THE STEELHEAD ARE at or near their peak, and um, well, so are the anglers in the crowded but very fruitful Sol Duc River on the West End.
The steelhead run, which starts in January and goes through April, peaks in February and March and it seems to be keeping to its normal script and is super hot right now.
“I’ve heard that the Sol Duc is the hottest place to be right now,” Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Good and More (360-683-1950) in Sequim said.
Bob Gooding in Forks, who lives and works right where the action is, agrees.
“The Sol Duc has a lot of fish and they have been decent [in size],” Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said.
Wild steelhead are still catch-and-release until Feb. 16 (this coming Thursday), but that is not stopping anglers from taking photos of their prized fish and bragging about the steelie they actually caught.
“In the past week and a half I have seen some dandies,” Gooding said.
“I have seen four to five pictures of fish over 20 pounds.”
Right now, though, there’s a lot of pressure on the Sol Duc because of anglers from Seattle, Tacoma and other parts of Western Washington are all coming out to fish for steelhead on the North Olympic Peninsula because of new emergency rules that stopped all steelhead fishing in the Puget Sound area.
“It is really crowded out there [West End] because of the steelhead rules,” Menkal said.
“There are so many fishing out there right now; it’s a little crazy.”
Menkal said he talked to Pat Neal (area fishing guide and Peninsula Daily News columnist) last Friday and Neal told him the Sol Duc was crowded with anglers.
“He said there were so many people from Seattle out there,” Menkal said.
“Yeah, it happens every year,” Gooding said about the extra crowds from the Seattle and Tacoma areas.
“Out here is the only place you can keep wild steelhead [during the season], and it has been catch-and-release elsewhere,” Gooding said.
“Now that they can’t even catch-and-release, more will come out here.”
That makes perfect sense, according to Gooding.
“If you must go fish, you have to go where the rivers and the fish are. The Peninsula has exactly what they want, the [fishable] rivers and [lots of] fish.”
The rain the past few days is helping out for good fishing.
“The water level was getting quite low out there, but now the fish are a little less edgy [because of higher water levels],” Menkal said.
“There’s better water flow.”
Gooding says it’s raining just the right amount, not too much and not too little.
“The rivers are very viable to float and everything,” Gooding said.
If the crowds on Sol Duc are too much for you, try one of the other West End rivers.
“Most rivers have fish,” Gooding said.
“The Bogachial and the Hoh have been fishing OK. But the Sol Duc is where most of the fish are.”
Menkal adds: “A few have come out of the Bogachial.”
Blackmouth opener
Saltwater anglers have just a few days to wait for the blackmouth salmon opener.
The blackmouth season starts Feb. 16, next Thursday, the same day wild steelhead can be kept.
“It’s the big annual opener for blackmouth,” Menkal said.
And coming on the heels of the opener is the huge Presidents Day weekend salmon derby, which takes place Feb. 18-20.
That may lesson the load on the Sol Duc that weekend as anglers head to the saltwater for the popular 2012 Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
“That’s a great derby and a great fundraiser,” Menkal said. “They had quite a few fishing it last year and everything was positive.”
The fishing area for the derby has expanded even more this year and so there should be even more anglers jockeying for the big prizes.
“I have already sold a lot of tickets to this year’s derby,” Menkal said.
Like last year, the 2012 event is huge — with 500 square miles of fishing, five weigh stations and a $10,000 first prize.
The winter blackmouth classic is part of the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s “Northwest Salmon Derby Series,” and is an important annual event for residents of Gardiner, Diamond Point, Blyn and the other nearby communities, according to Association President Dan Tatum.
This year’s prize list is already worth more than $21,000, and new prize donations are arriving daily, Tatum said.
Port Townsend will have plenty of derby action but four other launch ramps will also be serving the 800 to 1,000 anglers expected to fish the derby.
Volunteers will staff weigh stations at all five launch ramps: Freshwater Bay, Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, John Wayne Marina in Sequim, Gardiner and Port Townsend Boat Haven.
The event uses selective fishery — only clipped-fin (hatchery) winter blackmouth chinook salmon can be submitted.
Tickets for the event cost $40 for one day or all three days.
Tickets are on sale at many area merchants, and also online at www.SwainsInc.com.
“Our ticket sales are going real good,” Tatum said.
Tickets will also be available at the five launch ramps, but only on Saturday, Feb. 18.
Ticket sales will be limited, so be sure to get a ticket early, Tatum said.
