THE RESUMPTION OF blackmouth fishing in Marine Area 9 has been pushed back to Friday, Feb. 16.
State Department of Fish and Wildlife Puget Sound Recreational Salmon Fishery Manager Coordinator Ryan Lothrop said the fishery for the year-round resident chinook would start back up on that date pending an approved rule change.
Blackmouth season was shut down Nov. 12 due to overabundance of sub-legal sized (less than 22 inch in length) shaker chinook. The season was scheduled to resume Tuesday, but while the chinook have grown to mostly legal size in neighboring Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands), Marine Area 9 fish are lagging behind.
Lothrop held a conference call with members of the Puget Sound Sportsfishing Advisory Group Thursday to discuss options for the fishery.
“The reason is exclusively due to the fact that legal-mark proportions have not increased significantly. The size of the fish in Area 9 and Areas 8-1 and 8-2 (Whidbey Island) remained rather static.
“We’ve done some population measurements through test fisheries and that shows the fish have grown about 1 inch, but most haven’t grown into legal-sized fish.
“Up in Area 7 the sub-legal to legal ratio is much better for fishing and finding larger fish. Most of the sub-legals are in the 18- to 21 inch range up there. In 8-1, 8-2 and 9, the fish have grown, but most haven’t crossed that 22-inch legal threshold. There’s more variation in lengths; some are right round the legal mark and some are smaller in the 14- and 15-inch range.”
No additional time will be tacked on to the end of the fishery, which is scheduled to close April 15, or sooner if encounter guidelines are met.
“It does buy more time for legal fish as the latter part of the season is an important part of the fishery,” Lothrop said. “Weather can be better, yes, and people have told us that larger fish can be caught the more time the fish have to grow.”
Area 9 had reached 39 percent (4,347) of a 11,053 chinook encounter guideline by Nov. 12, so anglers will have the remainder left over to fish on.
Derby tickets on sale
Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby tickets are on sale now at area merchants and online at www.gardinersalmonderby.org.
Set Friday through Sunday, March 9-11, the derby offers a $10,000 first prize, $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third. A host of other cash prizes, fishing gear and gas cards also are up for grabs.
Tickets are available for $40 at the following North Olympic Peninsula outlets: Brian’s Sporting Goods, Sequim; Four Corners Store, Port Townsend; Fish’n Hole, Port Townsend; Fishing Supplies & Gear, Discovery Bay; Longhouse Market & Deli, Blyn; Olympic Equipment Rentals, Port Hadlock; Quimper Mercantile, Port Townsend; Swain’s, Port Angeles; West Marine, Port Townsend; Wild Birds, Unlimited, Gardiner.
Online tickets are $42.50 with service fees factored in. Tickets are good for all three days.
This winter blackmouth classic is part of the Northwest Marine Trade Association Northwest Salmon Derby Series and a grand prize boat will again be awarded to a lucky winner.
Ticket holders for the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby are automatically entered into the boat drawing which will be held in the fall.
The boat is a Hewescraft 220 OceanPro valued at $85,000 and powered with Honda 250 and 9.9 horsepower motors. It comes on an EZ Loader tandem axle galvanized trailer fully rigged with Scotty High-Performance Downriggers, Raymarine electronics, and a Dual Electronics stereo.
Hansville’s Tony Beam won the 2017 Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby, landing a 15.25-pound hatchery chinook on the first day of the derby.
Anglers meeting
North Olympic Salmon Coalition program assistant Olivia Vito will speak at Thursday’s meeting of the North Olympic Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers.
The meeting will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave. in Sequim.
Viewing of raffle prizes and fish stories runs begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by a short business meeting at 7 p.m. and Vito’s presentation.
Vito will discuss some coalition projects and how they have benefited both the community and salmon. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and forest ecology and has studied a wide range of ecosystems and how humans impact those environments.
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition has spent the last 26 years restoring degraded and compromised habitat through both small and large-scale restoration projects.
Refreshments will be served, a raffle of fishing gear will be held and a membership drawing for those present also will be held. The public is welcome to attend.
Kids Fishing fundraiser
Tickets for the Puget Sound Anglers’ annual fundraising dinner to support the Sequim Kids Fishing Day are on sale.
The spaghetti dinner will be held at SunLand Golf and Country Club on Saturday, Feb. 17. The cost is $20.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m., dinner follows at 5:30 p.m. and a live auction will be held at 7 p.m.
Tickets are not available at the door.
To purchase a ticket, phone 360-681-4768.
River fishing class
Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Goods and More will offer another two-part Introduction to Salmon and Steelhead River Fishing course at his store, 609 W. Washington St., No. 21 in Sequim, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday with part two following at the same time Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Menkal knows a ton of tips, tricks and locations and offers the course for $40 per person.
To reserve a space, phone 360-683-1950.
