DON’T BE FOOLED, it’s a trap.
The state can call it Free Fishing Weekend all it wants, but we know the score.
Residents get to fish for free this weekend, no license required?
It doesn’t take an outdoors columnist — often regarded as the apex of humanity — to see how this all plays out.
You, the unsuspecting new angler, head out for a fishing excursion with a friend or family member.
Since said fishing partner actually knows what they are doing, they hook fish while you stand by limply, watching with an envious stare.
You want so much to be that fellow, because, let’s face it, we all have our “Hatchet” fantasies. And one can’t play Man of the Woods if one can’t catch a fish.
Maybe the partner lets you play a fish. Perhaps you even hook one.
It doesn’t matter.
You’re hooked, and you don’t even know it.
Soon enough, years of your life (and life savings) are dedicated to a desperate and often fruitless (well, at least for me) endeavor that keeps pulling you back . . . to buy another state fishing license.
Get them hooked, and they’ll come running back for more.
A fiendish, if not admirably brilliant, plan to say the least.
It might not be Joe Camel handing out Turkish Golds in front of Stevens High School, but it isn’t too far off.
You’ve been warned.
Flatty forays
One example of the maddening manifestations of the piscatorial world: last weekend’s Sekiu halibut derby.
A pair of anglers — Port Angeles’ Jeremy Petersen and Ellensburg’s Rodney Berge — hooked what would normally be sure-fire winners last Saturday.
Berge’s was a 59-inch beauty that weighed in at 123.75 pounds, while Petersen’s was a 59-inch monster that was . . . 124.25 pounds.
Yes, more than $1,000 in cash (the winner got $10 for each pound, second $200 total) was decided by half of a pound.
No doubt that will give Berge many a sleepless night in the near future.
“If [Berge] hadn’t speared it [and spilled out the fish’s guts], he might have won,” Chris Mohr of Van Riper’s Resort (360-963-2334) said.
“That might have been the difference.”
Neither angler was too forthcoming with where they got their fish, Mohr said.
Perhaps they want to head back to their old haunts. There are two weekends left for halibut anglers in Marine Area 5 (Sekiu).
Even if they do, things promise to be difficult this weekend due to some severe minus tides.
“It looks like it’s a darn tough start,” said Mohr, who saw about 10 halibut Thursday. “They just can’t hit the bottom. The current is running out there.”
The fishing wasn’t quite as good last weekend as many had hoped.
Coming off a banner opening weekend that also had some serious minus tides, anglers struggled Thursday and Friday before things picked back up Saturday.
“I think it could come around again,” Randy Jones of Venture Charters (360-895-5424) in Sekiu said.
“The tides are going to be tough. The slack is about noon, so I don’t think 6 a.m. is really the answer. I think around 8 [a.m.] or something might be a little bit better.”
Area 5 closes to halibut fishing after June 19.
That’s also the same day Areas 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay) reopen to flatty fishing for 24 hours.
Anglers weren’t able to take in the remaining quota during last Saturday’s opener on the coast, so they get one more day.
“[Last] Saturday was great [in Area 4],” Jones said. “We went out by seal rock [inside the Strait], and fished there and it was pretty good.
“Our biggest was 50 pounds, but we caught seven of them. We limited the boat.”
Salmon opener
It’s quite possible the coastal contingent might not be too concerned with the halibut by then.
With Areas 3 and 4 opening to selective chinook fishing (translation: hatchery retention only) this Saturday, they might just have bigger fish to fry.
(Although, personally, I think they are much better poached.)
State biologists are expecting a massive return of hatchery chinook to the Columbia River this year.
Since many of those salmon swim by the coast on their way there, that should translate into a decent fishery out west.
“We’ve already seen good numbers of hatchery chinook salmon along the coast,” state ocean salmon manager Doug Milward said in a news release.
“The number of fin-clipped salmon in some of our commercial port samples is nearly 70 percent. That tells me we could have a great opener.”
Nearly 653,000 fall chinook are forecasted to return to the Columbia River this season, about 234,000 more chinook than the number returning last year.
Based on that estimate, the Pacific Fishery Management Council in April adopted a recreational ocean quota of 61,000 chinook, three times last year’s level.
Joey Lawrence of Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay has heard good reports from the commercial trollers out his way as well.
“There’s a lot of salmon around,” Lawrence said last week. “We’ve kind of got our fingers crossed and our hopes high that they will stick around.
“We think they will because the feed is still around.”
Freshwater fishing
The West End is wide open.
Several rivers re-opened to fishing out west last weekend.
But not with the sort of fanfare Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330) in Forks is accustomed to.
“There were people down there, but it wasn’t like it usually is,” Gooding said. “There’s plenty of fish, and they are getting them.
