Last Few Days for Crabbing - Areas 9 & 10

We are down to the last few days of sport crabbing in Marine Areas 9 & 10 that will wind up on January 2nd. We have heard of good reports out of the Kingston area since the opener, however the pressure has been slight both due to the weather and the lack of interest at this time of the year. Would be something to do on New Years day!

PS: Don't forget to get those winter crab catch record cards turned in promptly after you finish the season.

Oak Harbor - Smelting

We have started to receive some good smelting reports out of Oak Harbor the past few days. This will give you a choice of places to smelt between Cornet Bay and here at Oak Harbor. The nice thing about Oak Harbor is the nice guard wall on the dock if you are taking younger kids that might take a header off the open docks of Cornet Bay. They also have picnic tables on the docks in case you would like to eat lunch or just take a break. You fish right off the front of the Oak Harbor Marina docks.

We have lots of Gamakatsu smelt jigs (the jig of choice) on hand for your outing.

Razor Clam Dig - December 31 - January 3

The WDFW has given us another opportunity to dig razor clams over the New Year's holiday weekend. Here's the run down on the dates, tides and beaches.

Thursday, Dec.31 (6.16 p.m. -1.1ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks & Kalaloch
Friday, Jan 1 (7:01 p.m. -1.8 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks & Kalaloch
Saturday, Jan 2 (7:45 p.m. -1.6 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis & Mocrocks
Sunday, Jan 3 (8:29 p.m. -1.2 ft.) Twin Harbors

Make sure to read over the WDFW regulations on razor clams before you venture forth.

Ted's Sports Center has everything you need for harvesting these delectable shellfish, from clam shovels and tubes, clam bags and licenses.

Snoqualmie River - Steelhead

Shawn fished the Snoqualmie yesterday afternoon with a couple of friends and managed to hook 5 steelhead and landed 3 free drifting bait. (eggs & sand shrimp) The fish were all smallish hatchery fish. He mentioned that he did see a handful of other fish caught amongst the boat and bank anglers. The Carnation Farms stretch of the river was where they found the fish.

At least it sound that there are a few fish in this Snohomish tributary.

Water was gin clear!

Snohomish River - Steelheading

Talked with John Thomas from Rotten Chum Guide Service a few minutes ago and he filled me in on what he had seen on the upper Snohomish from the confluence down to Crab Bar today.To put it in a single word "Nothing"! He spoke with four other boats on the river as well as a few plunkers and the response was the same from virtually everyone! Don't know exactly what the answer is but steelheading isn't really hot anywhere the past few days. We even had one of the customers that was going to fish at Cook Creek with one of the Quinault Tribal guides tomorrow and was called and told not to come as the fishing was just to slow.

Walleye Ice Fishing - Evergreen Reservoir

The ice is good and solid on this Eastern Washington reservoir just out of Quincy. We have been hearing of some fairly good ice fishing for walleye for the past few weeks. Most of the fish have been eating size in the 16 - 18 inch range with an occasional one pushing 8 pounds. Evergreen has a variety of fish in this multi species lake. Besides the walleye there are perch, bluegill, catfish, bass, trout and even a few tiger muskies. However, the walleye and the perch are the most desired species sought after.

Everett Blackmouth Derby - Saturday March 20th, 2010

The 4th Annual Everett Backmouth Derby will take place on Saturday March 20, 2010 sponsored by the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club. This will be a limited entry derby with only 100 tickets to be sold. This ticket will allow up to four anglers (including the skipper) per boat. Open areas will include Marine Area 8-1, 8-2 & 9.
Tickets will be sold at the following locations.

John's Sporting Goods
Bayside Marine
Ed's Surplus
Ted's Sports Center

Weigh in will be from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Bayside Marine.

1st Place $3,000.00
2nd Place $1,500.00
3rd Place $500.00
4th Place $250.00
plus numerous smaller prizes.

This is a Northwest Marine Trade Association Derby Circuit Event.

For any additional information www.everettblackmouthderby.com

Get your tickets early as with just 100 to be sold they will go quick!

Trout Fishing - Silver Lake, Ginsburg Ponds, Flowing Lake & Blackmans Lake

With the nice sunny days that we are having this week and with the kids being off, if you want to go do a little trout fishing you might try some of the following year - around lakes.

