HALIBUT’S LAST HURRAH for the 2015 season runs today through Saturday in Marine Areas 6 (Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca) and 9 (Admiralty Inlet).
Anglers heading for Marine Area 5 (Sekiu) have two days remaining, Friday and Saturday, to hook a halibut.
Elsewhere, the halibut fishery off LaPush and Neah Bay are now closed.
Ocean-bound anglers can target hatchery chinook off LaPush and Neah Bay daily from Saturday through Friday, June 12.
There’s a two salmon daily limit, plus two additional pinks.
All wildstock chinook or coho should be released.
Minimum size for chinook is 24 inches.
In Area 4 (Neah Bay), the fishery is closed east of a true north/south line running through Sail Rock and closed to salmon angling inside the area bounded by a line from Kydaka Point to Shipwreck Point.
Ward Norden, a fishing tackle wholesaler and former fishery biologist who lives in Quilcene, has some insights on the chinook run.
“This year’s earlier chinook season out there is allowing sports anglers to target the Columbia River summer chinook that are migrating through in huge numbers at this time,” Norden said.
“With the lack of forage fish for the chinook out in the Pacific, the chinook will be hugging the coast looking for food, making them more accessible than usual.”
Norden recommends fishing what he calls the “kelp line” from Waadah Island to the Garbage Dump.
“Mooching herring at daybreak just outside of the kelp is the classic way to fish this migration but in the last couple years, anglers have rediscovered how effective trolling 5-inch Silver Horde salmon plugs can be once the ideal troll speed is discovered,” Norden said.
“When Eddie Bauer was still alive, this fishery was his favorite, so he would park his yacht at Big Salmon Resort and run his little [Boston] Whaler out to the kelp line and mooch every morning.”
Mooching is fishing using a banana-style lead weight to a leader with a cut-plug herring as bait.
Jefferson County lakes
Air and water temperatures are rising as spring begins to give way to summer, but conditions are still solid for lake fishing.
“Trout fishing in Leland and Sandy Shore Lakes is still quite good, particularly at Sandy Shore Lake,” Norden said.
“With the water getting warmer, the trout are down deeper near the bottom, so bobbers/worms or near-surface fly fishing is not as productive as it was.
“Fly fishers should consider slow trolling a fly on a fast-sinking line.”
Norden spoke with an angler who had good luck at Sandy Shore.
“As an indication, one angler I talked to at Sandy Shore was doing very well with white Power Eggs fished in 25 feet of water just off the bottom,” Norden said.
Norden’s been trying his hand at bass fishing in the evening hours.
“With the warmer water, and with spawning season winding down, bass fishing has picked up dramatically on the Jefferson County lakes,” Norden said.
“I caught several 1-pounders and a couple 2- to 3-pounders on one recent evening on one of those lakes.”
Future of Fish panel
A panel discussion, “The Future of Fish on the North Olympic Peninsula” will be held at the Landing Mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave., in Port Angeles, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The discussion, part of the Feiro Marine Life Center’s Speakers Series, will provide insights on the global seafood system by bringing together multiple stakeholders from the North Olympic Peninsula who are playing different roles in harvesting or providing seafood.
Some studies are reporting a 37 percent increase in fish consumption by 2050 that could collapse the world’s wild fisheries.
Panelists will include Robert Elofson, biologist and director of river restoration for the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe; Graham Young of the University of Washington’s Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences department; Alan Cook of Icicle Seafoods; and Neil Conklin, owner of Bella Italia Restaurant.
The panel will be moderated by Pete Granger, a seafood industry specialist who works for Washington Sea Grant.
Archery targeting
A 3-D Animal Fun Shoot is planned Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, by the The Wapiti Bowmen Archery Club of Port Angeles.
The club’s facility is located at 374 E. Arnette Road, 1 1/4 miles up Monroe Road in Port Angeles.
Archers from the novice to the professional level are welcome to participate at the event, which will feature more than 30 full-sized targets, including numerous North American animals and some exotic surprises.
Registrations opens at 7 a.m. each day.
Shoot fees are $12 for one day and $20 for two days for adults; $8 and $10 for youth and $4 and $5 for “cubs.”
Ages 5 and younger are free.
Breakfast and lunch will be served daily at 7 a.m. for a nominal fee.
For more information, visit wapitibowmen.us.
PA derby recap
Last weekend’s Port Angeles Salmon Club Halibut Derby put up big numbers.
The winning fish, brought aboard by Phil Flanders of Ocean View, Hawaii, weighed in at 143 pounds, the largest winner since a 138-pounder won in 2011.
The average size of a top 10 fish in this year’s derby increased by more than 20 pounds from 57.2 in 2014 to 77.95 this year.
Flanders landed the winner Sunday, one of just seven of the 30 fish on the leader board and two of the top 10 landed on the derby’s second day.
A total of 499 anglers participated, down 65 from last year.
Razor clam results
The number of razor clams harvested this season on Pacific Ocean beaches was 5.7 million according to estimates by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Even though the last two digs of the season were canceled because of high levels of domoic acid, harvesters had more opportunities to dig for clams than in any season since 1989.
The 2015-16 season will begin in the fall.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
