WIND CREATED ROUGH seas and slowed chinook catch totals off the Pacific coast and along the Strait of Juan de Fuca over the past week.
Better weather is forecast for the weekend, although Port Angeles anglers may take note of a sustained northwest wind likely pushing through today.
And sad news for Marine Area 9 anglers as the mark-selective chinook fishery wrapped at 11:59 Thursday evening. The 3,056-chinook quota was reached for the area after 19 days, a longer stretch than many anglers (and myself) had prognosticated.
I didn’t get a chance to go fishing in Area 9, but while on patrol with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife I did get to see at least three of those 3,056 chinook brought in by recreational anglers.
And of course I heard about a couple whoppers that got away.
Angling pressure was way down last week off the coast.
The following numbers come from Department of Fish and Wildlife coastal biologist Wendy Beeghley.
La Push (Marine Area 3) saw a total of 31 anglers land just two chinook from July 25-31.
Through last Sunday, a total of 221 chinook, just 11 percent of the area guideline, have been landed.
North at Neah Bay (Marine Area 4), 894 anglers caught 190 kings from July 25-31.
A total of 3,016 chinook amounting to 49 percent of the area guideline have been landed through last Sunday.
I made a mistake in my July 20 column and identified the tuna spied at Swiftsure Bank as yellow-tail.
Apparently, they were bluefin, according to Quilcene’s Ward Norden, a former fisheries biologist and owner of Snapper Tackle Company.
“It was confirmed to my satisfaction by several commercial fishers that those tuna spotted at Swiftsure and Blue Dot were in fact bluefins,” Norden said.
“Wonderful news. I am wishing for pictures that can be published to stir the scientific world with news of a possible recovery on the U.S. West Coast.”
Immature kings abound
Norden’s talks with commercial anglers also produced some king chatter.
“Some of the commercial trollers are concerned about the lack of mature kings this summer ,but amazed at the huge size of immature kings, many in the high teens and 20s (pounds),” Norden said.
“I told them those are next year’s and the following year’s kings and they responded that ‘There will be a lot of kings in the 40s in our future even though this year’s and next year’s chinook runs will be duds numbers-wise by my projections.”
The lower numbers of chinook lead Norden to predict a far smaller return of fall kings to the Columbia River.
“I suspect the Columbia fall run will be closer to 350,000 given what the commercial trollers are seeing off Neah Bay now,” Norden said.
“A couple decades back, genetics studies out at Neah Bay determined 90 percent of the chinook caught there were Columbia River and Snake River fish.”
Norden explained that upwelling is the cause of the plump salmon encountered off the Pacific coast.
“The super sized blackmouth and unusually large coho off our coast now are taking advantage of two huge upwelling events that have occurred off the northwest coast since early May,” Norden said.
“These events have put the food chain into high gear. Apparently, the summer coho run into the Sol Duc River has unusually large coho in the river already, too.
“These kind of double upwelling years are rare, and much like the summer of 2000 if memory serves. Wonderful to observe and may in part explain the new whale sightings.”
Fish and Wildlife meeting
A number of fishing-related briefings will dominate the agenda when the state Fish and Wildlife Commission meets Friday and Saturday in Olympia.
Among the topics will be an overview of Pacific halibut management, an update on fishing regulations for Lake Roosevelt, a review of hatchery operations in the Willapa Bay area and an update on hatchery reform.
Department staffers will also brief the commission, which is expected to vote on the proposal, on the creation of a reduced rate annual Fish Washington license and a senior combination license. The proposal also would give anglers the ability to upgrade to a combination license.
The meeting will start at 8 a.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday, and will be held in Room 172 of the Natural Resource Building, 1111 Washington St. SE, Olympia.
Go to wdfw.wa.gov/commission for a complete agenda.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mikecarmanpdn.