Silver Lake
Ginsburg Ponds
Flowing Lake
Blackmans Lake

These lakes were planted earlier this week by the efforts of both the Everett Steelhead & Salmon Club as well as the Snohomish County Sportsman's Club.

I was told that there were some very nice sized fish planted in the above lakes as well as a good number of pan-sized fish.

So dust off the trout gear and head out with the kids for a few hours and give them something else to do but play video games.

Fish Lake - Ice Fishing

If you are wanting to do something just a little different over the Holidays you might just take a trip to Fish Lake and try a little ice fishing. The ice is solid now, with about 6 inches of good ice and a willing population of perch waiting to bite. The customers whom we have spoken with have done well on these tasty panfish with a few smaller 10 in rainbows thrown in for good measure. Most anglers have been fishing #2 or #3 Swedish pimples with a perch eye or a small piece of perch meat put onto the hook for an additional offering.

You can give Scott or Nadeen West a call a the Cove Resort for any additional information.
(509) 763-3130

We have lots of ice fishing gear on hand. Ice rod combos, rods, augers, lures and baits!

With the nice bright sunny cold weather, ice fishing might just be a fun thing to do.

Chistmas Day Steelheading - Skykomish

John went to the Sky to do a little afternoon Christmas Day steelheading yesterday afternoon and managed to land two nice bright hatchery hens and lost another. He said that the pressure was light (to be considered on Christmas Day) and that there were perhaps another half dozen fishermen that had the same idea. Floats and jigs were the ticket for his success. Anyway, it was a "Great" day on the river with John getting a couple of fish, two different customers ending up with a fish for the Holidays (which John was gracious to donate to them) and Shawn ending up with eggs to cure up! Couldn't have been better!

Merry Christmas

All of the crew here at Ted's Sports Center wish all of you a "Very Merry Christmas" and hope that all of you enjoy the Holiday with your loved ones!

"Merry Christmas"

Mike, Shawn, Stephen, John, Joe & Josh

Steelhead Fishing - Skykomish

The fishing in the Reiter Ponds area has been "Fair" the past few days. I wouldn't say that it has been Great, but at least there are a few fish being caught every day. John had a limit of hatchery fish on Tuesday and lost a couple more. He said that he saw 6 - 7 other fish caught while he was there and said that around the same number had been caught earlier in the morning. Shawn was up for a couple of hours yesterday and though he didn't hook any himself he did see a couple landed. Would have to say that it does not appear that we are going to have a banner season for sure, but at least there are a few fish to be caught. Heard of just a single seelhead at the Wallace hatchery section yesterday and from what we have heard they have just collected a handfull there so far this season. Looking tough for the Wallace this season.

Reiter Ponds - Skykomish River

John was up fishing Reiter latter in the morning today and managed to hook three steelhead. When he called around 1 pm he said there had been around 25 steelhead landed there. This without a doubt has been the best day so far this season. He mentioned that there was no lack of fishermen fishing this section of the river.

Talked with one of the customers who fished Sultan down yesterday in his drift boat and said that they got blanked as did the wast majority of anglers fishing this middle section of the river did. Roger said he saw just one small steelhead landed. It seems the hatchery fish don't even slow down until they get to the Reiter section of the river.

Reiter Ponds - Skykomish River

We have had some fair reports of steelhead at Reiter Ponds the past couple of days with anglers landing 12 - 15 each day. Not exactly hot considering the time of the year but perhaps as good of reports as we have had so far this season in our norther Puget Sound streams. The water has been a little colored with the snow melt but very fishable none the least. Fishermen have been doing best on floats and jigs or conventional drift fishing set-ups.

Ice Fishing - Eastern Washington

The ice fishing scene has started in Eastern Washington! We have had reports coming in from Fish Lake, Evergreen and Scootney Reservoir. The ice is just thick enough to support a small number of anglers from what we have been hearing. At Fish Lake they are fishing predominately fishing for yellow perch with some rainbows thrown in for good measure. At Evergreen and Scootney walleye are the most sought after catch with a few yellow perch.

I spoke with one of our customers that had walleye to 6 pounds out of Evergreen with a fair number of 1 1/2 -2 pound eating sized fish.

