BETTER GET THOSE broadheads sharpened.
Early archery hunting season is but a few days away on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Bow hunters get first crack at some big game starting next Wednesday.
Archery deer and cougar seasons are set to begin throughout the Peninsula once the calendar flips to September, kicking off hunting season in earnest.
While Peninsula forests promise to be drier than a Bill Murray cameo, that shouldn’t deter archers from getting out into the woods.
“I think it’s going to be good [this fall],” Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles said.
“I’ve seen a lot of bucks this year, and I haven’t been out looking for them. I’ve just seen them.”
Obviously, sneaking up on one of them won’t be all that easy until the forest dampens up a bit.
According to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, much of the Peninsula deer harvest occurs in the Pysht Game Management Unit (GMU) and the Merrill and Ring Tree Farm. Timberlands, including clear cuts, often produce the most deer.
Aunspach said you can expect the animals to be hanging around the same sort of spots they would frequent later on in the fall.
“All of your traditional deer spots will have deer early,” Aunspach said. “There’s just as many deer down low as there is high.”
One need not commit Bambicide in order to get in on the early days of hunting season.
Forest grouse will also be fair game by Wednesday.
Grouse populations appeared to rebound quite nicely in 2009 after a down 2008.
Hunters took down 6,350 grouse in Clallam a year after posting the second worst season since the turn of the millennium in 2008.
Meanwhile, Jefferson County grouse hunters bagged more birds in 2009 than in any of the previous 11 years.
Most hunters will find success driving through logging roads in the West End, focusing on clearcut areas for blue grouse and alder stands for ruffed grouse.
I’ll leave it to Bob Gooding of Olympic Sports Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks — an avid grouse hunter and consummate BSer — for his take on the hunt:
“I certainly wouldn’t waste the gas coming out here, because it’s pretty pitiful. It’s really not worth it at all.”
Coastal fishing
Rough seas are making life difficult for coastal anglers these days.
The past couple of days have been a bit of a wash due to high winds, ending what had been a decent spat of fishing.
A run of silvers kept anglers busy in Area 3 (LaPush) last weekend, according to Randy Lato of All-Ways Fishing (360-374-2052) in LaPush.
There have also been a few productive days of king fishing mixed in.
“It’s been a little hit and miss,” Lato said. “We scratched up two and released eight natives [Thursday], and [Wednesday] we came in early.
“[Tuesday] we had a stellar day down at the old man [south of LaPush], five kings and three silvers. And one of them went 30 [pounds].”
Swiftsure Bank remained steady in Area 4 (Neah Bay) to the north.
Although, even that didn’t produce like it has in recent weeks, according to Joey Lawrence at Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay
“It wasn’t as hot as it was, but it’s fair,” Lawrence said. “It’s been kind of an off-and-on bite the last few days because of the weather.
“I think the coho are waiting for a little bit of rain to get them excited and get them ready to make their move.”
There is still a tuna bite some 40 miles out in the deep blue as well.
Until the conditions improve, however, that promises to be a tough fishery.
Strait scene
As salmon anglers’ focus inside the Strait of Juan de Fuca shifts totally over to the silvers, they have little choice but to head out to the shipping lanes.
“I’d probably be running to the six-mile buoy,” Aunspach in Port Angeles said.
“They are coming through shallow, but they are way out in the middle.
“It’s usually out there in that deep, deep water.”
That’s how it goes with silvers inside the Strait, whether it be Area 6 (eastern Strait) or 5 (Sekiu).
It’s definitely the case right now out by Slip Point.
“It still seems to be the only fish you can find out more toward the middle [of the Strait],” Chris Mohr of Van Riper’s Resort (360-963-2334) in Sekiu said.
“They are fishing a ways out . . . between 500 and 600 feet of water, anywhere from 35 to 65 feet [down].”
Unfortunately, the coho scene has been pretty hit or miss inside the Strait thus far.
The state predicted a decent run of silvers for Puget Sound rivers this fall, but they seem to be a little late to the party in Area 5 and 6.
“It’s starting to drizzle out here,” Mohr said. “Maybe that will do something.”
Eastern Peninsula
Quilcene Bay is sure to heat up in the next week or two as things cool down and silvers start arriving in bunches.
According to Quilcene resident Ward Norden, four-fish limits are easily attainable if one hits the right tide in September.
