IT MIGHT FEEL like it is a mile away to anxious anglers, but the big day is coming.
The halibut opener is three weeks away for Marine Area 6 (Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca) and Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet), and a month away for Neah Bay and LaPush.
But the saltwater season in Neah Bay is essentially kicking off Tuesday when Marine Area 4 opens to lingcod fishing.
Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay has already opened, so it will be more than ready for the opener.
Dawn Lawrence of Big Salmon Resort said the resort has been receiving phone calls and reservations for the lingcod fishery.
“There is a lot of interest in the opener,” Lawrence said.
Last year, the lingcod fishing was a constant throughout all the other openings and closings of other fisheries.
No matter how halibut or chinook or coho fishing was going, it seemed lingcod was always successful.
Usually, it was either a consolation prize for anglers, or frosting on top of their cake — they caught the limit of the fish they were after so quickly that they also had time to fill the boat with lingcod.
The daily limit in Marine Area 4 is two lingcod with a 24-inch size minimum.
I hesitate to hype the lingcod season too much, for fear that it will end up being compared to the North Olympic Peninsula’s new synonym for failure, the felling of the PenPly smokestack.
Lingcod has been in season in Marine Area 3 (LaPush) for more than three weeks, and it has yet to take off.
“It’s been decent when people can get out,” Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said.
“But [the water] has been rocky-rolly. You don’t want to take a boat out on that.
“It’s a great eating fish, but it ain’t worth dying for.”
Marine Area 3 has a daily limit of two lingcod, with a size minimum of 22 inches.
Trail races
The first-ever Olympic Adventure Trail (OAT) Run races have both been filled up.
The 12-kilometer and half-marathon races each had a limit of 100 runners, and both have reached their registration limits as of Tuesday night.
The quick manner in which these races maxed out speaks to the popularity of trail running on the Peninsula.
In the October 2012 edition of Trail Runner magazine, Port Angeles was chosen as one of the nation’s best trail towns.
In November of last year, I wrote about Greg McCormack, who was featured in the Trail Runner piece, and who has ran all 600 miles of trail in Olympic National Park. (Read the column here: www.tinyurl.com/trailrunONP.)
Saturday’s races won’t prevent others, such as hikers and horseback riders, from using the Olympic Adventure Trail.
Run organizers do suggest that non-racers use the West end of the trail, as the race will take place on the eastern portion of the trail.
Proceeds from the event will go towards the construction and maintenance of the Olympic Discovery Trail and the Olympic Adventure Trail.
There will be no parking at the run site, so runners need to be shuttled from Harbinger Winery at 2358 U.S. Highway 101, west of Port Angeles, to the trail.
The shuttles for the half-marathon leave the winery at 8:45 a.m. For the 12K, the shuttles depart at 10 a.m.
To those who will run in either of these races, don’t forget McCormack’s trail running motto: “No tripping.”
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Outdoors columnist Lee Horton appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.