SUMMER ARRIVED JUST in time for hunting season.
Just don’t spend a lot of time testing out the SPF-100 in North Olympic Peninsula clearcuts.
The way the sun is baking the area these days, archers are more likely to score a buck or bull early in the morning, late in the afternoon or in a tucked away piece of shade.
Basically, anywhere where you aren’t soaking up rays.
According to Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles, these animals want to stay cool just as much as everyone else.
“You got to get around the water, the cool side of the hill,” Aunspach said. “That’s where theses animals are going to be hanging out.
“They will not move as much. They will move quite a bit at night, but they will hold up pretty tight when it’s hot.”
Hunters have two pretty big things going against them this week.
Most obvious of all, is the dry conditions. It’s not easy being sneaky.
Second, and perhaps just as important, the upcoming moon cycle will likely make deer and elk voracious night feeders.
Thus, intersecting the animals during the day will be quite the challenge.
“They are going to feed heavy at night,” Aunspach said, “and they will find a place to hunker down early and they will stay there.
“That will go for both [elk and deer].”
Added Aunspach, “All of the guys I’m talking to who are hunting deer are saying they are showing up right at dark.”
Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said he’s had a difficult time coming across grouse while hunting out west.
That being said, he has seen a handful of nice elk taken since the archery season opened Tuesday.
“But those would be guys who really know what they are doing and have been keeping pretty close tabs on some bulls,” Gooding said.
“For the average guy, this is going to be pretty rough. You better have one pegged out pretty good and know where he’s hanging around.
“Everything in the woods is as dry as a bone.”
Coho coming?
The late-summer swan song has yet to see many silvers rushing into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
In fact, it’s still much more of a pink show in Marine Area 5 (Sekiu), according to Chris Mohr of Van Riper’s Resort (360-963-2334) in Sekiu.
“The humpies are still fairly strong, at least through [Wednesday] we had lots of four-fish limits on them,” Mohr said. “But we do not have much for coho action at all.
“I always tell people the week of [Sept.] 10, coho are always here, but we just don’t have enough coho to amount to a hill of beans.”
Such is the frustration as the calendar inches closer to mid September — traditionally the apex of saltwater coho fishing.
One might suggest that the Strait simply needs a shot of rain to get things moving.
But if the weatherman is anywhere near correct with his weekly forecast, that isn’t likely to happen soon.
“Some times you think they lose their sense of direction [when it’s so dry], so it’s possible [rain would help],” Mohr said.
At the very least, there’s still loads of pinks around, from Sekiu all the way through the Strait.
Anglers have even picked off a few coho around Port Angeles and Sequim. The notoriously spotty fishery, however, has been hit or miss for the most part.
“They are catching a fish here and there,” Aunspach said. “One day they will find a little batch of fish and catch silvers and pinks, and then they are looking again [the next day].”
Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Goods and More (360-683-1950) in Sequim said beach fisheries out at Point Wilson and Fort Flagler have been just as mercurial.
“They are either there or they are not,” he said.
“The best time [to fish there] normally is an hour before high tide to an hour after high tide or right at daybreak under the cover of darkness.”
Area 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay) reopened to chinook fishing Monday, and a few boats are making trips out into the deep blue for tuna.
Unfortunately, the latter has been pretty poor so far this summer.
“Today I went fishing with a friend and we ended up having to run all the way out to Blue Dot,” Joey Lawrence of Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay said. “We got a 35-pound king and an 18 and two silvers, so fishing wasn’t too bad.
Added Lawrence, “Every once in a while we’ll get a bite right out in front for silvers and then go out the next day and it will be gone.”
Quilcene and beyond
Nobody had to wait on the Big Quilcene River coho.
Those fish have been stacking up in the east Jefferson County river for the better part of three weeks.
Depending upon who you talk to, however, the run is either nearing its end or has already reached it.
“They are working the Quilcene over pretty heavily,” Aunspach said. “Lots of fish coming into the Quil.”
The same could be said for the Sol Duc, which is currently flooded with coho.
That’s about all the river is flooded with, however. Low flows are making hooking the finicky fish quite difficult.
The Hoh still has a good deal of water, thanks to all that glacial melt. It’s just the fish that are lacking.
“It’s OK in the morning, and then it clouds up in the afternoon,” Gooding said. “There’s some fish around, but there’s not a crowd of them.”
Also . . .
■ Recreational crabbers have until Oct. 1 to report their summer catch.
Those who fail to report on time will be subject to a $10 fine when they purchase their 2012 crab endorsement. Reports can be submitted online at http://bit.ly/WkXeA.
■ A special program on beach fishing for salmon will highlight the Puget Sound Anglers-East Jefferson Chapter monthly meeting in Port Townsend on Tuesday.
The presentation will start shortly after the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Marina Room at Point Hudson Marina, 375 Hudson St.
■ Photographers can now submit their best shots to Washington Trails Association’s annual Northwest Exposure Photo Contest.
Participants have until Oct. 10 to submit photos into one of five categories: wild landscapes, flora and fauna, hikers in action, families on trail and offbeat outdoors.
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/yj29nxg.
■ The Quilcene Antler Show returns for the third year in a row to the Quilcene High School gymnasium Sept. 17-18.
Antlers, fish and fowl will all be on display at the show, with entries accepted Sept. 16 from 3-5 p.m., and Sept. 17 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The show also features basic retriever training, elk calling and a bullet casting presentation.
For more information, or for entry forms, visit quilceneantlershow.org.
■ Dungeness River Audubon Center will hold an introductory birding class on successive Tuesday evenings Sept. 20 through Oct. 5 at its headquarters at 2151 Hendrickson Road in Sequim.
The class will meet from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. each session, providing students with lessons on bird identification, field guides and birding optics. Cost is $40.
To pre-register, contact the River Center at 360-681-4076.
■ The Greywolf Fly Fishing Club is scheduled to hold its monthly meeting Wednesday at the Gardiner Community Center, 980 Old Gardiner Road.
The meeting typically begins at 7 p.m. Details on this month’s program were not available.
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.