no report this week

Marine Area 7

The December 1st. Marine Area 7 opener saw pretty darn good Winter Chinook fishing. We had good luck on Silver Horde spoons. The fish are skewing to the small side this year, so going to the KIngfisher 4″ lite spoon may up your chances of finding larger Blackmouth. There are a bunch of hatchery keeper sized 4 to 8 lb fish around. We didn’t encounter more than one or two unclipped Chinook in three days of fishing. The WDFW needs to have the ability to keep this season open, and let us fish on these hatchery fish that need to be caught. Clipped or unclipped, these fish in the Islands right now are all of hatchery origin. There are a huge amount of them swimming around, so something is working to provide more fish, right? Please figure out how to do the right thing, and keep WA State license holders fishing on fish that their license fees and tax dollars paid for. Early closures on a fishery like this help nothing, and hurt recreational fishermen, families, businesses, and the State itself through decreased license revenue. More fish is a good thing, and we have it. The weather, and a longer season will even out pressure on the resource. Time for WDFW to take back control of season setting, and manage by common sense, good judgment, and with the best interests of their customers, the fee and tax payers, at the forefront. Do what’s right for the fish and fishermen this year, even if it means risking some hot water, and you’ll begin to win back some credibility as a functioning agency. Then we can talk about the fairness of fee increases.

Submitted by Kevin Klein, Team Parker Boats NW.

Ok, this is NOT an Area 9 report as that Area is now closed. This is a FRIDAY HARBOR DERBY sideline report.

We had a blast fishing with Penny and Randy Shelton this weekend at the Friday Harbor Derby. The weather was a bit rough but the catching was off the chart. It was a Silver Horde 3.5 inch spoon show for us on long 5 foot, 25 lb leaders.

We did not nab that winning fish but our hearts were filled with joy when the Derby presented Salmon for Soldiers a check for $10,000.

That with other donations and an auction of a beautiful hand knitted Amercian flag blanket landed Salmon for Soldiers close to $15,000 in donations.

That will get so many deserving veterans on the water this year for sure . Thank you Rusty for your talent, time and tears in knitting that piece of art! And, thank you to all the recreational anglers who fished this derby to make it such a success. Hatchery restoration will also benefit a lot from the derby proceeds.

Back down South, Area 8-2 has been putting out some blackmouth on the Race Track and Columbia Beach. Look for a break in the weather and give it a shot.

See you on the water.

Report submitted by Nelson “Spud” Goodsell – Salmon for Soldiers, IGFA Life Member, FISHTALE2. The cover image of this week’s reports was also submitted by Goodsell.