Regulation changes won’t affect Everett blackmouth derby

  • By Wayne Kruse Herald Writer
  • Wednesday, November 4, 2015 8:20pm
  • Sports

Most local saltwater anglers know by now that salmon managers with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife have decided how to deal with the very large concentration of sub-legal chinook in Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) versus a limited number of “encounters” (chinook caught or released) available to the recreational fishery.

The decision was to open Area 9 to chums only, Nov. 1-30 and Jan. 16 through April 15, but let Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 remain under their existing schedule for the winter blackmouth season. Area 9 had been scheduled to open for hatchery blackmouth on Nov. 1, but that fishery was postponed to protect wild chinook “shakers” from incidental catch-and-release mortality.

Areas 8-1 (Deception Pass to Camano State Park) and 8-2 (Camano State Park to Possession Point) are now open to fin-clipped legal chinook, the first directed chinook opening in those two marine areas since last spring.

A similar situation occurred earlier last month in Marine Area 10 (Seattle-Bremerton), where the chinook encounter guideline was met quickly and the fishery closed early. Puget Sound salmon manager Ron Warren said the department will continue to monitor Marine Area 9 and, depending on the sub-legal population and the encounter rate, could open a short fin-clipped chinook fishery, perhaps over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Warren said in an agency release that “This (chums only) action should allow us to keep the winter chinook fishery going longer, when it reopens in January.”

That’s a tight rope to walk, however. Blackmouth fishermen know that feeder chinook tend to start out-migrating toward the end of the scheduled winter season, and the possibility certainly exists that the “shaker closure” will continue so long that anglers will be left holding unused encounters with larger blackmouth, even if the season is extended.

The agency also warns that Marine Area 9 is not open for catch and release fishing for other species. If that starts happening, the state’s recourse would likely be to close the area to all salmon fishing.

Jeff LaLone said the new situation will not affect the Everett Bayside Blackmouth Derby, scheduled to go Saturday and Sunday.

“This is our 24th derby,” LaLone said, “and we’ve seen regulation changes before. It’s not like we’ve never moved borders.”

LaLone said he expects blackmouth from areas 8-1 and 8-2, and probably a few chums from 9. Blackmouth and coho are eligible for top money, he said, including $2,000 for first place. The biggest chum will take home a special prize of $50.

In 2014, the derby sold 213 tickets and weighed 81 fish. First place went to Joe Stephanson at 14.04 pounds, second to Daniel Crawley at 13.07 pounds and third to James Davis at 12.76 pounds.

Tickets, at $30 a copy, are available at Bayside, John’s Sporting Goods, and Harbor Marine. For more information visit www.baysidemarine.com.

Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center said there is a scattering of chums caught in Area 9 most seasons, with the bulk of the catch coming from Point No Point and south to Kingston. A good system, he said, is to troll a small plug cut herring or anchovy, alone or with a flasher, very slowly, watching for jumpers. Chums this year seem to be falling into one of two year-classes, Chamberlain said, going 7 or 8 pounds, or 12 to 20 or better.

Commercial trollers, he said, often use a Hot Shot flasher with a very small squid in cerise, purple, or purple/black.

Gary Krein of All Star Charters in Everett fished Elger Bay on Tuesday, marking a lot of bait but finding few legal blackmouth. He said he had reports of a legal caught off Hat Island on Monday, and another out of Elger Bay.

Other traditional blackmouth water in 8-1/8-2 includes Columbia Beach, Baby Island, Greenbank and Onomac Point.

Krein said water in Saratoga Passage was colored from recent rains, keeping bait at 50 feet or less, and that even pulling plugs and larger spoons, he was still bothered by shakers. Mother of pearl would be a good plug color, he said, and green, white or black/white for the spoons.

Looking for chums in Area 9, Krein said there are a couple of choices. One would be to drift and cast quarter-ounce twitching jigs off Point No Point, 50 or 60 feet deep or less, over not more than 100 feet of water. Another would be to troll a light green squid behind a chartreuse flasher in the same area, or try mooching bait on the southwest corner of Possession Bar.

There’s also the chance at a marine mammal show, Krein said. Three humpback whales and several orcas were seen Monday on Possession Bar, off Edmonds, and at other times as far south as Shilshole Marine in Seattle.

Fly fishing in Africa

The Sky Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited will host local fish biologist Dan Eastman at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Qualco Energy building on the old prison honor farm in Monroe (18117 203rd St. S.E.). He will be giving a presentation on fly fishing in South Africa. According to chapter spokesman Gary Bee, Eastman knows fly fishing in Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia, including fishing for tigerfish in the Okavango Delta. The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information contact Bee at nshore@nwlink.com.

Wild Steelhead

There’s a contentious issue at play concerning the north coast rivers, where it has long been legal to keep one wild steelhead per season — the only rivers in the state where that has been the case. So contentious, in fact, that several members of the state’s North Coast Steelhead Advisory Group refused to put their names on the final draft, according to state biologist Mike Gross.

The rivers include the Hoh, Clearwater, and the Quillayute system (Bogachiel, Dickey, Sol Duc). The Quinault was not on the formal list, Gross said, but probably would fall in line if the package is adopted by the state.

The package would:

n require release of all wild steelhead

n limit the use of bait only at times and locations hatchery steelhead return

n require barbless hooks at all times.

n prohibit floating devices on the Hoh.

n prohibit floating devices with internal combustion engines on all north coast rivers.

The state is soliciting comment on the recommendations submitted by the advisory group, by Nov. 12. To review and comment, visit http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/rule_proposals/. The webpage has more information on the proposals, as well as others not recommended for further consideration.

For more outdoor news, read Wayne Kruse’s blog at www.heraldnet.com/huntingandfishing.

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