OH, SWEET FLATTIES.
It seems like just yesterday we were cozying up together.
Your mutated eyes caught mine, and I just knew right then and there that I’d be having you for dinner (with, perhaps, a chilled Pabst).
Never did ugly look so good.
And now, with just one weekend left in halibut season, I’m left to wonder.
Will it ever be the same?
Will our holy union, bound by bait and Butt Juice, be altered by possible changes in Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound fishing regulations (e.g. the expansion of the 120-foot bottomfish restriction to include halibut)?
If that is indeed the case, you certainly gave us something special to go out on.
Just think of all of those 100-plus-pound halibut that were caught in Marine Areas 5 (Sekiu), 6 (eastern Strait) and 9 (Admiralty Inlet) this spring.
Much like Vanessa Williams, you saved the best for last. (And you didn’t even have to pose nude for Playboy to do it.)
Bravo, sweet flatties. Bravo.
Western Strait
Perhaps the halibut will give us one last encore this weekend.
Conditions are definitely shaping up for things to go out with a bang in Area 5.
Anglers were already pulling out a fair number of flatties on Thursday, according to Gary Ryan of Van Riper’s Resort (360-963-2334) in Sekiu.
“I haven’t seen anything really big, probably 40 pounds is the biggest I’ve seen, but the girl that’s doing the checking for the state has been running her legs off,” Ryan said.
“We had one boat come in this morning. He was in here before 7:30 [a.m.], and they had a limit.
“Earlier we had four out of the five cleaning stations being used.”
Last weekend wasn’t quite as productive, thanks to some serious minus tides, Ryan said.
Yet that factor is set to swing the other way today and Saturday.
“These tides are good,” Ryan said. “[Today] and Saturday are really good tides.
“They are not as good as they were two weeks ago, but these morning tides are excellent for halibut. There’s hardly any current.”
Area 5 closes to halibut fishing after Saturday.
Salmon season, as it does in Area 6, opens July 1 in Area 5.
Coastal chatter
Chinook are already dodging hooks in Area 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay).
Both areas opened to a special selective chinook season last Saturday. Blustery weather since then, however, has made things a little testy to say the least.
“I believe there’s fish out there,” Joey Lawrence at Big Salmon Resort (360-645-2374) in Neah Bay said. “The fishermen just can’t get to them because of the weather.
“We did see a few fish come in out in front off Waddah Island. Other than that it went pretty slow because of the weather.”
The story was much the same down in LaPush, according to Randy Lato of All-Ways Fishing (360-374-2052).
“It’s just been so stinking rough,” he said. “I had to cancel Sunday and Monday, and then we went out [Wednesday], and it was so rough still that three out of the four [on the boat] got sick.
“We gave up on the salmon and ran in and got some bass.”
Both coastal fisheries will reopen to halibut this weekend as well.
The flatty opener is most likely going to be the last of the season for both areas.
The last such opener on the coast, June 5, turned out to be pretty productive, Lato said.
“We ended up getting a 67-pounder [fishing the southwest corner of the closure zone],” he said. “The rest of them were around the 30-pound class.
“Hopefully there will be a few more big ones this time.”
Added Lawrence, “We didn’t have much effort, but there were fish around.”
Archers’ paradise
Time to channel your inner William Tell.
The Wapiti Bowmen are hosting the state championship field tournament this Saturday and Sunday at its club headquarters, 274 Arnette Road, in Port Angeles.
The tournament is open to all National Field Archery Association (NFAA) and Washington State Archery Association (WSAA) members.
It will include 42 targets on the first day (Saturday) and 28 on the second (Sunday), with a total of 238 arrows shot by each archer during the tournament.
“It is a test of skills and endurance to score and place for a trophy,” Barb Lundstedt said in a news release.
Shooting begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday. An archery swap meet starts at 4 p.m. the same day.
There is no charge to sell, and anyone is welcome to bring in unwanted equipment.
Breakfast and lunch will be served both days. There will also be a spaghetti dinner on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“Just show up, have dinner and enjoy a relaxed evening with fellow archers,” Lundstedt said.
Getting crabby
Don’t fear the pincer Peninsulites.
As cantankerous and crotchety as our dear Dungeness crab might be, they are also a treat to be treasured.
And beginning today, the beady-eyed little buggers are fair game.
Recreational crabbing opens seven days a week in Areas 4 (Neah Bay east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line) and 5 (Sekiu) today.
While neither area has quite the cachet of, say, Dungeness Bay, there are a few spots here and there that are known to produce.
Just don’t ask me where they are, because I have no idea. (Although, I would wager a guess that Pillar Point would spit a few out.)
Areas 6 (eastern Strait), 9 (Admiralty Inlet) and 12 (Hood Canal) all open to crabbing Wednesdays through Saturdays starting July 1.
Also . . .
• Word around the campfire is that the Hoh River is spitting out a few fish.
“Everybody that was fishing the Sol Duc is fishing there now,” Randy Lato of All-Ways Fishing said.
• Severe minus tides will return to Hood Canal beaches next week, with low tides hitting the minus 2.5-foot range next Friday.
Shellfish digging is closed throughout Clallam County and part of Jefferson County due to elevated levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning biotoxin.
To get up-to-date information on beaches around the Peninsula, call the state Department of Health’s shellfish hotline at 800-562-5632.
• The North Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association will discuss the removal of derelict gillnets at its monthly meeting in Sequim on Thursday.
The meeting begins at 6:45 p.m. in the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
• There are still open spots 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.
• Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission is conducting an on-line survey about the Olympic Discovery Trail.
The survey takes about five minutes to complete, with all participants entered into a drawing for a stay at the Red Caboose Getaway Bed and Breakfast near Sequim Bay.
To take the survey, visit olympicdiscoverytrail.com.
• The Dungeness River Audubon Center will hold a series of summer nature camps throughout the summer.
Sessions will be held July 12-15, Aug. 2-5 and Aug. 23-26, meeting daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to explore Railroad Bridge Park and do crafts, games and other adventures.
Space is limited to 20 children (ages 8-11). To sign up, contact the River Center at 360-681-4076.
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.