THE WAIT CONTINUES until Wednesday for West End rivers like the Calawah, Bogachiel and Sol Duc to open for a short, two-week long salmon season.
Whatever wild chinook stragglers are left over will be open season on the Sol Duc from its mouth to the concrete pump station near the fish hatchery. And anglers also can keep hatchery coho. The daily limit is two salmon of a minimum 12 inches and anglers can only keep one king as part of that limit.
The Calawah will open from its mouth to the U.S. Highway 101 bridge in Forks with a 12-inch, one-salmon limit. Wild coho also must be released.
And the Bogachiel River from its mouth to Mill Creek upstream of the Bogachiel Hatchery also will have that same 12-inch, one-salmon and no wild coho limit.
Make sure to read the rules pamphlet as only certain sections of the above-listed rivers are opening Wednesday.
Much of the Hoh River will open for steelhead and hatchery trout fishing a little later, Nov. 21.
Area 9 blackmouth
Ward Norden, owner of Snapper Tackle Company and a former fishery biologist who lives in Quilcene, offered an update on fishing for hatchery blackmouth in Marine Area 9.
Area 9 opened up Nov. 1 for a month-long fishery with a one-fish limit.
“Anglers fishing Midchannel Bank at slack tides seem to be doing well catching their one blackmouth, and several have combined the fishing with putting a pot or two out for crab and making the trip really worthwhile,” Norden said.
He thinks the fishing will improve each week in the Port Townsend area as schools of candlefish head through before nesting themselves in sandy bottoms for spawning purposes.
“Beach casters on Whidbey Island are also getting in on the action catching blackmouth from the beach with Buzz Bomb jigs,” Norden said.
“The most popular color lately has been blue pearl in the 3H size. Undoubtedly, similar fishing for beach casters is available at both Point Wilson [Fort Worden State Park] and Marrowstone Point at Fort Flagler State Park, but not many have been out on our side of Area 9.
“All you need a a stout 8-foot steelhead spinning rod, a spinning reel loaded with 12-pound line, and a Discover Pass to take advantage of this opportunity.
“It is rather early for the first winter steelhead to pass along those beaches but a few have been caught as well by beach casters.”
Trout bite still going
Norden said that Lake Leland is still producing a few trout for the dwindling number of anglers willing to brave rainy fall weather at the fishing pier.
“Power Bait in chartreuse has been the bait of choice when the wind has let up,” Norden said.
“The lake remains warmer than usual for this time of year so fishing should stay good for a while.”
Ducks on the bay
Duck hunter plying the Hood Canal and other North Olympic Peninsula bays will have to outsmart their feathered prey.
“I haven’t seen much evidence of ‘northern birds’ yet, but they should arrive in the next week or so,” Norden said.
“The birds on the bays at the moment are mostly wise local birds so a hunter must be up to the challenge of artful decoy sets and calls.”
Anglers to meet
Excel Fishing Charters captain Tom Burlingame will speak at Thursday’s meeting of the Puget Sound Anglers’ North Olympic Peninsula Chapter meeting in Sequim.
The event will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave..
Burlingame will discuss how to fish for rockfish and lingcod in the waters near Neah Bay.
He will cover techniques, areas best to fish, gear to use and the use of descending devices. He also will touch a little on deep water lingcod fishing.
The chapter described him as “a longtime supporter of the club and one of the best charter captains around.”
The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. for viewing of the raffle prizes and fish stories.
A short club business meeting begins at 7 p.m. and Burlingame’s talk will follow.
Refreshments will be served, a raffle is planned, as well as a $50 membership drawing.
The public is welcome to attend.
Winterfest tickets
Tickets are on sale for Winterfest, an annual fundraiser featuring dinner and short films that supports winter sports at Hurricane Ridge.
Doors will open at 5 p.m. Nov. 19 and Winterfest will begin at 6 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door. Admission is $25 for children 12 and younger.
Also available are community tables for parties of eight. Each table, reserved with the buyer’s name displayed, is $360.
Tax-deductible contributions support capital improvements to the ski area, as well as scholarships for underprivileged children in the community who would like to learn how to ski, snowboard or participate on ski team.
A prime rib dinner catered by Next Door Gastropub, live and silent auctions, live music by Bill and Rudy, and a series of short films featuring local skiers and snowboarders ripping it up at Hurricane Ridge are planned for the evening organized by the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation.
The top films from the VideOlympics, a Port Angeles film festival will be shown.
This year’s films include “A Day at the Ridge” by Jack McColl, “March Archives” by Bobby Stevenson, “Overthrow” by Chris Earl, “Max Poops” by Tim Stanford and “Homeland” by The Z Boys.
Individual tickets can be purchased at these Port Angeles outlets — Swain’s General Store, 602 E. First St.; Necessities & Temptations gift shop, 217 N. Laurel St.; Brown’s Outdoor, 112 W. Front St. — as well as at Brian’s Sporting Goods, 609 W. Washington St., Sequim.
Checks for community tables can be made payable to the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation (HRWSEF) and mailed to the organization at 136 E. Eighth St., private mailbox 218, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
For more information regarding community tables, contact Winterfest chair Danielle Lawrence at 360-477-0386.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
