TIME TO COUNT your crabs.
The summer recreational crab fishery comes to a close in Marine Areas 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca) and 9 (Admiralty Inlet) at the end of Labor Day.
And that means North Olympic Peninsula crabbers must get their catch record cards ready . . . or be prepared to pay the price.
For the first time ever, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to fine crabbers $10 if they don’t submit their summer catch reports by the specified deadline, in this case, Sept. 21.
That goes for those who came away with limits as well as those who went home crabless.
Authorized by the state Legislature and approved by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2008, the fine is intended to increase catch card return rates and gain more accuracy on recreational catch estimates, said Rich Childers, shellfish policy lead for Fish and Wildlife.
“This fishery is becoming more popular every year, which makes it more important than ever to track the catch as closely as possible,” Childers said in a news release.
Of course, state law requires crabbers to mark their catch cards as soon as they grab them.
(Confession: I usually wait to mark my card after a crabbing excursion is complete. I’m a real rebel that way.)
So technically, one should already have the card marked and ready to drop in the old mail box . . . you know, for those people who still actually mail things.
Cards can be mailed to WDFW CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.
The more tech-savvy crowd can enter their catch online from Sept. 8-21 at Fish and Wildlife’s licensing Web site: https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/wdfw/puget_sound_crab_catch.html.
This is the third year that summer crab catch reports are required after Labor Day, with fall/winter reports due between Jan. 2-15.
“The mid-season catch report will help us by providing a much clearer picture of the catch-to-date,” Childers said.
Sport crabbing remains open in the following areas on the Peninsula:
• Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) is scheduled to remain open Wednesdays through Saturdays only through Jan. 2.
• Marine Areas 4 (Neah Bay) and 5 (Sekiu) in the Strait of Juan de Fuca are scheduled to remain open seven days a week through Jan. 2.
Crabbers who continue to fish in an open area after Sept. 7 should record their catch on their winter catch card, which is valid from Sept. 8 through Jan. 2.
“By submitting accurate catch reports, sport crabbers play an important role in the management of the Puget Sound crab fishery,” Childers said.
“It’s vital that we hear from everyone – including those who haven’t caught crab so far this year — because that information is part of the equation.”
Smelt info
I’m going to say it right off the bat so you have no illusions:
When it comes to surf smelt dip-netting, I no next to nothing.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way . . . I hear now is the time to go after the little buggers, with populations present throughout the Peninsula.
Summer spawning tends to occur from July through September at several beaches, including Trail 4 and 6 at Kalaloch Beach, as well as Ruby and Rialto beaches.
These are beaches that have “pea gravel” or “course sand” that provide the perfect conditions to spawn.
Surf smelters at those beaches generally use maple wood frames with netting. They wade out into an incoming high tide, dipping their nets in the water sporadically.
According to longtime smelter Lonnie Archibald of Forks, the trick is to watch the birds.
“What you do is you’re on the beach and you’ll watch when the sea gulls start feeding on them in surf,” he said.
“They will be hitting the water, and then the seals will come in and they will be feeding right in the breaks, and you know [the smelt] are there.
“You just go down and make a few dips. If they are really running you get many.”
Sometimes that translates in the hundreds.
That can be both a blessing and a curse, however, since each fish has to be cleaned.
Then again, some people (perhaps a little less civilized than you and me) like to cook the entire fish, guts and all.
Smelt dip netting on the coast is open year-round, and the daily limit is 10 pounds.
Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay) is open for smelt dip-netting from 8 a.m. Fridays to 8 a.m. Wednesdays only; all other places are open daily.
Fish and Wildlife’s Web site details some winter smelting opportunities around Twin Rivers, Port Angeles Boat Haven and Cline Spit in Dungeness Bay.
In the case of Twin Rivers and Cline Spit, that involves raking instead of netting, while the Boat Haven is for jigging only.
Of course, I can’t truly verify the veracity of those claims. Like I said before, I don’t know much when it comes to smelting.
And, yes, I suppose that is like everything else I write about.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.