With a dismal winter steelhead season sinking into the abyss behind us, and financial doom and gloom all around, it’s nice to be able to report a faint ray of sunshine, way out there on the horizon. Summer salmon forecasts are actually pretty good, at least for several westside runs, and fishing at certain times in certain places could prove excellent.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife won’t release its official statewide forecasts until March 3, but bits and pieces have been circulating for a couple of weeks. Avid angler and outdoor radio show host TJ Nelson said he learned from a state biologist that at least 3 million pinks will be coming down the Strait and turning the corner at Possession, headed for our bailiwick. The forecast, Nelson said, was for about 400,000 fish to the Stillaguamish, 1 million to the Skagit, and a whopping 1.6 million to the Snohomish system.
So if you’re an aficionado of pink salmon action, you’re going to be in humpy heaven.
Another good-looking fishery this summer should be off the coast, and charter owners in Westport and Ilwaco are salivating. Due to much-improved ocean survival conditions, a very good run of 1.2 million coho is predicted to show up off the Washington-Oregon coasts, the largest number forecast for six or seven years.
Columbia River wild coho, and certain chinook runs, have been the weak-stock drivers keeping seasons on the coast to a minimum the past few years, but with the chinook forecast for this summer also in reasonably decent shape, neither of those should be a real drag on the system. If you’re a charter customer, or a private-boater who likes the ocean fishery, this could be your summer.
On the Columbia, the imminent spring chinook season should be a top producer this year, and along about September, the “upriver bright” chinook fishery on the Hanford Reach could be excellent. The forecast for this run of fall chinook is for just under 260,000 fish, well above the actual return in 2008 of 197,000 and greater than the 10-year average.
The upper river summer chinook fishery, from Wenatchee to Chief Joseph Dam, also pencils out pretty well. The forrecast is for 70,700 fish, a su1bstantial increase from the run of 55,500 last summer.
SMELT
There might actually be a reasonable chance you could dip a limit of smelt in the lower Cowlitz this Saturday (the only day open each week), according to WDFW biologist Joe Hymer in the agency’s Vancouver office. A good turnout of dippers last Saturday took a number of limits, Hymer said, with the best numbers coming from the vicinity of Castle Rock. The bulk of the catch consisted of males, he said, some as large as 9 inches, and a high percentage of spawned-out fish.
SPRINGERS
No spring chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam as of last Saturday, and only a few have been reported caught downriver from Vancouver.
DERBY
Bill Hayes’ Hot Plug Blackmouth Derby, the 23rd running of the annual event, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at a ticket price of $60 per person. Buy tickets at the Stanwood Eagles, Camano Marine, Hook, Line &Sinker, Holiday Sports or John’s Sporting goods until 2 p.m. Friday. For information call Ed Keller at 425-308-9437.
RAZOR CLAMS
Two razor clam digs, on morning tides, have been tentatively set for March 27-29 and April 10-12, on certain ocean beaches. If approved, the March season would be open on Twin Harbors and Mocrocks March 27-29, and on Long Beach and Copalis March 28-29 only. The April season, if approved, would be open on Twin Harbors beaches April 10, and on Twin Harbors and Long Beach April 11 and 12.
The tides for the two digs are as follows: March 27, 0.0 feet at 7:49 a.m.; March 28, minus 0.4 feet at 8:29 a.m.; March 29, minus 0.6 feet at 9:12 a.m.; April 10, minus 0.7 feet at 7:45 a.m.; April 11, minus 0.7 feet at 8:25 a.m.; and April 12, minus 0.5 feet at 9:05 a.m.
state shellfish manager Dan Ayres in Montesano said the February dig was awesome, with good weather and limits for most diggers.
LOCAL SALMON
The San Juan Islands remain the place to go if you’re serious about catching a nice blackmouth, although Marine Area 7 has slowed some from a hot opening week. Anthon Steen at Holiday Sports in Burlington said Lopez Flats is probably as consistent a producer as any right now, for those trolling green or red label herring or a variety of spoons and hoochies. Coho Killer spoons in white lightning or blueberry muffin have been popular choices, Steen said.
Holiday Sports (360-757-4361) is keeping a list of anglers wanting to buy tickets to the sold-out Anacortes derby, hoping to pair them with those deciding to drop out of the event.
STEELHEAD
Very slow almost everywhere. A few natives showing on the upper Skagit around Rockport, and also the occasional fish in the Skykomish. Steelhead spotted at the Fortson Hold on the North Fork Stilly, but spooky in the low, clear water. The Skagit catch and release season probably won’t get underway in earnest until Mid-March, hopefully much better than the action so far this winter.
LAKE CHELAN
The somewhat surprisingly good landlocked Chinook fishery on Lake Chelan closed earlier this month, but could reopen before May 1 if things fall right, according to guide and Chelan resident Anton Jones (antonj@aol.com). Anglers were still learning the fishery, but nevertheless taking a number of nice fish to 9 or 10 pounds, Jones said. Watch the state Web site, www.wdfw.wa.gov, for more information.
WOMEN AND WATERFOWL
An all-day clinic for women interested in waterfowling will be presented April 4, starting at 8:30 a.m., at a private duck club in Snohomish County near Monroe. The program is presented by the Washington Wildlife Federation, Washington Outdoor Women, and Ducks Unlimited, and will cover duck identification, decoying, calling and retrieving.
“By the end of the day,” said WOW member Ronni McGlenn, “you will become familiar with the history of waterfowling, its traditions, ethics and conservation efforts. You will try setting decoys, calling ducks, and patterning a shotgun, and see what it’s like to sit in a duck blind and watch the eagerness of a Labrador retriever.”
The registration fee of $85 includes all instruction, equipment, shotguns, ammunition, clay targets, lunch, and a WOW T-shirt. Visit the WOW Website for an application, www.washingtonoutdoorwomen.org.
BASSMASTER CLASSIC
And speaking of women in the outdoors, Australian native Kim Bain-Moore was the big hit in last weekend’s 2009 Bassmaster Classic on the difficult-to-fish Red River, outside Shreveport, Louisiana, even though she finished in 47th place and didn’t make the final-day cut. That’s probably because she was the first woman ever to qualify for the big-deal tourney, won by Skeet Reese of Auburn, California, with a 15-fish total weight of 54 pounds, 13 ounces. Big bass for the three-day tournament weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and was caught by Greg Hackney of Gonzales, Louisiana.
Tough fishing and cold weather. But, Hey — the Zac Brown Band livened things up Saturday afternoon with a free concert which included the group’s huge hit and infectious singalong, “Chicken Fried.”
Reese probably didn’t need any toe-tapping cheer-up, what with his half-a-mil first-place purse, and all.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