Jiggers often do well in the bay between the “Pillars” (pilings about one third of a mile south of the Quilcene boat ramp) and the “slide” about one third of a mile north of Point Whitney shellfish lab, Worden wrote in an e-mail.
“This early, the coho will come in waves with cloudy weather but as we [get] closer to September, they should be there all the time,” he said.
“Once the run gets serious, many locals just tie off to the ‘Pillars’ and pitch spinners, but most still jig Buzz Bombs, or drag herring. Four-fish limits are quite common from the end of the month on.”
Hoodsport Hatchery reported an additional 361 fall chinook in its traps during the past week.
The rest of Area 12 (Hood Canal) north of Ayock Point opens to salmon fishing starting Wednesday.
Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) anglers have until then to fish for kings. After Aug. 31 that fishery closes for the summer.
It will be strictly a coho show in September.
Freshwater fishing
Peninsula anglers looking for aggressive rainbow trout have few choices in August.
One of those is almost always the upper Elwha River, which once again is producing some significant fly fishing action during the dry days of summer.
“It’s time to be in there,” Dave Steinbaugh of Waters West Fly Fishing Outfitters (360-417-0937) in Port Angeles said. “It’s fishing really well, as it should this time of year.
“The water is down low now and fishing really well. In between the dams, up above [Lake] Mills . . . it’s been pretty good everywhere in there.”
The Elwha is pretty much the only river on the Peninsula where one gets in some classic dry-fly action while targeting rainbow trout (unless you throw steelhead in that category).
Although some of the better holes require a deep hike into the wooded areas of Olympic National Park, it’s often well worth it.
And given the low and clear condition of the rest of the Peninsula’s rivers, it’s easily the best choice right now.
Those insistent on disappointment can head east or west, however.
The Sol Duc Hatchery received 101 additional summer coho during the past week, while the Quilcene National Fish Hatchery has now seen approximately 900 coho reach its traps in recent weeks.
“They’ve been trickling in,” Quilcene hatchery technician Ron Wong said.
“It’s not raining or anything to really push anything in, and the drizzle we’re getting [Thursday] isn’t going to do much to the water.
“They are pretty fish, though. They are ocean bright.”
Also . . .
• Crabbers are running out of time in Areas 6, 9 and 12.
All three areas are open Wednesdays through Saturdays and will open the entire Labor Day weekend before closing for a catch assessment after Sept. 6.
Summer catch record cards will be due by Oct. 10. Areas 4 and 5 will remain open through Jan. 2.
• Several areas around Lake Mills will close to access Monday as Olympic National Park begins work for the dam removal project.
Both the Lake Mills boat launch and boat launch access road will close.
The entire Lake Mills reservoir and the Elwha River between Goblins Gate and Lake Mills will also be closed to boating. The West Lake Mills Trail and Upper Lake Mills Trail will also close during this period.
The work period and closure are scheduled to be completed by October 4.
• Dungeness River Audubon Center will host a two-session class on shorebirds and gulls of the Peninsula on Sept. 3-4.
There will be an evening presentation on Sept. 3 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., followed by a field trip to Dungeness Bay from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. the next day.
Cost is $25 for River Center partners, and $40 for non partners.
To pre-register, contact the River Center at 360-681-4076.
• The Quilcene Antler Show returns to the Quilcene School Gymnasium on Sept. 18-19.
Hunters from across the Peninsula are welcome to come display their trophies, with official Boone and Crockett measurers on hand to provide official scoring.
Those wishing to provide a display can contact Mari Phillips in Quilcene at 360-765-0688.
• Washington Trails Association will gather an all-day work party at Notch Pass Trail near Quilcene on Tuesday.
Volunteers must pre-register 48 hours in advance. To pre-register, contact Washington Trails at 206-625-1367 or visit www.wta.org.
• The LaPush Last Chance Salmon Derby comes to the coast Oct. 2-3 this fall.
Participants will see a reduced entry fee this year ($25), with cash prizes awarded to the largest ($500), second largest ($250) and third largest ($100) salmon submitted. There will also be a $100 reward for the largest bottomfish.
Tickets can be purchased at Swain’s General Store, LaPush Marina, Forks Outfitters and the Forks Chamber of Commerce office. For more information, call 360-374-2531.
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; e-mail 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.