We have lots of ice fishing rods, augers and lures for anyone wanting to sample this fishery.

North Fork Stillaguamish - Partial Closure

Well, once again here's another closure due to poor returns. The North Fork of the Stillagumish will close to all angling from French Creek to the Whitehorse Bridge from December 21 through January 31. This closure was mandated to make sure that the hatchery receives its allocation of fish needed for propagation. If spawning goals are meet then the river could be opened earlier.

Skagit & Sauk C & R Seasons - Not This Season!

The popular C & R steelhead seasons that all of us have enjoyed for many years has come to be no more for this next spring! With the declining numbers of returning fish that we have seen season after season for a number of years, the WDFW has finally decided to terminate this fishery. Most of us have said for years that this fishery had been declining for years and it was a wonder that the WDFW continued to keep it open. Hopefully, with this closure all user groups will see a need to protect this valuable resource and tighten their belts for the sake of the fish. Perhaps it will do some good! But I think it will take many years of conservation and Mother Nature putting all the ducks in a row for this fishery to recover to its past productivity.

Cascade River Closes Dec. 19th

The lower Cascade River (Mouth to Rockport-Cascade Road Bridge) will close to all fishing December 19th trough January 31. The hatchery has only 10% of the fish they need to meet their broodstock requirements. If the broodstock requirements are meet earlier then there is a possibility the river could re-open earlier.

Slightly Better Steelheading

With the warmer weather and the rain, we have had a few more slightly positive steelhead reports coming in from our northern Puget Sound streams. We have had reports of fish being caught in the Skykomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, Snoqualmie, Wallace & Cascade. Can't say that the fishing is "HOT" by any means but at least there are a few more fish showing for the anglers that are out there fishing.

We have had a few reports from the beaches on Whidbey Island producing a few fish, there again nothing spectacular.

Overall, it's looking like a below average steelhead season so far. I'll give it a couple of weeks to see if we see any improvement and if not it is what it is.

North Sound Steelheading

Well, with the continued cold weather we have been receiving the streams have dropped low and clear and once it warms up just a tad the ice starts to flow. Conditions have been less than ideal for good steelhead fishing. Even the real die hards have been complaining of the conditions and wishing for a warming trend and rain!

Even with the conditions we have been hearing of a few steelhead being caught, though nothing really any good with just a fish being caught here and there.

The one thing that we have been hearing is that spoons have been accounting for a little higher percentage of the fish under these conditions. Give a RVRFSHR spoon in 50/50, Gold Little Cleo or a Steelie a try.

Hopefully, with the warmer weather coming in this up coming week we will see a little bit of improvement on the steelhead scene.

470,000 Spring Chinook Forcasted for 2010 for Columbia River System

Just received an e-mail from the ODFW with the Columbia River Spring Chinook forecast for 2010. To be quite frank, it is the largest run since 1938. Even if they are slightly off on the predictions we will still receive a huge return that should equate to lots of angling opportunity for those that like to fish this fishery. As far as what the sports season will be, we will just have to wait and see how things are divided up. With this size of return, when the seasons are announced I would not hesitate to make arrangements for your camp spot, moorage or motel accommodations.

I will post more when we hear any additional information.

Squidding - Puget Sound

With the weather the way it has been this week, we have not been getting a lot of squid reports in. The few individuals that have braved the elements have found a few squid, but nothing to write home about locally. The folks that have been fishing Des Moines and the Seattle waterfronts have been finding some squid, but for the most part have been very small 2 - 3 inch specimens and occasionally a few larger adults. Edmonds has been quite slow overall, with an odd evening where they have caught a fair number of larger 10 - 12 inch squid. The better nights have been 10 - 30 squid per angler. Make sure to bundle up as it has been bitter cold with saltwater freezing in the guides. I think I just might wait until it warms up a tad before I venture down to the docks.

New Shipment - Silver Horde 4 L Cookies n Cream and Irish Cream

Silver Horde just dropped off another shipment of the popular 4L Kingfisher spoons in Cookies n Cream and Irish Cream. These two colors have been the most popular and most talked about spoons in the Puget Sound blackmouth fisheries this winter.

