THE COASTAL HALIBUT season is underway after a lengthy, pandemic-related delay, while Puget Sound marine areas 5-10 anglers can once again target halibut after spending 21 days fishing for the flatfish in May and June.
Halibut fishing is open Thursday through Saturday in Marine Area 3 (La Push) and 4 (Neah Bay) with a combined North Coast quota of 128,127 pounds. Fishing will continue through Sept. 30 or until the quota total is landed.
With the good halibut news comes some rough salmon news for the Neah Bay fishery.
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Friday will mark the final day of salmon retention off Neah Bay as the 2,760 coho quota is expected to be snapped up by the end of the day.
State Department of Fish and Wildlife catch estimates compiled through Sunday put Neah Bay at 86 percent of the coho quota. Coho catch rates rose to an average of 0.72 silvers per angler from July 27 to Aug. 2.
This is a bummer for anglers as it will likely leave the majority of the area’s king guideline of 5,600 chinook on the table.
Through Sunday, Fish and Wildlife’s catch estimates show that just 33 percent of the king guideline had been reached.
Fish and Wildlife plans to keep La Push open for salmon fishing, despite the continued closure of Quileute Tribal lands to visitors, including the marina.
La Push has met just 1 percent of its 690 coho quota and 1 percent of its 1,300-chinook guideline to date.
I’m curious as to why those numbers couldn’t be transferred to Neah Bay in order to keep the salmon season alive for at least the weekend, if not another week. I’ll try to get an answer for Friday’s Outdoors column.
Makah Tribal lands, including the marina and all services, remain closed to visitors.
As a result, those fishing in these areas will have to launch from, and land in, other areas that are also open for halibut fishing. Anglers fishing in Marine Areas 3 and 4 must follow all rules and regulations for that area, regardless of where they return with their catch.
Puget Sound halibut
Puget Sound halibut anglers in Marine Areas 5-10 caught 47,481 pounds out of the 77,550-pound allocation for the Puget Sound subarea, leaving 30,069 pounds of quota remaining for this fishery.
And anglers are on the same schedule as the coast, with halibut fishing open Thursday through Saturday through Sept. 30 or until those 30,069 pounds of remaining halibut quota are caught.
In all marine areas open to halibut fishing, there is a one-fish daily catch limit and no minimum size restriction. Anglers may possess a maximum of two halibut in any form while in the field and must record their catch on a halibut catch record card.
There is an annual limit of four halibut.
Halibut haven’t been an option this late in my six-plus years writing the Outdoors column, so I’m curious about catch results and if anglers find fish in completely different locations than they do during the typical spring/early summer slate of halibut fishing dates.
My guess is anglers will discover that halibut are creatures of habit and the hungry, ambush-predators will stick to sandy flats and traditional halibut holes while they wait to pounce on potential prey.
Jerry Wright of Jerry’s Bait and Tackle (360-460-4171) in Port Angeles pointed toward a tried-and-true spot that routinely produces good-sized halibut.
“In talking to some old guys who were able to fish for halibut year round and they always said Green Point is a good place to be,” Wright said. “There are geoduckers diving there and seeing halibut swimming around at the bottom. If guys are telling me they are swimming around while they are snorkeling, I’m going to check that out.”
And Wright, always a proponent of using fresh herring bait for halibut, said the role of scent may be overrated.
“I don’t really think the halibut care that much [about scent],” Wright said. “You just have to find them.”
Best of luck in that regard, everybody.
A number of discarded halibut carcasses were discovered at the Ediz Hook boat launch in Port Angeles around midday Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. Halibut was not in season at the time. (Photo courtesy of Pete Rosko)
Apparent poaching
Avid Port Angeles angler and lure designer Pete Rosko was troubled by what he saw at the Ediz Hook boat launch in Port Angeles around 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Rosko discovered a number of halibut carcasses, many of them small fish, fileted and discarded right at the ramp itself.
“Many of the halibut carcasses in the photos were very small, averaging about four pounds,” Rosko said.
Halibut was closed Sunday, so this apparent poaching violation was passed along to the Fish and Wildlife Police.
If anybody has more information, email Sgt. Kit Rosenberger at Kit.Rosenberger@dfw.wa.gov.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.