GO AHEAD AND throw a horseshoe on the end of that line.
Not only are you going to need a little luck to bring in the derby-winner this weekend, the extra weight wouldn’t hurt either.
Minus tides and some strong winds will make anglers work at the Port Angeles Salmon Club’s 10th annual halibut derby on Saturday and Sunday.
Luckily, as this year’s banner halibut season has shown, there’s more than enough fish around to make it worth while.
“It’s just a matter of getting to them,” Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles said.
This could be a two-day derby not just in name only.
With the elements conspiring against anglers more on Saturday than Sunday, this year’s event might break with history and produce more fish on Day 2.
Especially if nobody sets the bar too high on Day 1.
“I think Saturday will be a little rough wind-wise and Sunday [might be better],” Aunspach said. “It all depends on what that wind does.
“The tides you can deal with, but when you throw tides and wind together . . . it gets tough.”
The best way to deal with that is back trolling, although it never hurts to target shallower areas as well.
Among the sites that fall inside the derby boundary that fit that description are Whiskey Creek, Morse Creek and Green Point.
“There are guys that are going to be on it just because it’s easier,” Aunspach said. “Will it produce the fish? I don’t know.”
Ah, therein lies the beauty of the halibut derby. For it always delivers some surprises.
Last year the surprise came when Steve Marmon of Bellingham brought in the derby-winning fish, a 77-pound beauty, a scant 50 minutes before the derby came to an end.
It seems safe to assume that such a fish wouldn’t hold up for the $5,000 top prize this season.
Triple-digit flatties have been almost commonplace around Port Angeles this May. There were reports of two fish more than 100 pounds last weekend alone.
Then again, that’s what was said last year, and Marmon’s 77 bested a derby ladder of 30 fish that included four other flatties in the 70-pound class.
Approximately 250 tickets have already been purchased for the derby, with many more expected to be picked up today.
The field generally ranges from 650 to 790 anglers.
A derby ticket costs $40, and a total of $20,000 in prizes are up for grabs.
Boundaries for the derby extend from Low Point just west of Crescent Beach all the way to a line due north of the base of Dungeness Spit.
Fishing hours are between daylight and 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
More Strait
This weekend is the last one for halibut anglers in Marine Area 6 (eastern Strait) and 9 (Admiralty Inlet).
So even if one must avoid the derby, it’s probably a good idea to get out fishing somewhere.
Randy Jones of Venture Charters (360-895-5424) in Sequim said things have been pretty decent out by Dungeness Bar.
“Saturday was pretty good, just not for us,” said Jones, who made the trip to Yellow Can rather than fishing the Bar. “[The fish] were over at the top of Dungeness Bar.
“I came in with a 20-pounder, and I know of a couple others with 40s.”
Those fishing out of Port Townsend have seen their share of monster flatties this season.
Not as much as the waters near Protection Island, however, a place that has been home to several triple-digit fish in recent years (including this one).
Some might remember the legend of an 81-inch flatty caught by Bob Beausoleil and Rob Stark in Area 5 (Sekiu) last August, months after halibut season was over.
Well, since they had to throw it back, it stands to reason that beast is still swimming around those parts.
With Area 5 opening to halibut fishing today, one can finally target it.
“Sometimes you can get into a real nice one [at Sekiu],” Randy Lato of All-Ways Fishing (360-374-2052) in Forks said, “but most of them are just 20- to 30-pounders.
“I’ve got marks all over out there, but most of the time even some of the older guys will tell you just go right out front and fish.”
Jones’ boat will move over to Sekiu once fishing comes to a close in Area 6 and 9 on Sunday.
No doubt, so will others.
Going coastal
Many a weather wimp passed on the final two days of the early halibut season on the coast last week.
As a result, more than 40 percent of the annual quota remains for Marine Area 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay); more than enough for additional fishing dates.
The state announced each area would open to flatty fishing June 3 and 5, with more dates tentatively scheduled for June 17 and 19 if sufficient quota remains.
Lato said things picked up some last Saturday following Thursday’s saltwater washout.
“It was definitely better,” said Lato, who ran into five chicken halibut fishing the southwest corner of the Closure Zone.
“Three of [the fish] were close to 30 [pounds], and two of them were right around 20. We were back at the dock [around] 1 p.m.”
Lato saw a few other fish in the 45- to 55-pound range, and there were reports of a few others in the 80s coming out of Area 3 and 4.
Depending upon who you talk to, the coastal halibut season has been either so-so or pretty decent.
Isn’t that always the way?
“Halibut fishing has been great when the weather cooperates,” Fish and Wildlife sampler Erica Crust said in a news release.
