ANALYTICS ARE A hot topic in professional sports.
To simplify the term the best I can, it involves the collection and interpretation of various sets of data on players and situations with the intention of improving, or at the very least, better understanding team performance.
The trend started in baseball decades ago and was popularized in Michael Lewis’ New York Times-bestelling novel Moneyball: : The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and the subsequent 2011 movie.
In the last decade or so, the movement has spread to basketball, and to a lesser extent football.
Analytics for fishing? I haven’t heard too much on this topic, but Dave Dewald of The North Olympic Peninsula Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers recently crunched some numbers after the recent Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
He included all 292 salmon registered in the derby and found 77 percent of all fish caught came from Marine Area 6 (Eastern Strait of Juan De Fuca) and 23 percent from Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet).
All five of the top five largest blackmouth were caught in Area 6, and 9 of the top 10 came from those waters.
More fish, 42 percent of the total haul, were caught last Friday on the derby’s first day of fishing, including 40 percent of the top five coming in last Friday.
Saturday and Sunday were pretty equal in catch total, with 28 percent nabbed on Saturday and 30 percent taken on Sunday.
The Port Townsend ramp had the largest percentage of check-in, 44 percent to Sequim Bay’s 33 percent.
Freshwater Bay, which had been among the hottest blackmouth locations around just a week ago, barely registered in the derby.
Just two percent of derby fish were checked-in at the Freshwater Bay ramp.
Every day fishing is different from the last, even if those differences are marginal, but the data collected does back up the anecdotal evidence I heard before the derby.
This talk centered on the eastern portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca around Protection Island.
And the big winner, Jerry Thomas’ nearly 19-pound chinook, was landed off Diamond Point.
Good job to the anglers and organizers of the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby, and thanks for the sun, Mother Nature, you came through in a big way.
Multi-season permit
Deer and elk hunters have until March 31 to enter their name in a drawing for a 2015 multiple-season permit, which can increase their opportunities for success in the field.
In mid-April, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife will randomly draw names for 8,500 multiple-season deer permits and 1,000 multiple-season elk permits.
Winners of the drawing will be eligible to purchase a special tag allowing them to participate in archery, muzzleloader and modern firearm general hunting seasons for deer or elk in 2015.
Winners who purchase the multiple-season elk tag by Aug. 31 can participate in general elk-hunting season in both eastern and western Washington.
Winners also may choose any weapon type when applying for a special permit to hunt deer or elk.
“This is a great opportunity for hunters to extend their hunting season this fall,” said Mick Cope, game manager for Fish and Wildlife.
“Rather than having to choose just one hunting method over another, the multiple season permit allows more flexibility.”
Cope noted that the tags can be used only during general seasons and in game management units that are open during a modern firearm, muzzleloader, or archery general season.
For example, winners may not hunt during the muzzleloader general season in an area that is not open for the muzzleloader general season.
Also, hunters can apply only once for each species and are limited to harvesting one deer or elk.
Hunters may purchase a multiple-season permit application at an authorized license dealer, listed at http://wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/vendors/ , or by calling (866) 246-9453. The permit application is $7.10 for residents and $110.50 for nonresidents.
For more information, visit wdfw.wa.gov, or phone the licensing department at 360-902-2464.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.