SALMON SEASON IS almost here.
North Olympic Peninsula anglers get their first tiny taste this weekend when Marine Area 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay) open to hatchery chinook retention Saturday.
The first of this summer’s saltwater salmon openers, it’s hard to know what to expect.
If one were to go by the state Department of Fish and Wildilfe’s projections, which predicts an increase in chinook abundance statewide, fishing should be pretty decent.
Of course, they have been known to be wrong from time to time.
Joey Lawrence of Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay is pretty optimistic after hearing favorable reports from commercial anglers in and around the area.
“That’s looking fairly promising,” Lawrence said. “There seems to be some fish around.
“Hopefully, we’re able to locate them again. It’s been a couple of days since people have been out, but they were hanging out at Swiftsure, and they were getting a pretty good early morning bite right out in front here [in Neah Bay].”
The selective chinook fishery will run seven days a week, with a daily limit of two salmon, through June 25, or until 4,800 hatchery chinook are retained in Areas 1-4.
Chinook and hatchery coho will be fair game in Areas 3 and 4 starting June 26.
“There seems to be some pretty good reports coming in,” Lawrence said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Halibut happening
If anglers are lucky, it will go a lot better than Thursday’s coastal halibut opener.
The bonus flatty date ended up being a bit of a dud, with a lot of fishers opting to stay home rather than deal with heavy tides and unpleasant conditions.
“[The state] must have looked through the long eight ball [when it chose Thursday as an opener],” Lawrence said.
“The weather was bad, the tides were bad. There doesn’t seem to be much fish, not much effort. It was kind of tough opener.”
Coastal anglers had a little less than 20,000 pounds of quota left going into Thursday, so it’s conceivable that they might get another halibut date in the near future.
The state will likely make an announcement in regards to that some time next week.
“We’ve seen a couple of fish this morning. We’re weighing in a couple right now as we speak, but other than that, it’s a real slow opener,” Lawrence said.
“If we’re lucky enough to get another one, hopefully we can at least open it up on some good tides.”
Sekiu stuff
It’s the same old mistake.
Some guy walks past the store selling derby tickets because, “Who wants to waste the money?”
Then, a couple of hours later, he’s riding up to the docks with a sure-fire winner . . . except he didn’t buy a ticket.
For the second time in three weeks, that’s what happened to one unlucky (Or is he lucky?) angler on the Peninsula.
A man caught a 101-pound monster in Area 5 (Sekiu) during Saturday’s Sekiu Halibut Derby.
But he will forever remain anonymous — not to mention $1,010 poorer — because he didn’t shell out the $15 for a ticket.
Meanwhile, Port Angeles’ Geoff Elliott ended up taking home the glory, and $710 cash, after reeling in a 71-pound beauty.
As Gary Ryan of Van Riper’s Resort (360-963-2334) in Sekiu said, it was one of many fish brought in during a productive weekend in Area 5.
“There was a lot of fish being caught, a lot of smaller fish in the 20- to 40-pound range,” Ryan said. “Just from what I’ve seen here, it was maybe a fish a boat. It was real good fishing.”
That good fortune didn’t stick around when things started back up again Thursday, however.
“[Thursday], with the minus tide and all that, there’s people catching fish but not as many,” Ryan said.
Indeed, the same tidal troubles that coastal anglers had on Thursday were present around Sekiu.
Those issues will linger into the final two days of the season in Sekiu as well (the fishery comes to a close after Saturday.)
“It’s going to take some heavy weight to get to the bottom and hold the bottom,” Ryan said. “And if you’re not hitting the bottom you’re not catching halibut.”
Steelhead stuff
Dropping rivers haven’t kept anglers from picking off steelhead and spring chinook out west.
Thanks to a consistent snow melt from this winter’s sizeable snowpack, West End rivers have remained in decent fishing shape despite a lack of rain in recent weeks.
“They are doing quite well,” Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said.