“The first week of the north coast opener yielded great success rates and fish averaging just over 20 pounds.
“But the second week saw lower success rates due to the poor weather, when anglers couldn’t get out to the more popular fishing grounds.”
Lingcod and rockfish are pretty much the only game in town this weekend.
A couple of weeks later (June 12 to be exact) both coastal fisheries will open to a hatchery-retention-only chinook fishery.
Nearly 653,000 fall chinook are forecasted to return to the Columbia River this season, about 234,000 more chinook than the number returning last year.
This year’s coast-wide chinook quota is 61,000 fish, compared to 20,500 last year.
Gettin’ fresh
Few will sound the alarm for this one.
But the Lake Crescent fishing opener, set for Tuesday, is certainly a day marked on this particular Peninsulite’s calendar.
The Olympic National Park lake offers a serene setting and some unique fish (Crescenti and Beardslee trout) to target.
Of course, you can’t keep any of them; only admire their beauty and toss them back in the water.
Fly guys catch the trout on any number of patterns (a simple muddler minnow has worked in the past for me).
Many like to set up shop near Barnes Creek just west of Lake Crescent Lodge, but there are other holes worth hitting.
Those who insist on keeping their catch can go after some springers and steelhead swimming around the Hoh, Sol Duc and Quillayute rivers.
“Probably the best bet would be the Hoh,” Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said.
“It’s just that right now it’s mostly all spring chinook, and the water is low and clear, and the spring chinook don’t bite very well in that.”
One other note: Several rivers across the Peninsula reopen to fishing, including the Bogachiel and Calawah, on June 5.
Shellfish scene
A series of minus tides will give shellfish harvesters plenty of beach to scour this weekend.
Among the beaches open to shellfish harvesting (including oysters) that are worth a look are South Indian Island County Park, Fort Flagler State Park, Oak Bay, Dosewallips State Park and Duckabush.
Each of the Jefferson County beaches have an abundance of clams, with Dosewallips and Duckabush also littered with oysters.
I’ve also heard tales of geoducks around the Indian Island territory. Just saying.
(Side note: Sequim Bay State Park could also work, although that beach is closed to butter clam harvesting due to high levels of marine toxins.)
Here are the tides for the beaches this weekend:
• Indian Island, Flagler and Oak Bay — Today: -2.35 feet at 11:17 a.m.; Saturday: -2.24 feet at 11:56 a.m.; Sunday: -1.92 feet at 12:35 p.m.
• Dosewallips and Duckabush — Today: -2.88 feet at 11:47 a.m.; Saturday: -2.66 feet at 12:26 p.m.; Sunday: -2.20 feet at 1:06 p.m.
For information on beach openings, visit http://www.doh.wa.gov/ and click on “Shellfish” under the heading “Beach closures.”
Also . . .
• As was mentioned in Thursday’s outdoors column, Washington Trails Association launched a new interactive map on its Web site.
The map allows hikers to look for trails using a variety of filters like mountain views, waterfalls, kid friendly hikes and more. Each trail is denoted by a clickable icon.
To view the map, visit wta.org.
• Rich Osborne will present “Orcas, Humans, and Salmon: Shared Ancestries and Shared Destinies” at Feiro Marine Life Center in Port Angeles on June 5 at 6:30 p.m.
Osborne is a former research curator and director of the Whale Museum on San Juan Island and is now its research associate.
To reserve a spot at the event, or for more information, call 360-417-6254.
• Free Fishing Weekend returns to the state June 12-13.
Anglers need no license, two-pole endorsement or vehicle use permit during the weekend, although a catch record card (available at almost any license dealer) must be completed for certain fisheries.
• The Olympic Peninsula Paddlers will hold its monthly fun paddle practice at Freshwater Bay on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Kayakers are encouraged to practice whatever they want, with several paddlers on hand to share their knowledge and provide pointers.
For more information, call 360-670-3684.
• Admiralty Audubon’s Ken Wilson will lead a trip through Kah Tai Nature Park on Sunday starting at 8 a.m.
A group will meet at the Landes Street entrance to the park. To register for the trip, contact Wilson at 360-821-1101.
• State shellfish specialist Rich Childers will speak at the Puget Sound Anglers-East Jefferson Chapter’s monthly meeting June 8.
Childers will discuss crabbing and enforcement issues in the area at the meeting, set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Marina Room at Hudson Point Marina in Port Townsend.
• The Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers will hold its monthly meeting June 7 at 7 p.m. in the Loomis Log Cabin of Port Angeles’ Lincoln Park.
John McMillan will be the guest speaker.
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; e-mail 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.