Tight Lines

By Mark Yuasa

Living in the Pacific Northwest offers a chance to experience many outdoor activities unlike no other in the late fall and winter. Sure, dodging the wind and pelting rain is a way of life, but the rewards of pulling up a pot loaded with sweet Dungeness crab or a hard-fighting chum salmon are one-of-a-kind treats that’ll surely put a smile on your face. Several Puget Sound areas have reopened daily through Dec. 31 for winter Dungeness crab fishing including the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Marine Catch Areas 4 east of Bonilla-Tatoosh line, 5 and 6); San Juan Islands (7); northern Puget Sound (9) and Hood Canal north of Ayock Point (12). “The winter season is a good time for people to get out and pursue more crabbing,” said Don Velasquez, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologist. Crab pots may be set or pulled from a vessel from one hour before official sunrise through one hour after official sunset. Daily limit is five Dungeness crabs (males only) in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6 1/4 inches. Crabbers may keep six red rock crabs daily of either sex with a minimum carapace width of 5 inches, and six Tanner crabs daily of either sex with a minimum carapace of 4 1/2 inches. Anglers must possess a winter crab catch card.

Last Chance Salmon Opportunities Every dog has its day, and soon enough anglers will be howling with joy for what should be a fairly good return of dog salmon to local waterways. Chum, known as dog salmon for their ferocious-looking jawline at spawning time, are one of the hardest-fighting fish when hooked, and they’re the last of all migrating salmon returns. The combined fall chum forecast is 874,307 for Puget Sound and Hood Canal, up from 642,740 in 2019. In Hood Canal alone, it is a decent 471,810, which is on par to the recent historical annual average. “We didn’t see much of a decline in the Hood Canal forecast where we’re getting a little better hatchery return, so I would target areas around Hoodsport,” said Mickey Agha, a WDFW biologist. One of the most popular places now through Thanksgiving is along the eastern shoreline just off Highway 101 from Eldon to Potlatch State Park. Hood Canal is open for salmon (Chinook is catch and release only) through Nov. 30. Central Puget Sound from the Apple Tree-Edwards Point line south to northern tip of Vashon Island is open for coho and chum through Nov. 15. Southern Puget Sound, south of the Narrows Bridge, is open year-round for salmon (catch and release wild coho and Chinook). Expect some glory moments for chum near the Kennedy Creek estuary in Totten Inlet; Johns Creek estuary in Oakland Bay; Chico Creek estuary in Dyes Inlet; Hammersley Inlet; North Bay near Allyn; and Perry Creek in Eld Inlet. One of the more proven tactics is simply drifting with the current and casting a float or bobber with a small firecracker-sized, cut-plug herring on a weighted leader to tandem 1/0 size salmon hooks. Others will toss chartreuse or pink colored spinners, jigs, and spoons to get their attention. Fly anglers should use a 9 to 12 weight fly rod with floating line and a strike indicator attached to a heavy-weighted chartreuse, pink or purple Marabou or Zonker fly. You can catch them using a sinking tip with a purple or pink Egg Sucking Leech. Also try a shrimp, clouser, popper, and flash-fly in pink, chartreuse, fuchsia, lime green, or purple colored patterns. Good luck and I’ll see you on the water!