ANGLERS CAN REAP the rewards of a difficult salmon-season setting process today when fishing opens for hatchery chinook and sockeye off most of the North Olympic Peninsula.
Rumors and innuendo flew freely during the past few months, but now its time to deploy the downriggers and send down some spoons in search of some keepers.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife predicts chinook will return at numbers a notch above the 10-year average.
“We expect a pretty good chinook fishery in the ocean this summer,” said Wendy Beeghley, ocean salmon manager with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
La Push (Marine Area 3) and Neah Bay (Marine Area 4) open for kings today.
Mike Lawrence of Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay recently did some reconnaissance fishing at Blue Dot, about a two-hour trip out of Neah Bay on the Pacific Ocean earlier this week.
“We went to Blue Dot for a day and let me tell you, nice fish,” Lawrence said.
“Fish were shallow until about 10 a.m. then they went deep down to 350 feet and deeper.
“The fish were loving the spoons out there, and the 111 hoochie and the green splatterbacks were doing good also.”
The fish finder was full of salmon when I went I went halibut fishing out at Blue Dot in June, so it appears the migration continues in that stretch of ocean.
Big Salmon Resort is planning weekly salmon derbies during the season.
The first runs today until July 7.
The entry fee is $50 per boat and first place will take 50 percent of the pot, second-place will earn 20 percent and third place comes away with 10 percent.
Big Salmon also hosts its annual Fourth of July Kids Derby this weekend,
Call the resort for more details.
Salmon fishing also kicks off in Marine Areas 5 (Sekiu) and 6 (Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca) with a limit of two hatchery chinook and two sockeye.
Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) opens today but anglers must release all chinook, coho and chum.
So that leaves a stray sockeye or two.
The stretch of Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) from Ayock Point near Lilliwaup south also opens today for chinook.
The complete set of rules and regulations is available at tinyurl.com/PDN-Fish16-17.
Roadkill legalized
A spate of deer vs. automobile collisions coming across the police/fire scanner in the newsroom jogged my memory.
Effective today, a new rule adopted by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission allows people to legally salvage deer and elk carcasses in the state.
Nearly 20 other states have adopted similar rules.
The rule specifically applies to deer and elk killed by motor vehicles.
And surprise, surprise but the U.S. Highway 101 corridor between Port Angeles and Discovery Bay shows a high number of such incidents in a map released by the state Department of Transportation.
Anyone who takes possession of a deer or elk carcass must obtain a free, printable permit from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife within 24 hours and then keep a hardcopy of the permit until all edible parts of the animal are consumed.
Weird? Yes, but I’ve eaten squirrel and water buffalo before, so I dare not judge.
Only elk — not deer — may be salvaged in Clark, Cowlitz, and Wahkiakum counties, because federal laws prohibit handling endangered Columbian white-tailed deer in southwest Washington.
Othe provisions of the new rule:
■ It is permissible to salvage and transport a deer or elk that is accidentally killed by a motor vehicle collision.
■ Big game licenses and tags cannot be used for the purpose of salvaging motor vehicle-killed deer or elk.
■ The entire carcass, including entrails, of the animal must be removed from the road right of way.
■ Any meat an individual deems unfit for human consumption or unusable animal parts must be disposed of pursuant to Washington Administrative Code 246-203-121.
■ Individuals salvaging and consuming this meat do so at their own risk. The department makes no guarantee as to the fitness for consumption of deer or elk collected under a salvage permit.
■ An individual may not kill an injured or wounded animal for the purpose of salvage.
Only a law enforcement officer or individuals or entities authorized by the department may euthanize an animal injured in a motor vehicle collision, whether or not the animal is taken for salvage.
Good tides for crab
Tides might make it tough for pot crabbers this weekend, according to Ward Norden, owner of Snapper Tackle Company.
“As luck would have it, it is also a weekend of big minus tides,” Norden said. Those minus tides may make it hard to crab with a trap, but if you are a hand-crabber this weekend couldn’t be better.
Despite a recent mowing accident, Norden will be on the hunt for the critters, sore thumb and all.
Send photos, stories
Have a photograph, a fishing or hunting report, an anecdote about an outdoors experience or a tip on gear or technique?
Send it to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