Steelheading - Puget Sound

Well, so far the winter steehead reports have not been anything to write hope about. We have just been getting so - so reports from all of the north Sound steelhead rivers. Shawn fished the Snoqualimie on Saturday with a couple of his friends to end up with a dark summer run, a typical hatchery winter run and a late coho. We had one of the regular customers drop in yesterday afternoon to show off a nice limit of winter fish he caught at Reiter, both in the 8 - 9 pound range. He said that there were only about six fishermen on the Reiter side and six on the highway side which would say that the fishing has not been too hot. Had one of the regular Stilli fishermen in today and he said that he hadn't heard too much from that system either. We have heard of some just fair reports coming out of the Skagit, not great but better than we have been hearing of locally.

I am sure that things will be tough the rest of the week with this freezing weather that we are dealing with.

We have had reports out of the Cowlitz that have been OK, but still a little off and on. The Forks area has had some fairly good reports both out of the Calawah and Bogachiel rivers.

Whidbey Island - Steelheading

If you are looking to do something a tad bit different fishing wise, starting this weekend and next week might just be the time to sample the Whidbey Island steelhead scene. We have some good high tides first thing in the AM and you will be able to fish the last of the flood and then fish the outgoing tide. (Which I think is the best tide, as it compacts the fish behind the points on the outgoing tide.) As far as the rigging goes take a look at our archived "Tips & Tricks" and you will find everything you need to know. With the beautiful clear and cold weather it is a truly beautiful place to fish with a foreground of the snow capped Olympic mountains, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island and the San Juans.

Coronet Bay - Smelting

The smelting has been quite good for those fishing Coronet Bay just inside Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. Does not take much in the way of tackle just a trout spinning rod a Gamakatsu # 4 or 5 Smelt / Herring jig and a 1/2 - 1 oz sinker. It does pay to chum a little with your favorite feed to hold the smelt where you are fishing.

Lake Goodwin - Trout Fishing

If you are looking for some good trout fishing you might want to hook the old boat and trailer up behind the truck and head off to Lake Goodwin. The winter trout fishing has been very good recently with fish up to 17 inches. There seems to be good numbers of hold over fish. Most of the guys that I have spoken with are anchored up and still fishing with Berkley Power Bait or Gulp products. This fishing should hold up for awhile. If you haven't been there before the boat launch is at Weinberg County Park. It has a fairly good boat launch, that can handle good sized boats and a good parking area. Unfortunately there is not much in the way of good bank access.

Lake Washington - Cutthroat

We have been hearing of cutthroat being caught in Lake Washington from a number of customers. Most have been fishing in the SE section on the lake, launching out of Gene Coulon Park. Most have been fishing either Luhr Jensen Needlefish spoons in a size 2 or 3 in a variety of colors(Nickle Red Head, Brass Red Head, Fire Tiger, Chartreuse Clown and Perch) or small whole or plug cut herring in an orange or red size. They have been fishing from just under the surface to around 30 feet deep. Most of the fish we have been hearing about have been in the 16 -18 inch range. Generally, fish a little faster than what you would normally fish trout as we have found that it is more productive - like a good brisk walk speed.

As this fishery is just getting started and will continue to get better over the winter.

Make sure to read your regulations as any steelhead or rainbow 20" or greater must be released.

Reiter Ponds - Skykomish River

John gave us a call this afternoon to give us the report from the Reiter Ponds area on his day off. He caught an average hatchery fish this morning and said he saw 4 or 5 others caught. The water was in "Great" shape and it looks like we should see the lower river come into good shape this week with the weather that is predicted. For those of you that wonder, John caught his fish on a float and jig combination.

Marine Area 7 - San Juan Islands - Open to Salmon Angling

Marine Area 7 - San Juan Islands opened today for salmon fishing. The area will remain open through April 30th giving us the longest single winter blackmouth season in years. The area has a two fish limit with a 22" minimum size restriction and wild fish release on Chinook. No size limit on the other species.

This is without a doubt one of the finest winter blackmouth areas there is, with the outstanding beauty of the islands and the quality of the fish that can be caught is a real plus. Each season we see fish landed into the high 20's and every once and awhile into the 30's. The nice thing about the islands is that there is always somewhere you can fish any day, though it may not be pleasant getting there or going back home.

We should get some island reports in the next few days and will post when we hear something.