Winter blackmouth

[MADMAX]

I see area 9 opens the 16th and area 12 is open now
any canal reports ?

[MADMAX]

90 views zero input
guess that says something

[fishngamereaper]

Hit and miss usual spots. Weather has been the big factor, north wind into the misery launch sucks.

[MADMAX]

thanks
Yea I went down and looked at and will launch there if I decide to go
I love those still ,flat water, cold mornings

[Viking360]

Went out yesterday morning, no luck but nice to be out on the water.

[jackmaster]

Are any of you doing the derby over out of John Wayne ? We are fishing it but it got moved to march , gonna be cold !! I wish they would open the inner sound, it would be a slam fest!!

[fishngamereaper]

Are any of you doing the derby over out of John Wayne ? We are fishing it but it got moved to march , gonna be cold !! I wish they would open the inner sound, it would be a slam fest!!

Assuming the season stays open for the Derby...I'm normally in CQ during that mess.

[Crunchy]

Now that my hunting is officially over, I will drag the boat out to MA11 and give it a go.

[Viking360]

Sounds like area 11 has been producing.

[MADMAX]

area 9 will not open now until Feb

Salmon fishing re-opens Feb. 16 in marine areas 8-1, 8-2, and 9

Action: Marine areas 8-1, 8-2 and 9 will re-open to salmon fishing.

Effective Date: Feb. 16, 2018.

Species affected: Salmon

Location: Marine areas 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island and Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gamble), and 9 (Admiralty Inlet) within Puget Sound.

Reason for action: Test fishing data indicates there are still numerous juvenile (sublegal-sized) chinook salmon present in these marine areas, although they are approaching legal size. WDFW temporarily closed these areas (November 13 through February 15) until more legal chinook become available to harvest.

Other information: WDFW biologists will continue to monitor these fisheries and coordinate with the Puget Sound Sportfishing Advisory Group if any further action is necessary. 

The daily salmon limit will be one salmon, release coho and wild chinook.




I did get some canal reports that are encouraging though
waiting on some weather now

[Thenewguy]

Kind of glad they pushed it back. Last year it was amazing how many dunks were being pulled out. Not sure what the survival rate is once you out then back but it can’t be 100 percent.

[trophyelk6x6]

Canal was ok around Seabeck, seal rock, hazel, some boat "few" boat out the water picked up some but that's normal.  Area 10 from Jeff Head and Bainbridge has been producing some decent fish and that's now 2 fish limit as of a day or so ago.  Can't wait for 9 to open soon.  Lot's of shakers all summer long and I am hoping those fish are now 5-7 pounds.

[Skillet]

Kind of glad they pushed it back. Last year it was amazing how many dunks were being pulled out. Not sure what the survival rate is once you out then back but it can’t be 100 percent.

I'm told barbless mortality is calculated at ~ 40% in WA.  That's why they ask you how many you C&R'd... tallying up all the crab food that comes off the quota.

[Skillet]

If this is still open when I bring the boat down, I may take some buddies fishing...

[h20hunter]

Oh yeah? 

[Skillet]

Oh yeah.  I'll have to call WDFW and let them know what I'm going (legally sport fishing with downrigger clips on the wires)  but it should be fun.  And comfy in bad wx...

You're already on the list H20... 

[h20hunter]

I'll even throw in a $20 for fuel! 

[Skillet]

Oh no, I can't take anything like payment... But if you managed to bring some sport gear to use and a hunk of that smoked salmon I wouldn't be mad about it.

[7mmfan]

Oh man. If you're short a buddy and need some landjager for snacks, a guy could twist my arm.

[h20hunter]

Could be worse people to fish with. 

[jmscon]

Skillet, do you like grappa?

[jmscon]

Skillet, do you like grappa?

Guess not

[lokidog]

Kind of glad they pushed it back. Last year it was amazing how many dunks were being pulled out. Not sure what the survival rate is once you out then back but it can’t be 100 percent.

I'm told barbless mortality is calculated at ~ 40% in WA.  That's why they ask you how many you C&R'd... tallying up all the crab food that comes off the quota.

What a BS number, if this is the number they use.  There is no way 40% will die if released in the water and not netted! I will never tell a fish checker how many fish were released UNHARMED! Unfortunately, I think there are guys out there that, when asked, will actually say they released fish that they didn't so as not to look like a fisherman that sucks.   


There seem to be a lot of small fish in Area 7, at least the eastern part.   

