at MarDon Resort on Potholes Reservoir in Grant County — one of the state’s best ice fishing venues when conditions permit.
The resort store is a good source of information and is happy to give updates on ice fishing and other angling and waterfowl hunting pursuits in the area, at 509-346-2651. The store stocks ice augers, Swedish Pimples and Maggots, about all you need to catch a mess of perch.
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