The next opportunity to rustle up a mess of razor clams from Washington coast beaches is Friday, Dec. 10.
Three of the five coastal management sectors, Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks beaches, will open for a one-day p.m. (noon to midnight) dig with the minus .05-foot ebb slack occurring at 6:30 p.m.
Though their clams in this 2011-12 season early sequence have been on the smallish side, these beaches in recent years have yielded good takes averaging in 2010 from 12-14 clams per digger. Mocrocks Beach, the northernmost of the trio sees fewer clammers, but, according to fish and wildlife department data, comes closest to the perfect 15-razor-clam yield.
A second pre-holiday razor stanza follows on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 22-23.
The aforementioned three razor clam zones will be open with Copalis Beach added to the mix on Friday, Dec. 23, only.
Long Beach is the southernmost of Washington's razor clam beaches with the communities of Ocean Park and Long Beach serving as the focal point for many of its activities.
Twin Harbors is the razor clam beach management sector between Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor with the communities of Westport and Grayland offering amenities for diggers/visitors.
Copalis Beach is the first sector north of Grays Harbor with Ocean Shores, Oyhut and Copalis Beach acting as hubs for digs there.
Mocrocks Beach lies north of the Copalis River with the towns of Moclips, Pacific Beach, Iron Springs and Roosevelt Beach providing visitor services.
Ocean beaches inside the Quinault Nation boundaries are closed to non-tribal members and to the north, Kalaloch Beach on the Olympic National Park's coastal strip, the fifth public beach sector managed for razor clam harvest, will be closed this fall and winter.
Clammers are allowed 15 razors per dig day and they must retain the first 15 specimens regardless of size or condition that are unearth and brought to hand, to prevent wastage. In addition to an actual harvest estimate, a loss figure for wantonly discarded razor clams is calculated for each dig and that number, too, is deducted from the overall sport (non-treaty) quota.
All participants, age 15 and older, must opt for and purchase one of three personal use license options (fishing combo, shellfish/seaweed or razor clam) that allow the taking of razor clams. They come in both short-term (less expensive) and annual versions.
All public digs for razor clams are contingent on the domoic acid level (as well as other noxious marine toxins and organisms) staying below the 20 parts per million 'actionable' concentration in clam tissues. Toxin testing is done just prior to each opening and is paid for by a portion of licensing fees.
LAST MINUTE CRAB CAPERS
Much closer to home, personal use crabbing enters its last month under the controversial new management system which dedicates the bulk of the Puget Sound non-treaty share to recreational harvesters.
Driven by quotas that when reached could affect their closure, eleven of 13 inland waters crab management areas were still open as of Thanksgiving and should remain so until the prescribed season end Saturday, Dec. 31.
If you head out for pre-New Years blackmouth, don't forget your crab pot(s), trap(s) or ring(s) depending on the number of crab-licensed (Puget Sound Crab Endorsement) anglers on your boat. All of the San Juans, Georgia Strait, Bellingham-Samish bays and the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca are open for crabbing as are waters on either side of Whidbey Island.
If you haven't put the bay boat away but don't want to motor too far from the dock or ramp on iffy days, try these closer-in Marine Area 7 North and South locales:
Eliza Island: A boat-in site with the most popular crabbing area being the shallow shoal-line that runs northwest to Point France. Pots can be left here or during slack tides rings can be worked. Beware of strong bottom currents on the south end of Hale Passage.
Chuckanut Bay: The main bay is a boat-in site. The north end of bay can be waded at very low tides, though the December set of minus events is at night. Climbing or walking on the railroad causeway now is banned. Access is via the park end of Fairhaven Avenue (boat around) or Teddy Bear Cove Trail.
Alden Bank: A boat-in site west of Sandy Point in the south end of the Strait of Georgia, Alden Bank is a rise in the bottom of these broad waters where pots can be left. Closer to Cherry Point at Gulf Road, smaller boats can be dragged or carried across the beach to tend pots and traps set within a few hundred yards of the surf line.
Point Whitehorn: A mainland shore boat-in site, its complex littoral drift areas always attract Dungeness crab. For the publicly accessible launches at Birch Bay State Park you'll need a Discover Pass and a Natural Investment Permit (boat launch fee) to enter the bay from the landward side.
Boundary Bay: Always be aware of the invisible international boundary here. For boaters, the shallows on the south side of the borderline are good all the way out to Point Roberts. Launch at Port of Bellingham's Blaine Marina. Some crabbing is done from the marina's docks, too.
