SMILING, PROUD CHILDREN holding up freshly caught trout are always a happy sight.
The public can help provide funding for the annual Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program at the Sequim Water Reclamation Pond by patronizing an upcoming dinner and auction in Sequim.
The North Olympic Peninsula Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers will host the club’s annual fundraising auction and dinner at SunLand Golf & Country Club beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21.
Proceeds from this event provide the majority of funding for the yearly kids fishing event typically held in mid-May.
Tickets are $10, and are available by phoning 360-681-4768 or emailing webmaster@psanopc.org.
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Attendees will be able to bid on various pieces of sports merchandise during a silent auction.
A catered spaghetti dinner with red sauce or white clam sauce, garlic bread and tossed salad will be served at 5:45 p.m.
Coffee and water will be available, and a no-host cash bar for wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks will be offered.
A live auction will begin around 7 p.m.
Live auction items include charter boat trips for salmon, halibut and/or bottom fish out of Pacific Ocean ports and the Strait of Juan de Fuca; a trip for one to Palapas Ventana Resort, Baja Mexico; and a trip for two to fish for tuna out of LaPush.
Also up for bid are saltwater salmon fishing trips offered by club members departing out of Port Angeles, Sequim or Sekiu.
Additional live auction items include custom rods, tackle and gift certificates from area businesses.
For more information, phone 360-681-4768 or visit www.psanopc.org.
Razor clam digs
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife approved an eight-day clam dig starting Friday
Upcoming digs are scheduled on the following dates, beaches and low tides:
■ Friday: 3:43 p.m., 0.5 feet — Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks.
■ Saturday: 4:32 p.m., 0.2 feet — Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks.
■ Sunday: 5:15 p.m., 0.0 feet — Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks.
■ Monday: 5:53 p.m., -0.1 feet — Long Beach and Twin Harbors.
■ Tuesday: 6:27 p.m., -0.1 feet — Long Beach and Twin Harbors.
■ Wednesday: 6:59 p.m., 0.0 feet — Long Beach and Twin Harbors.
■ Thursday, Feb. 5: 7:30 p.m., 0.2 feet — Long Beach and Twin Harbors.
■ Friday, Feb. 6: 8 p.m., 0.5 feet — Long Beach and Twin Harbors.
Diggers can take 15 razor clams per day and are required to keep the first 15 they dig.
Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container.
All diggers age 15 or older must have an applicable 2014-15 fishing license to harvest razor clams on any beach.
Licenses can be purchased from fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov and from license vendors around the state.
Salmon on weekends
Blackmouth fishing has been hot in Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands), hot enough for state fishery managers to transition to a Friday through Sunday fishery starting on Friday.
Earlier this month, Fish and Wildlife reduced the catch limit in the San Juan Islands to one salmon per day, down from two, in an effort keep the fishery open as long as possible.
The agency is evaluating catch rates and impacts to wild chinook stocks throughout Puget Sound to determine whether further action will be necessary in the coming weeks.
The state says that as of last Sunday, anglers had kept or released 15,625 chinook since October in Puget Sound, not including Hood Canal and South Sound.
The management guideline for chinook in Puget Sound is 31,813.
Anglers meeting
Kevin Long, project manager of the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, will speak to the East Jefferson Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
The talk is set for the Port of Port Townsend commissioners office at Point Hudson, 333 Benedict St., in Port Townsend.
Refreshments will be served and the public is invited.
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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.