This event benefits emergency and other vital services for Gardiner, Diamond Point and nearby communities.
In addition to the top prizes, awarded by weight, there are three Mystery Fish prizes ($1,000, $500, and $500) that anybody can win.
The awards ceremony will be held on Monday, Feb. 20, at the Gardiner Boat Ramp at 2 p.m.
“Before the Monday awards ceremony in Gardiner, this year we’re having a free barbecue starting at 11,” Tatum said.
“This will be a fun time for anglers and local neighbors.”
This event, formerly the Discovery Bay Salmon Derby, is hosted by the Gardiner Salmon Derby Association, a nonprofit corporation that supports area emergency and other services by generating funds from derby ticket sales as well as from contributions by area residents and businesses.
This year,the association is funding a Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) for use by Clallam County Fire District No. 3 at its Diamond Point station.
Firefighters use these devices, which cost about $10,000, when dealing with structure fires in search and rescue, and in other emergency service applications.
For more information, including derby rules, visit www.
GardinerSalmonDerby.org.
Wild steelhead zone
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has announced it will end a hatchery steelhead program at Snider Creek next year to establish a wild steelhead management zone in the Sol Duc River.
After next spring, no hatchery steelhead will be released into the Sol Duc River, which will be the first wild steelhead management zone formally established in the state, said Ron Warren, regional fish program manager for WDFW.
Snider Creek is a tributary to the Sol Duc River in Clallam County.
Wild management zones, also known as wild stock gene banks, are designed to preserve key populations of wild fish by minimizing interactions with hatchery-produced fish, Warren said.
Research has shown that hatchery fish are often less genetically diverse and can impact wild stocks through interbreeding or competition for food or habitat.
WDFW is also looking to identify other streams that could be candidates for wild management zones, Warren said.
That effort includes working with an advisory group to identify specific streams in the Puget Sound region.
“Establishing wild management zones is part of a broad effort aimed at modifying our hatchery programs to be compatible with conservation and recovery of naturally spawning salmon and steelhead populations,” Warren said.
“Shifting hatchery steelhead production away from the Sol Duc River — where we have one of the largest wild steelhead populations in the state — is an important step in that effort.”
While the hatchery program will no longer take place at Snider Creek, WDFW is working with stakeholders to re-establish a similar effort in the Bogachiel or Calawah rivers, where the department already releases hatchery steelhead, Warren said.
The program will end next spring when 25,000 winter steelhead smolts are released into the Sol Duc River, Warren said.
Last year, WDFW also discontinued its summer steelhead program on the Sol Duc River, after releasing 20,000 smolts.
While fewer and fewer hatchery steelhead will be returning to the Sol Duc River in the coming years, anglers will continue to have opportunities to fish for salmon and other game fish, as well as retain one wild steelhead per license year on the river, Warren said.
The Snider Creek program was created in 1986 as a joint project with the Olympic Peninsula Guides’ Association to increase fishing opportunities for steelhead on the Sol Duc River.
The program is unlike most other hatchery efforts in that it produces offspring from wild steelhead rather than hatchery fish.
Evening clams
An evening dig for razor clams is tentatively scheduled Feb. 18-19 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks beaches.
Fish and Wildlife will announce the final word on that dig once marine toxin tests are completed about a week ahead of time.
Kids fishing fundraiser
The Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter’s fundraiser is set for Feb. 17.
The event, which provides funding for the Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program in Sequim, will be at Guy Cole Convention Center at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim.
Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. with a free spaghetti dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. (Donations will be accepted.)
A silent auction will be held throughout the night, and a live auction begins after dinner.
Live auction items include fishing trips with Peninsula river guides for salmon and steelhead, and charter boat trips for salmon, halibut and bottomfish in the ocean and Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program includes Kids Fishing Day, which is set for May 19 at the Sequim water reclamation pond.
The pond is stocked with 1,500 trout, some of which weigh as much as five pounds.
For more information on the events, contact Herb Prins at 360-582-0836.
Great bird count
All it takes is 15 minutes of time to contribute to the Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual survey of birds sighted throughout North America.
From Feb.17-20, birders of all levels of experience are invited to count the number of birds they see in a 15-minute period and enter their tally, by species, online at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc.
Participants can conduct their count in their own backyards, in a neighborhood park or anywhere they choose.
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 Sports Department, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362; phone, 360-417-3525; fax, 360-417-3521; email sports@
peninsuladailynews.com.
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