Samish Bay: You can wade here at low tides along its eelgrass lined northshore, but direct access off Chuckanut Drive across Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad tracks is not legal except at posted crossings. Larger boats need to be cognizant of the tide state close to shore to avoid grounding. Best access is Larrabee State Park's Wildcat Cove boat launch. Watch tides here. A Discover Pass and a Natural Investment Permit are required. Also, stay off private shellfish bed tracts.
Padilla Bay: A boat-in site where the ebb tide line in the vicinity of Hat Island is a popular ring and star trap fishing area. Occasionally, keeper crab can be caught in the crevices of the rocky shore on Saddlebag Island, too. A small boat launch (higher tides) is available at March's Point, but avoid setting pots in the Swinomish Slough's navigation channel, another no-no.
Some Marine Area 7 waters are off-limits to crabbing enthusiasts. The Lummi Nation inside treaty-defined boundaries are closed to non-tribal members. Exclusion zones around industrial shipping berths at Cherry Point and all designated state preserves in the San Juan Islands are in the same 'no fishing allowed' status.
All legal harvest methods are permitted in this late opportunity, which goes seven days a week. Crabbers must record their daily takes on their winter crab catch cards.
Reporting on winter card tallies starts Jan. 1.
After getting the latest weather report, always check these websites for last-minute changes in the status of the fishery before heading out.
Department of Fish and Wildlife crab season status portal: wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/.
Washington State Marine Biotoxin website: ww4.doh.wa.gov/gis/mogifs/biotoxin.htm. The meat of a crab usually is not affected by marine toxin-producing organisms, but its filtering organs should not be eaten.
Fishing by the tides: protides.com/washington/. This is one of many sites with daily tide fluctuation time and extent tables. To safeguard their pots, crabbers (as well as shrimpers) also need to be aware of potential current velocities where they choose to fish.
EARLY STEELHEADING
As fall river angling for salmon winds down, the quest for winter-run steelhead is ramping up on Western Washington streams.
Major stream systems in Puget Sound, the Olympic Peninsula and southwest Washington have hatchery programs that sustain catch and keep fisheries for these vaunted sea-run trout.
A quick look at hatchery reports indicates that winter runs have already been logged into several state and tribal hatcheries on coastal and southwest Washington streams.
As of mid-November the Quinault National Fish Hatchery (Quinault Nation) near Amanda Park has booked 165 returning winter steelhead.
Elsewhere on coastal basins, the state's Bogachiel Hatchery, southwest of Forks, and its Humptulips Hatchery, north of Hoquiam, so far report receiving 25 and 20 hatchery stock steelhead, respectively.
The natal origin of these fish is important in these early fisheries because they focus on obviously marked (adipose fin clipped) specimens. The retention of wild steelhead here, if allowed, does not start until February.
Year-round (except for a few peninsula 'native' fisheries), wild steelhead are protected under a statewide angling dictum and must be released unharmed without even removing them from the water.
In southwest Washington rivers, the first winter runs have arrived at the state's Cowlitz (44 hatchery-origin) and Kalama (one hatchery fish) fish production facilities.
ROCHE DERBY SEEKS ANGLERS
Roche Harbor Resort and Marina is now accepting entry applications for berths in its 2012 high stakes fishing contest.
The ninth edition of the venerable San Juan Island resort's winter derby, the Salmon Classic Invitational takes place Feb. 2-4. It's also the inaugural event of the Northwest Marine Trade Association's 2012 Northwest Salmon Derby Series of sport fishing contests.
First prize for this fishing contest is $10,000 with other cash payouts to fifth place, plus mystery weight and best boat total cash prizes, too.
The buy-in is $700 plus tax per boat with a cap on the contest flotilla of 100 boats. Up to four anglers may fish per entered vessel. The fee includes three days of moorage and angler dinners each night.
In addition to vying for the Salmon Classic's array of cash and merchandise prizes, all participating anglers and placers are entered in the annual Northwest Marine Trades Association's sport-fishing boat giveaway drawing held in September each year.
For more details about either the fishing derby or to enter, contact the Roche Harbor Market at 360-378-5562 or email market@rocheharbor.com.
Doug Huddle, the Bellingham Herald's outdoors correspondent since 1983, has written a weekly fishing and hunting column that now appears Sundays. Read his blog and contact him at http://pblogs.bellinghamherald.com/outdoors/.
