Weather, fishing make Everett Blackmouth Derby a success

By Wayne Kruse

For The Herald

Organizers of the Everett Blackmouth Derby couldn’t have been luckier with the weather over the weekend — and the fishing wasn’t half bad either.

Some 353 adult anglers participated — at $100 per boat — and they weighed 52 fish with an average weight just under 7 pounds.

First place went to Josh Hupp at 12.66 pounds; second to Eric Nelson of Mill Creek at 11.76 pounds; third to Jeff Audet at 11.28, and fourth to Scott Slaughter of Camano Island at 10.77 pounds.

Possession Bar is holding some fish, according to All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein of Everett, as are some of the other usually productive spots in Marine Areas 8-2 and 9. Seals have been a problem on the bar.

Krein said it’s likely that areas 8-1 and 8-2 will have enough quota to stay open through the scheduled close of the season April 30.

State creel checks over the weekend showed the following: on Saturday, at Olson’s Resort, Sekiu, nine anglers had eight chinook; Sunday at Olson’s it was 35 with 13; Sunday at the Port of Everett ramp, 122 anglers had 25; at Ediz Hook ramp in Port Angeles, 60 had 12; and at Cornet Bay 25 fishermen had eight chinook.

Kokanee Derby

Mark your calendar for May 20, the date of this year’s Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby. The event’s organizers are riding a string of successful derbies and there’s no reason to think this year’s event will be any different. Get your gear ready.

Lakes to explore for spring kokanee include Angle, Meridian, Stevens, Samish and Cavanaugh.

Razor clams

State shellfish managers got the green light for a razor clam dig Friday, Saturday and Sunday, alternating between Mocrocks and Copalis beaches. Note that only one beach will be open to diggers each day. This also will be the final evening dig of the season, as the next tentative openings in March and April will be on morning tides.

Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, had planned to include Twin Harbors in this weekend’s dig, but a spike in domoic acid levels in the clams there forced Ayres to scratch the popular beach between Westport and Willapa Bay.

Tides and open beaches this weekend are Friday, 5:01 p.m., plus 0.5 feet at Mocrocks; Saturday, 5:44 p.m., plus 0.2 feet at Copalis; and Sunday, 6:24 p.m., at Mocrocks.

Copalis Beach runs from the Grays Harbor north jetty to the Copalis River, and includes the Copalis, Ocean Shores, Oyhut, Ocean City and Copalis areas. Mocrocks Beach extends from the Copalis River to the south boundary of the Quinault Reservation near the Moclips River, including Iron Springs, Roosevelt Beach, Seabrook, Pacific Beach and Moclips.

The state also has tentatively scheduled a four-day dig on morning tides that alternate between Mocrocks and Copalis, beginning March 30. Final approval of that dig depends on the results of an upcoming toxin test. Domoic acid has been an ongoing problem for coastal shellfish managers since about 2015, Ayres said. The natural toxin produced by certain types of marine algae can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in sufficient quantities.

Multiple season permits

The sale of applications for this year’s multiple season hunt permits ends March 31. Applicants are selected, and permits awarded, by random draw in mid-April.

This year, 8,500 multiple season deer permits will be awarded, and 1,000 for elk. All three weapons choices will be allowed, and elk permittees can hunt either side of the Cascades.

Applications can be purchased at license dealers around the state, from the Department of Fish and Wildlife website (www.wdfw.wa.gov/hunting), or by calling 866-246-9453. Application fees are $7.10 for residents, $110.50 for non-residents, and $3.80 for youth.

Cats and smallmouth

March and April are spawning months for channel catfish and smallmouth bass, which move into the lower one or two miles of the Yakima River in large numbers. Smallmouth to 4 pounds-plus, and channel cats to 10 pounds plus are not uncommon.

And speaking of channel cats, a 16-pounder was caught a couple of weeks ago in Potholes Reservoir. Nice cat, but it pales in comparison to the 112-pound blue catfish caught in early December on rod and reel in the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, or the massive 280-pound cat caught in the Po River in Italy, recently. The Berkley Fishing Wire says the Italian fish could be a world record on rod and reel.

Early trout

The lakes in the Columbia Basin that opened March 1 were mostly iced over on the opener, or difficult to reach because of snow and ice. Martha Lake, north of George in Grant County, now has open water, but the access is still dicey enough to make a 4X preferable. Those fishing the lake, however, are taking yearling rainbows 11 to 13 inches, and holdovers to 20 inches.

Lake Lenice, a “quality” water with special regulations, lying north of Mattawa in Grant County, is both fishable and reachable, according to Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood. Fly fishermen are using chironomids to take nice rainbows from 14 to 18 inches, with a few in the 20-inch range.

Licenses

Remember that your licenses expire at the end of the month. Purchase new ones at tackle shops and other license dealers around the state, or from the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website, www.wdfw.wa.gov/licensing.