The Outdoor Line Forum

Thought you guys might like to see some pics of my derby fish.

The B'ham PSA guys said over 260 fish caught in 2.5 days - average is 130. Something like 100 fish over 20 lbs.

We fished Obstruction Pass, Blakely Island, Tide Point mostly. Saw a LOT of fish caught at Obstruction on Friday. Not by us, but a lot of other fish were hauled in. Talked with the guys who caught 14 fish. They had a 29+ lb fish in the boat, and were swinging for the fences. They were releasing fish all day long. It was filthy. They seemed to be using normal stuff, green flashers & hootchies. They released a couple over 24-25 lbs.

According to the derby guys, most of the fish caught in the derby were out of the Rosario Straight spots. Not a lot of North end fish.

Winning fish was caught out by Lopez Island - 34 lbs and change. Green splatterback 3.0 Kingfisher Spoon, behind a green dodger, and a short leader (8"-12").

We caught 3 fish. All at Tide Point. 1 was caught North of the point, 2 South of the point. All were caught on a green splatterback UV Ace-Hi-Fly, and a green/purple Q-Cove flasher (called green dragon - I think). I have not had a lot of luck at Tide Point, but it worked this weekend. Obstruction was crazy. Big fish. Same with Blakely.

This fish was 22lbs7oz weighed in at the end of the day. Caught it's twin an hour later. Good for 50th and 51st place, or something like that. 3rd fish was just under 12 lbs. All 3 we caught were white kings.

Dammit that's a ton of fish for that derby. Glad to hear Team Fields caught some kings too. You guys deserve it my freind

It's some real "good ol' days" stuff up in the Islands this year!
We've been seeing a bunch of hatchery fish too which bodes well for the Area 9 & 10 opener this weekend!

Nelly -
If a "bunch" of hatchery Chinook heading for Puget Sound rivers are being caught in the "Juans" shouldn't that fishery be a selective fishery? Something to mull over for the next NOF cycle.

tight lines
Curt

Ouch!
You really know how to hurt a guy.... I'm sincerely trying to break myself from refering to the San Juan Islands as, well... you know...

Over my last two days fishing in Thatcher Pass, Tide Point and Eagle Bluff we hooked 12 chinook, released two small wild fish and kept six clipped fish from 10 to 17lbs.

On the opener Tobeck and I kept two unclipped kings that were much larger.

While I understand your position, I think the one fish limit in Area 7 is keeping sport harvest under
control. With unclipped Fraser system hatchery chinook coming through I see the sense of the current regulation package as well.

One question though: What the heck are you doing up at this hour?! I have an excuse! I'm going to the gym!

Nelly -
Have always been an early riser and now between getting on the water shortly after daylight for kokanee, resident coho in MA and the upcoming Chinook season several days a week and a bad back and shoulder I'm up by 5 most days. Sure can get a lot done early in the day (especially when fishing).

However back to the San Jaun Islands - While on the surface a 1 fish limit would seem to significantly reduce impacts on wild fish the reality is those benefits typically are not near as great as one would think. As "hot" as MA 7 fishing has been this month the catch rates are still less than a fish for every 3 anglers - last week WDFW creel checks showed 226 Chinook landed for 739 anglers. While it is certainly the case that some high liners that get on the water frequently (such as you guys) will fish somewhat selectively most anglers are not catching enough fish that they willing release those wild fish to keep a hatchery fish. The whole issue is further compound with party or boat limit fishing; how many boats are returing with boat limits?

However the real reason for raising this issue is the potential for fishing restrictions due to ESA listings is pays for those involved to be very careful with our comments about the origin of the fish being caught. In the San Jaun Islands are we not only concern about impacts on the Puget Sound wild Chinook but as you know orcas and impacts on their forage (Chinook) are likely to become a huge issue. I understand there will be a symposium in BC this September where the collective knowledge of the various researchers will be presented regarding the orca's diet and the origin of those fish. I suspect that the upshot of all that will be some pretty heavy pressure for fishing restrictions, not only in MA 7 but points to west and north in an effort to get more forage back for the orcas.

If we collectively going to be effective in lobbying for our interests we need to make sure that our information is sound and that we are consistent in our arguments - otherwise we collectively will be dismissed out of hand (that may happen anyhow but we need to do all that we can to stack things in our favor).

Regardless how you are right and we continue to see good Chinook fishing as the fishery moves deeper into the Sound (the numbers of incidental Chinook being encountered in that MA 10 resident coho fishery is encouraging). Good luck this week.

Curt

Chinook) I understand there will be a symposium in BC this September where the collective knowledge of the various researchers will be presented

If all they are presenting is their collective knowledge it will be a short symposium