SOMETIMES, SITTING AROUND can be quite productive.
As a grizzled veteran of the activity, few know that better than yours truly.
I probably averaged seven to eight hours of couch time during football Sundays this fall.
The result: a glorious Front Porch League fantasy football championship that netted me $600 and bragging rights over my old high school friends for the next year (roughly a cash value of $50,000).
That, my dear Peninsulites, is a tribute to dogged coach potatodom.
There are plenty of other ways to get things done without, you know, doing much of anything. That even includes the outdoor realm.
Case in point: the slothful art of plunking.
There’s nothing in the world of the outdoors that combines the luxury of laziness with a sense of accomplishment better than plunking.
It’s sort of like being a passenger in a drift boat that is pulling plugs, minus the added hassle of actually having to step into the boat.
All you need to do is find a nice, slow river bend with a fishing hole or two, toss out a weighted line with a Spin-N-Glo, then plop your hindquarters on the nearest bench and spend the next few hours doing beer curls.
Every now and then, you get up and check your line — actually, this really isn’t all that necessary either — then go back to doing nothing again.
Often enough, this actually ends with either you or your buddy bringing home a nice winter steelhead.
That’s despite the fact that you probably covered less than 30 feet of ground in a matter of four or five hours.
Just the sort of angling activity The Dude would approve of . . . provided a few White Russians were involved.
Time to plunk
Those looking to channel their inner Dude — or El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing — are in luck.
This weekend figures to be a downright decent time to partake in the practice of plunking on several West End rivers.
Streams like the Sol Duc, Bogachiel and Calawah remain high and dirty after this week’s rain. But with so many hatchery steelhead swimming around, plunkers should be able to hook a few hogs the next couple of days.
“A couple of guys drug one in an hour or so ago they caught by the hatchery plunking,” Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks said.
“It was 13½ [pounds], a pretty nice hatchery fish [in the Calawah]. Where those little creeks flow in, they will provide a pocket of clean water. Well, semi-clean or whatever.”
Indeed, such fishable water is currently hard to find out west.
All of the rain that’s fallen on the North Olympic Peninsula the past couple of weeks has blown things out all over the area.
Conventional anglers will likely have to wait until Sunday or even Monday to start throwing out the regular bobber-and-jig setup or corkies and yarn.
Whenever things do get into shape, however, expect the action to be fierce.
As Gooding and Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles attested, there’s a lot of fish making their way through the West End these days.
“They had a great day Monday from the rains from last week,” Aunspach said.
“Then the rains came back and now we’re out again. Last Monday was a great day and now were probably looking at Sunday or Monday of this week [before rivers are fishable again].”
The Bogachiel Hatchery has already seen approximately 1,700 adult steelhead reach its traps this winter. There are likely several hundred more headed that way in the next few weeks as well.
The Snider Creek broodstock should also begin showing up in the Sol Duc right about now, although there’s been few reports of those fish thus far.
“It’s really been a good year for hatchery fish,” Gooding said.
“I’ve seen a few [Snider Creek fish] that were caught. I’ve heard of half a dozen or so, but the Bogachiel was fishing so good all the guides were going there.
“You don’t want to go looking for fish when you already know where there are some.”
More fishing notes
Winter blackmouth season is a little more than a week away in Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet).
Juvenile chinook will be fair game in the waters around Port Townsend beginning Jan. 16, with the season set to last through April 15.
Those who get out early can get a head start on the competition for the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
The second annual blackmouth derby is once again set for Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 18-20, in Area 9 and a large portion of Area 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca).
That’s a chunk of saltwater more than 500 square miles in size.
The top blackmouth will bring home $10,000, and there are several other prizes up for grabs.
Tickets are now on sale at several Peninsula locations, which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/6ulu5tv. Cost is $40 per person for one or all three days of fishing.
For more information on the derby, visit gardinersalmonderby.org.
Snow please
As was reported in Thursday’s outdoors column, skiers and snowboarders will have to wait another week for things to get going at Hurricane Ridge.
The rope tows will not be up and running this weekend, and it’s quite likely that the start of ski and snowboard school will be postponed a week to Jan. 21-22.
A few inches of powder have fallen in recent days.
The hope is that enough accumulates on the Ridge this weekend that the intermediate and bunny tows can be put into place by next weekend.
Those desperate for winter fun at the Ridge can join the ranger-led snowshoe walks at 2 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.
For more information on organized winter sports at the Ridge, visit hurricaneridge.com.
Also . . .
■ Puget Sound Anglers-East Jefferson Chapter will hold its annual silent auction fundraiser and potluck this Tuesday.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Marina Room at Hudson Point Marina in Port Townsend.
■ Crabbers have until Feb. 1 to report their winter harvest to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
To submit catch reports, crabbers can send their catch record card to Fish and Wildlife by mail or file their report on a special webpage.
The mailing address is WDFW CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091. The online reporting system can be found at http://tinyurl.com/yhjxf79.
■ Dungeness River Audubon Center hosts another Being a Backyard Birder course this Saturday in Sequim from 10 a.m. to noon.
The class costs $5 for adults, but is free for ages 10 to 18. For more information on the class, contact the River Center at 360-681-4076.
■ Waters West will offer a four-session introductory fly tying class starting this Monday at its Port Angeles shop, 140 W. Front St.
The class will meet on four consecutive Mondays from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the focus on tying trout nymphs, streamers and dry flies. Tools and material will be provided.
For more information, contact Waters West at 360-417-0937.
■ Survivor’s Outdoor Experience will conduct a free two-day snowshoe clinic next weekend in Port Angeles.
The first session is set for Saturday, Jan. 14, at 11 a.m. at Swain’s General Store, 602 E. First St.
Students will then take part in a ranger-led snowshoe hike Sunday, Jan. 15, with the group meeting at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center at 10:30 a.m.
For more information on the clinic, contact Jack Ganster at 360-477-1619.
■ The next set of razor clam digs are tentatively scheduled for Jan. 20-21 at four ocean beaches.
Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks are all set to open to afternoon digging on both days, pending marine toxin testing.
Mocrocks, which is the closest beach to the Peninsula, has consistently been the most productive area this season.
During the Dec. 22-23 digs, harvesters averaged 13.3 clams per digger there.
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; email 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.
