A FUNNY THING happened the night I was first set to arrive on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Namely, I didn’t.
I had driven 1,500 miles from Tempe, Ariz., to Washington going over all the great things I’d do at the Peninsula Daily News.
How I would tell stories better than anyone before me, gain the paper thousands of new readers and establish myself as an up-and-coming sportswriter.
Then, just as I was 16 miles from Hood Canal Bridge, my trusty 2000 Ford Escort broke down.
It was cold, it was dark and I was stuck in a packed-to-the-brim compact car at 2 a.m. in the Kitsap Mall parking lot.
The lesson: Just when you think you have everything figured out, life throws you a curveball.
Despite my grandiose designs, I knew very little about sports reporting and the outdoors when I first came to the Peninsula six-plus years ago.
I didn’t know a coho from a carp, let alone know how to identify either.
My only encounter with crabs had been in high school health class.
And when someone first told me about fishing the Bark Hole, I was dead certain they said “Bar Code.” (Which seemed to make sense, given how tech-savvy you Pacific Northwesterners are.)
Thankfully, none of that seemed to matter to you, my dear Peninsulites.
You were more than happy to tell me everything about this wonderful place and all of its secret treasures. (Well, some of you, anyway.)
You shared with me all the things that make the Peninsula so special and unique, be it its voluminous steelhead runs, picturesque trails or hidden fields of fungi.
I think it’s because you are all so proud of the place you live in, and you want everyone else to understand why someone would choose to live out here on the edge of the Earth.
And it certainly isn’t because of some collection of vampire novels.
That pride has become even more apparent during the last couple of weeks as I’ve told various friends and colleagues that I have decided to move on.
Just two weeks ago, I accepted a job as the sports online editor of the Lincoln Journal Star in Lincoln, Neb. I will begin my tenure in mid-February, and this is my final column with the PDN.
Whenever I’ve told someone from here about my imminent departure for the great plains, they always look at me as if they just got a whiff of some rotten fish.
The idea that a person would move from the Peninsula to somewhere as flat and dry as the Cornhusker State is unfathomable.
Unfortunately, the time has come for me to take on a new challenge . . . even if it means moving away from paradise.
I’ll miss a lot of things about the Peninsula.
I’ll miss seeing the sun rise on the Strait of Juan de Fuca on an early summer morning. I’ll miss driving through the misty mountains of Lake Crescent on a gray October day.
And I’ll miss being above the clouds during a sunny winter afternoon at Hurricane Ridge.
Above all else, though, I’ll miss you, my dear Peninsulites.
You put up with my (numerous) mistakes, my snarky asides and my annoying love affair with alliteration, and were still willing to lend me a hand.
For that, I cannot be thankful enough.
As a show of appreciation, I’ll let you know how the fish are biting one last time.
Steelhead stinker
Steelhead anglers might have to endure another round of plunking this weekend.
Just as the rivers had recovered from Snowpocalpyse 2012, a couple splashes of rain Wednesday and Thursday blew things out once again.
Now it’s beginning to look like anglers will never get to capitalize on the last remnants of the Bogachiel Hatchery run.
“There’s not many guys out there fishing today. [The rivers] are fishable, but there’s a lot of water,” Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said.
“It’s fairly decent today. There’s some clouds around but it’s sunny, and it cooled off quite a bit. I think we’ll be OK [today] for the Sol Duc and Calawah, the Bogachiel maybe Saturday.
“It’s not going to be grand.”
After a dry December, it seems as if Mother Nature is making up for lost time this month.
The first week or two of January produced some nice steelhead, especially in the Sol Duc, but since then it’s been nothing but blown out rivers courtesy of snow, hail, rain and whatever else falls from the sky.
“I was talking to some of the guys who thought it might start getting fishable maybe [today],” Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles said.
“It’s probably going to be more of a plunking show this weekend.”
The closer we get to February the further the focus moves over to the wild steelhead runs that will populate area rivers.
The only hatchery run of steelies that makes much of an impact this time of year is the Snider Creek broodstock in the Sol Duc.
Outside of that, anglers will see bigger and bigger natives begin showing up throughout the West End.
“I’ve head of some decent fish being caught, but I haven’t seen them, because, of course, you can’t keep them,” said Gooding, referring to the regulation that prohibits wild steelhead retention until Feb. 16.
