LAST WEEK’S HALIBUT opener in Marine Areas 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay) was good.
A little too good, in fact.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife made the move early Wednesday morning informing stakeholders that today’s halibut fishery off LaPush and Neah Bay is closed, while keeping Saturday’s open for halibut.
“The scenario is in two days last week anglers landed over 70,000 pounds of halibut on a quota of 108,000 pounds [in Marine Areas 3 and 4],” said Wendy Beeghley, state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fisheries biologist for the coastal region.
“Clearly, [the remaining quota] wasn’t enough for two days of fishing at the catch rate we saw last week.”
Multiple reports of flatties in the 100 pound or above range came in last weekend through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Beeghley, in charge of the state’s sampling methodology for the ocean halibut fishery, concurred.
“We checked a great deal of large fish,” Beeghley said.
“We saw one that according to a hand-scale weighed 168 pounds.
“I think the average weight ended up being just over 19 pounds.”
That small average leads me to believe its likely past time to implement some sort of minimum length requirement on the halibut fishery in order to keep the catch rate down and the season’s economic impact going as long as possible for communities like Neah Bay and LaPush.
Joey Lawrence of Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay was disturbed by today’s closure.
“I really feel bad for the fishermen,” Lawrence said Wednesday.
“I think they could have been given more time to know about this.
“Fishermen are rolling in and the charter boats are full for tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, the catch reports do take time to process and check for errors, and to be transported to the state Fish and Wildlife Regional Office in Montesano, according to Beeghley.
“We also have to get numbers from Sekiu,” Beeghley said.
Some anglers moor their boats in Sekiu and head west to Marine Area 4, taking pounds off the halibut quota.
“Most of them are sampled in Neah Bay but not everybody does that,” Beeghley said.
Lawrence knows what the impact of a day’s closure on the already-short four-day halibut season means in Neah Bay.
“This is a devastating, catastrophic blow to the Neah Bay economy,” Lawrence said.
“It takes a lot of prep for Big Salmon, but it’s not just us. It’s the grocery store, other lodging businesses, restaurants, it takes a lot of preparation to get ready.”
Lawrence felt that catch rates would dip with rougher weather keeping anglers closer to shore and a natural dip in pressure on the fishery’s second weekend.
“We tried to tell them that weather is coming in, and we don’t have the traffic like we did for the opener, which is normal, but they already have their minds made up,” Lawrence said.
Anglers who booked halibut charters are now left with disappointing choices when compared with landing a halibut: go out for lingcod and sea bass; rebook for later in the king or silver salmon season or next year’s halibut fishery, or ask for refunds.
Sekiu success stories
Russ Mellon a member of the North Olympic Peninsula chapter of Puget Sound Anglers found success off Sekiu last weekend.
“There were alot of halibut caught in the general Sekiu area on the 15th and 16th with fish coming in from the Hoko/Sekiu river area from the 150- to 250-foot depth,” Mellon said.
“Straight out from Sekiu Point fishing off the 230- to 240-foot flats into deeper water.
“And down around the Pillar Point area, more specifically the 340-foot high area north of Jim Creek (old Silver King Resort).
The strongest bites came after low tide.
“Best bite was about three hours after the published low,” Mellon said.
“Purple label or black label herring, with or without B2 Squid were working.
Bigger fish found deeper between 450 to 500′. There were quite a few large true cod available, which were actually somewhat of a problem taking time to real them up.
Mellon saw some good-sized halibut landed in 450-foot deep water north of Pillar Point and north of Sekiu.
“Seems like the whole area was pretty good,” Mellon said.
Derby this weekend
Anglers can pick up a $40 Port Angeles Salmon Club Halibut Derby ticket at three North Olympic Peninsula locations.
These outlets are Swain’s General Store and Jerry’s Bait & Tackle in Port Angeles, and Brian’s Sporting Goods and More in Sequim.
Fishing will be contained in Marine Area 6, between Low Point to the west and the Dungeness Spit to the east.
Fishing hours are daylight to 2 p.m. Saturday, and daylight to 2 p.m. Sunday.
A total of $20,000 in cash prizes will be up for grabs, including $5,000 for the winner.
Anglers can launch their boats for free thanks to the Port of Port Angeles.
The weigh-in will be held at the West Boat Haven ramp and docks, and all fish must be brought in by water.
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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.