“Fishing has been pretty good down there [on the] Lower Calawah and Bogachiel, guys floating down there.”
While the springer run tends to taper off in July, summer steelhead usually enter Peninsula rivers well into August.
A lot of times, anglers’ biggest hurdle is getting the fish to take their lures because of the extreme low flows. But that may not be the case this year thanks to all that snow in the Olympics.
“It will be a pretty decent summer to float because it’s going to stay up for some time,” Gooding said. “There’s plenty of water.
“It’s pretty clean, but the amount of water isn’t a problem.”
More shrimp
Just when you think Hood Canal shrimp season is done, it pulls you back in.
Shrimpers in Hood Canal will get one more day to target spot shrimp after they fell short of attaining the seasonal quota last week.
The Canal will join Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) in reopening one final time Wednesday before likely going away for the rest of the year.
Harvesting will open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Hood Canal and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Area 9.
Hood Canal shrimpers have had a steady season, averaging 4.2 pounds per pot in five openers this spring. That included a 4.1-pound per pot average during the last harvest date on June 8.
Crab a-comin’
Speaking of shellfish, it won’t be long before Peninsulites can start dropping crab pots into the saltwater again.
The season is set to begin July 1 throughout much of the Peninsula — the coast is open year-round — with crabbers able to soak pots five days a week this year.
Fish and Wildlife made a rule change allowing for crabbing Thursdays through Mondays during the summer season with a five-crab daily limit.
In previous seasons, crabbers only got four harvest days a week.
The fate of the winter season depends upon the number of crab still available for harvest after summer catch numbers are tallied.
Also . . .
■ All that snow is slowly starting to melt away in the high hills of the Olympics.
To check on the status of your favorite trails, visit the Washington Trails Association website at www.wta.org or Olympic National Park’s trail conditions page at http://tinyurl.com/leecbd.
■ Dr. Jerry Freilich will discus the removal of the two dams on the Elwha River at a special Port Ludlow Fly Fishers program Tuesday night.
Freilich is the research director for Olympic National Park. He will relate the history of the dams and give an overview of plans for their removal.
The program starts at 7 p.m. at the Port Ludlow Bay Club, 120 Spinnaker Place.
■ Dungeness River Audubon Center will lead a pair of two-day Summer Bike Adventure camps for ages 11-15 in early and late July.
Campers will explore the Olympic Discovery Trail east and west of Railroad Bridge Park in Sequim, with instruction on bicycle safety, simple bike repair and basic trail riding techniques.
The first session is set for July 5-6, while the second session will meet July 19-20. Cost is $80 per camper.
Fore more information, or to register, visit the Rivers Center’s website at www.dungenessrivercenter.org.
■ Fish and Wildlife will be accepting public comments on the Snider Creek steelhead broodstock program through June 30.
The 25-year contract for the program, jointly run by the state and Olympic Peninsula Guides’ Association, expires at the end of the month.
The management options and the analysis of the Snider Creek steelhead program are available on Fish and Wildlife’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/snider_creek/.
Comments can be submitted by email to snidercreek@dfw.wa.gov or by U.S. Mail to: Snider Creek, 48 Devonshire Road, Montesano, WA, 98563.
■ Washington Trails Association will gather all-day work parties on successive weekends at the Lower and Upper Big Quilcene trails.
Dates are set for Saturday and Sunday on the Lower Big Quilcene and June 25 and 26 on the Upper Big Quilcene, with volunteers meeting at the Quilcene Ranger Station at 8:30 a.m. each day before heading off to work.
Volunteers must pre-register 48 hours in advance. To do so, contact Washington Trails at 206-625-1367 or visit www.wta.org.
■ Admiralty Audubon will hold its annual potluck dinner at Chetzemoka Park in Port Townsend this Sunday at 1 p.m.
There will be a special bird walk held at 12:30 p.m. prior to the meeting.
Send photos, stories
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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.