ANGLERS HAVE THEIR gear all ready and are just waiting for more steelhead to catch.
Meanwhile, the steelhead are lingering at the bottom of the river — possibly laughing at all the frustrated anglers — just waiting to bolt up the river.
The tension is mounting on the West End rivers.
Once it rains, it’s on.
“Any amount of rain, and a lot of fish will come,” Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Goods and More (360-683-1950) in Sequim said.
“It should go nuts.”
There are steelhead to catch right now — Menkal said he had some success last weekend — but the main run has yet to make its move.
Bird counts beginning
The 114th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count kicks off this weekend on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running citizen science survey in the world, with thousands of participants across the nation each year.
These bird counts reveal the long-term trends of birds, such as which birds are decreasing in number and which are increasing.
The Peninsula has three different bird counts, the first taking place in the middle of the month.
Here is the information for those counts, including the coordinators’ contact information to sign up for the counts:
■ Port Townsend/East Jefferson County: Saturday; Admiralty Audubon, Dan Waggoner, danwags57@gmail.com.
■ Sequim-Dungeness: Monday; Bob Boekelheide, 360-808-0196, bboek@olympus.net.
The Sequim-Dungeness count includes a chili feed for counters, beginning at 5 p.m.
■ Port Angeles: Saturday, Dec. 28; Barbara Blackie, 360-477-8028, blackieb@olypen.com.
Razor clams for Christmas
Dig the beach for razor clams, fa la la la la la la la la.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved another razor clam dig that begins next Saturday, just in time for the winter holidays.
While I’m fine with the traditional meal turkey of ham, “Christmas clam” does have a ring to it.
And if you don’t want this to be a chowder Christmas, the state’s website has a handful of razor clam recipes: www.tinyurl.com/pdnClamRecipes.
This likely is the second-to-last dig of 2013, which so far hasn’t been a terrible year. A three-day dig has been tentatively slated for Sunday, Dec. 29 through Tuesday, Dec. 31.
Here is the schedule for the upcoming dig, including dates, beaches and low tides.
■ Saturday, Dec. 14: 4:45 p.m.; -0.1 feet; Twin Harbors, Long Beach and Mocrocks, Copalis.
■ Sunday, Dec. 15: 5:26 p.m.; -0.3 feet; Twin Harbors, Long Beach and Mocrocks.
■ Monday, Dec. 16: 6:03 p.m.; -0.4 feet; Twin Harbors, Long Beach and Mocrocks.
■ Tuesday, Dec. 17: 6:38 p.m.; -0.4 feet; Twin Harbors.
■ Wednesday, Dec. 18: 7:12 p.m.; -0.3 feet; Twin Harbors.
Baby, it’s cold and dark outside, so make sure to dress warm and bring a lamp for these evening digs.
The best digging typically occurs one to two hours before low tide.
No digging is allowed at any beach before noon.
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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Sports Editor Lee Horton appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.