“It’s not as good as I thought it was going to be. But who knows? Sometimes they bite, and sometimes they don’t.”
The Calawah and Bogachiel both have a fair number of hatchery steelhead swimming around, while the Sol Duc has a mix of spring chinook, steelhead and cutthroat.
“I had a friend that went down [the Calawah] the other day, and they hooked three [steelhead] on flies,” Gooding said. “Anytime you can do that, it’s pretty decent.”
Pretty much every lake in the land not named Anderson is fair game at this point as well.
That includes Crescent, which opened to catch-and-release about two weeks ago.
Tide rewind
As was mentioned in Thursday’s outdoors column, the next few days promise to produce plenty of clams.
Extreme minus tides will expose clam and oyster beds across the eastern edge of the Peninsula, making for premium digging conditions.
Duckabush, Dosewallips State Park and Oak Bay County Park will see low tides in the minus three-foot range Saturday through Tuesday.
Here is a listing of tides for each:
• Duckabush/Dosewallips — Saturday: -3.35 feet at 11:27 a.m.; -3.67 feet at 12:10 p.m.; Monday: -3.58 feet at 12:56 p.m.; Tuesday: -3.04 feet at 1:42 p.m.
• Oak Bay — Saturday: -3.03 feet at 10:58 a.m.; Sunday: -3.25 feet at 11:41 a.m.; Monday: -3.13 feet at 12:25 p.m.; Tuesday: -2.63 feet at 1:11 p.m.
A full map of beaches, including descriptions, is located at wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/beachreg/.
To get up-to-date information on beaches around the Peninsula, call the state Department of Health’s shellfish hotline at 800-562-5632.
Also . . .
• Crabbers have one week left to get their pots in order.
Recreational crabbing opens seven days a week in Areas 4 (Neah Bay east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line) and 5 (Sekiu) next Friday.
The rest of the Strait, as well as Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) and 12 (Hood Canal), open Wednesdays through Saturdays starting July 1.
• Curtis Davis will talk about the use of satellites for tracking coastal bird habitat at the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society’s monthly meeting Wednesday.
The meeting will begin with a potluck dinner at 6 p.m. at the Dungeness River Audubon Center, 2151 Hendrickson Road in Sequim. The presentation starts at 7 p.m.
For more information, contact the River Center at 360-681-4076.
• Admiralty Audubon will hold its last gathering of the season with a potluck dinner next Thursday in Port Townsend.
The dinner begins at 6 p.m. at Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona St. There will be a bird walk prior to the meal at 5:30 p.m.
• The North Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association will discuss the removal of derelict gillnets at its monthly meeting in Sequim on June 24.
Such nets pose a serious threat to saltwater fish, with thousands of ESA listed rockfish falling prey to them each year.
The meeting begins at 6:45 p.m. in the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
• Clallam County Streamkeepers is looking for new volunteers to collect data, perform data entry and analysis and conduct public education and outreach.
Those interested can participate in free training provided by Streamkeepers, beginning Tuesday. No experience is required.
To register or inquire, call Streamkeepers at 360-417-2281, or send an e-mail to streamkeepers@co.clallam.wa.us.
• The Wapiti Bowmen will host the Washington State Championship Field Tournament next weekend at its club headquarters at 274 Arnette Road in west Port Angeles.
The two-day shoot will include 42 targets on the first day (June 26) and 28 on the second (June 27), with a total of 238 arrows shot by each archer during the tournament.
Shooting begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with an archery swap meet starting at 4 p.m. on the same day.
• There are still spots available for the final hunter education class of the year in Port Angeles.
The five-session class, mandatory for hunters born after Jan. 1, 1972, is scheduled for Aug. 3, 5, 10, 12 and 14.
The first four sessions will be held at the Clallam County Veteran’s Center, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles. The final date will be a field test at Slab Camp.
To sign up for the class, call Hi-Caliber Guns at 360-417-0300.
• The inaugural de Fuca Downwind Kayak and Outrigger Race, set for Saturday from 11:20 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., is in need of volunteers.
Those with a power boat and some free time are asked to provide safety for those competing in the 13-plus-mile race from Freshwater Bay to Hollywood Beach.
Olympic Raft and Kayak will provide volunteers with $25 in gas for their boat, an event T-shirt, Friday night barbecue and a raffle ticket.
Those interested can call Raft and Kayak at 360-452-1443.
Send photos, stories
Want your event listed in the outdoors column?
Have a fishing or hunting report, an anecdote about an outdoors experience or a tip on gear or technique, why not share it with our readers?
Send it to me, Matt Schubert, Sports Department, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362; phone, 360-417-3526; fax, 360-417-3521; e-mail matt.schubert @peninsuladailynews.com.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column appears on Thursdays and Fridays.