“The were [lots of fish] before all this crap hit us, so there should be again. They don’t go anywhere.”
One could eschew all of the blown-out rivers and simply head to Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet).
Those waters opened to blackmouth fishing two weeks ago, although that fishery has received little fanfare thus far.
Where did it go?
A few of my more thorough readers — actually, just one guy — may have noticed that Thursday’s column failed to jump to Page B2 as promised.
While there were only a few short paragraphs left, it was information regarding the Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter’s rescheduled fundraiser.
The event, which provides funding for the Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program in Sequim, is now set for Friday, Feb. 17, at Guy Cole Convention Center at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim.
Doors will open at 4:30 p.m., with a free spaghetti dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. (Donations will be accepted.)
A silent auction will be held throughout the night, and a live auction begins after dinner.
Live auction items include fishing trips with Peninsula river guides for salmon and steelhead, and charter boat trips for salmon, halibut and bottomfish in the ocean and Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program includes Kids Fishing Day, which will be held Saturday, May 19, at the Sequim water reclamation pond.
The pond is stocked with 1,500 trout, some of which weigh as much as five pounds.
For more information on the events, contact Herb Prins at 360-582-0836.
Ski school opener
As was reported in Thursday’s outdoors column, Hurricane Ridge Ski and Snowboard School is set to begin this weekend.
The five-week program starts this Saturday and Sunday and is open to ages 4 and older. All skill levels are welcome, even those in the uncoordinated old-man department.
Mountain manager Craig Hofer said both rope tows should once again be up and running. Shredders will have to wait on the Poma lift, however.
“I’ve got a good 30 to 40 hours of cat work to do before it’s even possible,” Hofer said. “We know it’s not going to happen this weekend, but there’s a chance for next weekend.
“Probably a slim chance, there’s still a lot of work to do over there.”
Ski rentals are available at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center on Saturdays and Sundays.
Snowboards can be rented at North by Northwest Surf Co., 902 S Lincoln St., in Port Angeles.
For more information on skiing at the Ridge, visit hurricaneridge.com.
Also . . .
■ Razor clam diggers who braved last week’s ice and snow fared well at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks.
Each beach saw harvesters average more than 10 clams per visit. Twin Harbors and Mocrocks were the two most productive ones with averages of 11.9 and 11.8 clams per digger, respectively.
The next set of digs are tentatively scheduled for Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 18-19.
■ Crabbers have until Wednesday to report their winter harvest to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
To submit catch reports, crabbers can send catch record cards to Fish and Wildlife by mail or file on a special webpage.
The mailing address is WDFW CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091. The online reporting system can be found at http://tinyurl.com/yhjxf79.
■ Admiralty Audubon’s Paula Vanderhuel will lead a birding trip through Chimacum Creek Park and Estuary this Saturday at 9 a.m.
A group will meet at Chimacum Creek in Irondale, then head out into the field to view the various birds of the area.
To register for the trip, contact Vanderhuel at pvanderheul@gmail.com.
■ Ken Wiersema will lead a class titled “Corvids in Winter” focusing on the lives of crows, ravens and jays at Dungeness River Audubon Center this Saturday.
The class will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the River Center, located at 2151 Hendrickson Road in Sequim. Cost is $10 per person.
To register for the class, contact the River Center at 360-681-4076.
■ Jefferson County Sportsmen’s Association will host a Hunter Education class the week of Feb. 27 through March 3.
Each session will meet from 6-9 p.m. during the weekdays at the Association’s club at 112 Gun Club Road in Port Townsend. The Saturday class begins at 10 a.m.
For more information, contact Riley Brazil 360-774-0429, Rick Olson at 360-765-3947 or Mark Castillo at 360-732-4402.
To enroll in the course, visit http://tinyurl.com/23p4b5o.
■ Washington Trails Association will gather an all-day work party at Lower Big Quilcene Trail this Tuesday.
Volunteers must pre-register 48 hours in advance. To do so, contact Washington Trails at 206-625-1367 or visit www.wta.org.
Send photos, stories
Want your event listed in the outdoors column?
Have a fishing or hunting report, an anecdote about an outdoors experience or a tip on gear or technique, why not share it with our readers?
Send it to me, Matt Schubert, Sports Department, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362; phone, 360-417-3526; fax, 360-417-3521; email matt.schubert
@peninsuladailynews.com.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column appears on Thursdays and Fridays.