[jackmaster]

Is there any truth to a rumor I heard about that some areas are going to shut down salmon fishing for up to 10 years? And also I heard rumors that the natives say that it's we the sportsman causing the serious decline in salmon populations and want us sportsman to longer be able to fish for salmon?

[WSU]

There's lots of truth that rumor.  WDFW is trying to enter into a 10 year plan with the tribes and NOAA.  Under the plan, the impact to certain stocks of chinook will be reduced.  The reduction WDFW is agreeing to would result in basically no chinook fishing in many of the popular marine areas. 

What's better, WDFW didn't even model what the reduction would mean before they agreed.  Talk about incompetence!!!

[Skillet]

Skillet, do you like grappa?

I definitely prefer his earlier work.   

There's lots of truth that rumor.  WDFW is trying to enter into a 10 year plan with the tribes and NOAA.  Under the plan, the impact to certain stocks of chinook will be reduced.  The reduction WDFW is agreeing to would result in basically no chinook fishing in many of the popular marine areas. 

What's better, WDFW didn't even model what the reduction would mean before they agreed.  Talk about incompetence!!!

This is not good.  How could they possibly agree to reductions in opportunity to their client base before they know if there will be any real benefit?   Unless sportsmen aren't their real client base...

[lokidog]

Unless sportsmen aren't their real client base...

DING DING DING!   

[jackmaster]

If this happens in sekui or neah bay it could actually kill those towns!! I for one am probably going to never buy a Washington fishing license again!! it's pointless !!

[JimmyHoffa]

If this happens in sekui or neah bay it could actually kill those towns!! I for one am probably going to never buy a Washington fishing license again!! it's pointless !!

Yeah, CQ has been hurting from salmon and other fish reductions (like halibut).  Some of the guys I know from there don't know how the town is really going to make it long term.  And with less to do in the outdoors, means more getting into trouble indoors.  A few guys in the area used to be really into all the fishing/shellfishing and it pretty much kept them on a good path.  Once enough closures happened (winter steelhead I guess being the straw breaking the camel's back) they got into heroin and meth and all sorts of other trouble--now in prison.

[WSU]

Skillet, do you like grappa?

I definitely prefer his earlier work.   

There's lots of truth that rumor.  WDFW is trying to enter into a 10 year plan with the tribes and NOAA.  Under the plan, the impact to certain stocks of chinook will be reduced.  The reduction WDFW is agreeing to would result in basically no chinook fishing in many of the popular marine areas. 

What's better, WDFW didn't even model what the reduction would mean before they agreed.  Talk about incompetence!!!

This is not good.  How could they possibly agree to reductions in opportunity to their client base before they know if there will be any real benefit?   Unless sportsmen aren't their real client base...

Incompetence.  It gets worse.  The primary driver to the closure of areas 5-9 are Stillaguamish Chinook.  The closure will only save a handful of fish.  Worse, the habitat is the problem and the river can't really produce more fish.  It's already a mix of hatchery/wild fish that are being used to prop up the population.  Stopping fishing won't address the problem. 

[Skillet]

Not surprising, and that mentality is not limited to WA.  The AK troll fleet got shut down right before the second king opener as an emergency conservation measure for the Taku and Chilkat rivers.  We left 31000+ treaty kings in the water to completely eliminate any chance of impacting the non-treaty kings from those rivers.

The net result of that draconian conservation measure?  An estimated 160 additional kings hit the gravel in those two rivers.  That's a helluva sacrifice to make for 160 fish.

The Canadians, upon hearing how many treaty kings AK was sacrificing to ensure escapement, quickly followed suit and also put their fleet on the beach...

 

I crack myself up.  No, of course the Canadians didn't do that... They said "Thank you, dummies" and shifted a bunch of effort from inside waters  to outside waters to intercept this bonanza of fish we didn't take on their way south...

Why do I tell this story?
It will happen to the sport guys in Puget Sound, too.  Those Stilliguamish kings don't know boundaries, and I have no reason to believe they don't roam the entire Salish Sea at some point during their lives. I believe Canadian fisheries biology is years behind our own, and they seem to just react to whatever their neighbors are doing. So I anticipate the king fishing is going to be pretty darn good just north of the US / Canadian border for the next ten years... Courtesy of the Washington sport anglers.

[WSU]

It may end up cutting harvest to the north as well.  I know they are implementing a max exploitation rate.  It's obviously higher than the southern US rate but, in theory anyway, should also reduce harvest up north.  Perhaps AK and Canada should be up in arms over the deal brokered between the tribes, WA and NOAA?