THERE ARE TWO types of people in life: Those who get their limit, and those who do not.
As my 20-something readers can surely attest, I’ve been the North Olympic Peninsula flag bearer for the latter for the better part of six years.
Well, my dear Peninsulites, the squirly looking fellow pictured at right is a loser no more (at least, not in the fishing sense.)
A week ago today, I scored my first limit of any kind while engaging in a little hand-to-pincer crabbing in Dungeness Bay.
I waded, I saw, I grabbed crab — five Dungeness to be exact, which, I’ll have you know, is the daily legal limit in Washington state.
Sure, I know what some of you must be thinking:
“Hey Schubert, a blindfolded monkey with a severe case of kabourophobia could catch five crab in a day the way things have been going this summer.”
While I concede that may very well be true, it does not discount the fact that for one day me and the guys from “The Deadliest Catch” had something in common (other than poor grooming habits.)
Whenever someone asks about a recent fishing excursion, they always begin with the same question every time.
“So, how’d you do?”
For some, such a question is an invitation to lie; others an opportunity to boast.
For amateurish anglers like myself, however, it’s usually a time to lower our heads in shame.
Just not this time.
PT opener
Limits certainly didn’t come easy during the first few days of the selective chinook fishery in Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet).
Creel check numbers in the first two days of the season — last Saturday and Sunday — had 150 boats bringing 70 chinook to the Port Townsend Boat Haven.
That might not compare quite as favorably to the opening weeks of the 2007, ’08 and ’09 summer king fisheries at Mid Channel, it’s an improvement over July 2010.
“There was a bit of a fog [Saturday], but there was fish,” Randy Powers of Westside Marine in Port Townsend said.
“Some guys didn’t do very good, but the guys that toughed it out got fish.”
A few notes
■ Word is squid are starting to file into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Anglers were able to pick off a few tentacled treats during the past week at Port Angeles City Pier, according to Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles.
“There’s definitely been squid down there, probably over the last week,” Aunspach said. “I don’t know if it’s still real heavy, but they have definitely had some squid.”
Aunspach said things have yet to get hot and heavy with squid this summer, but things could pick up soon.
■ Sockeye are taking up ranks in the Sol Duc River as we speak.
The summer-run salmon typically make their presence known on their way to spawning grounds at Lake Pleasant each July. This year appears to be no different.
And thanks to a healthy snowpack, anglers have more than enough water to fish for them.
■ Keep your eyes on those ocean temperatures.
Ward Norden of Quilcene said the buoy temps just south of La Push last week (59 to 61 degrees) signal that albacore tuna should be moving in close to LaPush very soon.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
