Skagit Area Report from Holiday Sports

[House]

HOLIDAY SPORTS
895 NEVITT ROAD
BURLINGTON, WA 98233
360-757-4361
holiday_sports@yahoo.com

STORE HOURS
SUNDAY 7:00-5:00
MONDAY- FRIDAY 7:00-7:00
SATURDAY 6:00-7:00

MAY 22, 2013

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Lingcod-
Opened on May 1st and runs seven days a week through June 15 in our area. The daily limit is one fish within the 26”-36” slot limit with a depth restriction of 120 feet. Meaning you CANNOT fish for ling deeper than 120 feet. Spearfishing season will run May 21-June 15 with a 36” maximum size.

This week’s big morning tides leave a lot to be desired for the ling fisherman but late afternoon should afford some degree of relief after tide change. For those of you looking to hit it first thing in the morning extra lead and boat control are the keys to success. Consider weights and lures in the 8-12 ounce range until the tide slows.

Halibut-
Halibut reopens tomorrow! That’s Thursday May 23rd through SUNDAY May 26th; the final opener will be on Thursday and Friday of next week, May 30th and 31st.

This past week’s phenomenal tides and awesome weather were great, but that was last week. This time around we are looking at a lot of moving water and some not so sunny conditions. Last week I told you to get on the water super early but this week that isn’t necessarily the case. Think about a getting on the water mid-morning instead and fishing the incoming tide through slack and on into the out-going. Halibut tend to work their way up the banks during a big incoming tide before they hunker down and wait for slack but they are always ready for a meal. Personally I think you get better bites in heavy current because the fish simply don’t have time to think about biting your bait, they just do; big tides will also help to broadcast scent or chum much more effectively that during slow or slack tides. Heavier lead is going to be important and if you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy that new roller-tip halibut rod here is your chance. I’ll be running two pounds at a minimum and likely up to four for much of the day. I mention the roller tip because the roller will dramatically cuts down on the amount of drag between your line and lead guide when you reel up. Don’t let the big tides scare you off!

Shrimp-
Our local waters have been split into three sub areas to allow for better management with slightly different seasons. Area 7 East and South will be open May 15-18 and May 29-June 1, THAT MEANS THAT ICEBERG AND BIZ POINTS ARE CLOSED UNTIL NEXT WEEK!

Marine Area 7 West is open Wednesdays-Saturdays only until June 1. After June 1 the area will be open Thursdays-Saturdays until the quota is reached or September 15th, whichever comes first.

Check out this link for the Marine Area 7 shrimp boundaries:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/shrimp/13/

Area 6 is open daily until the quota is reached or September 15th, whichever comes first.

Turkey-
Turkey season opened statewide April 15 and runs through the end of the May. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset during spring seasons.

DON’T FORGET
Your special hunt applications are due tonight, May 22nd, at midnight! This is your last chance to draw some very sought after opportunities for this fall’s hunting season.

CHECK THIS OUT
Heart Lake Kids Event-
It’s that time of year again for the annual Heart Lakes Kids Event put on by the Anacortes Parks Department. To ensure a quality event and allow the large number of freshly planted trout to acclimate the WDFW will close the lake from 5/29-6/1 except for those anglers 14 and under participating in the event on 6/1 from 6:00am-12:00pm. This is a super cool event and a great way to get youngsters on the water. Volunteers from the Concrete Lion’s Club will be onsite cooking hot dogs and members of the local Puget Sound Anglers club will also be there to lend a helping hand.

Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby-
This past weekend’s 4th Annual Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby hosted 220 anglers vying for a $1000.00 top prize. Bragging rights are as follows:
• 1st Bronson Rowe, 1.68 $1000 sponsored by Dick Nite
• 2nd Wade Purdy, 1.62 $500 sponsored by Ted’s Sports Center
• 3rd Taylor Derns, 1.59 $250 sponsored by John’s Sporting Goods
• 4th Ryan Gese, 1.52 $100 sponsored by Triangle Bait & Tackle
Biggest Kokanee Limit (10 fish)
• 1st Bruce McCall, 12.54 $500 sponsored by Three Rivers Marine
• 2nd Frank Linskey, 12.16 $250 sponsored by McDaniel’s Do It Center

Biggest Trout
• Kevin Edwards, 5.38 $500 sponsored by Trout Lodge
The Elite Sports Express Traveling Showroom will be onsite at Skagit Arms Friday and Saturday June 7th & 8th. Featuring Winchester ammunition, Nikon optics, Arma Lite, Springfield and Charter Arms the truck is loaded for bear with all the coolest new toys from the top manufacturers. And AMMO! In addition to lots of recent deliveries the truck also means we will see a fresh load of ammo, INCLUDING 22LR! Better put this one on your calendar!

FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Skagit River-
The river has cleaned up considerably over in the past few days but I would expect to see some color return following the rain forecasted for the week. Fishing remains open from the Memorial Highway Bridge to the mouth only until June 1st.

Lake Samish-
Reports are still solid out of Lake Samish with most of the fish down in the 20-30ft range. Lead-line or downriggers are a must. A small sling blade or 4/0 dodger in 50/50 or chartreuse are the standard attractors. Run a small wedding ring in pink, red or green with a small smile blade or hammered blade. On sunny days a number of customers have reported good success with black and pink wedding rings behind black nickel dodgers. White or pink FireCorn and a pink maggot are the baits of choice.

Baker and Shannon-
Baker remains slow, Shannon on the other hand has been pretty darn good. Best reports have come from Bridge Creek and up at Thunder but the biggest fish have been way up the lake.

SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Mutiny Bay-
Reports have been kind of tough to come by down the island so far this season but over the weekend I saw a few customers come in with some decent fish to 80lbs. These guys were bit reluctant to give up the goods but they have whacked ten fish between them so far on squid, herring and sardines.

San Juan’s-
This past Thursday neither Anthon or I felt like coming to work so we called in well and went fishing! We hooked up the boat bright and early, met up with former tackleshop employee Pete and then headed for Cornet Bay. After an easy run we got to Hein Bank and threw the pick, rods in water by six. Long and the short of it is we ended up going three for seven while on the anchor. Anthon caught a small guy about 15lbs on a sardine inside a glow skirt that we released followed by another one at tide change that turned into a double header. His fish went about 25lbs and the other a little closer to 30lbs. After another hour or so we pulled the anchor and decided to try a short drift and boy was it. About two minutes in I stuck a flatty on my squid-herring cocktail that went 40lbs. Done by noon with enough time to load up on a few shrimp. Think we’re sick again tomorrow!

Tight Lines,
Kevin