The 2013 recreational salmon season officially closed last Monday, Sept. 30. But unfortunately, in reality it actually closed about a week or ten days prior to that. We always expect a bit of weather change around the fall equinox, but not to quite the degree it did this year. So far, nothing like the 1962 Columbus Day storm, but it certainly put a damper on the fishing.
Just two weeks ago, we were wondering if our reduced non-selective Coho quota would get us to Sept. 30. Now we wish there were some way we could ‘bank’ those fish for next year. All this rain should draw this year’s crop of salmon into the rivers, but let’s hope we don’t get much flooding!
Fishing good overall
Overall, it was a pretty good season. Albacore tuna fishing was fairly close to home and about as good as it gets. Rockfish and lingcod produced some very successful trips throughout the season which started in mid-March. Some vessels will continue fishing for those critters up through mid-October, weather permitting. Halibut was good, but only lasted for five days in May. Unfortunately, we caught our near-shore quota during the directed fishery. Hopefully we can avoid that next year.
Salmon a mixed bag
Salmon was a mixed bag (pardon the pun). Chinook started fairly slow and really never got consistently good. In hindsight, we could have liberalized regulations earlier. We fished selectively in June and then went to a non-selective fishery from July on. Coho fishing got progressively better as the season continued and we experienced some of our best fishing the last two weeks of August and the first week of September. We had enough quota to go non-selective on September 6, but then the catch success began to decline. Just the opposite of expectations. Go figure!
Seasons compared
Last year’s angler trips numbered a little over 36,000. This year’s anglers numbered around 35,000. The 10-year average is a little over 34,000.
This year’s Chinook catch was around 13,500, only about 70% of 2012. The Coho catch, on the other hand, was over 20,000 compared to 13,000 in 2012, a 50% increase.
Statistically, Westport anglers averaged a salmon per person. That’s very good when compared to other ports up and down the coast. However, let’s hope that 2014 proves to be even better!
Derby leaders
Our derby leaders to date, and with the exception of the Lingcod and possibly the Albacore Tuna derbies, our season Grand Prizewinners:
• Chinook salmon – 32-14 dressed (37 in the round) caught by Kevin Swanson of Missoula, Mont. on August 2.
• Coho salmon – 14-3 dressed (over 16 in the round) caught by Bob Swanberg of Mountlake Terrace on September 9.
• Lingcod – 41-6 caught by Larry Sturman of Spokane on March 30. (We had a 41-1 on August 3)
• Albacore Tuna – 36-0 caught by Sawyer Solomon of Tacoma on September 1.
• Halibut – 60-pounder caught on May 14 by John Polaski of Spokane.
Kevin Swanson’s Grand Prize winning 32-pounder was also the biggest King caught in August. Swanson won a total of $4,000 in prizes. Carl Chew of Seattle caught the biggest King in July at 29-6 dressed.
Many thanks to our derby sponsors this season:
Grand prize sponsors
• Chinook $2,500 – Bank of the Pacific, Basket House Gift Shop, Brady’s Oysters, Seafood Connection, Vacations by the Sea
• Coho $1,500 – Breakers Boutique Inn, Masco Petroleum, One-Eyed Crab Restaurant, Vacations by the Sea, Westport Inn
• Lingcod $1,500 – England Marine Supply, Gifts Ahoy/Sea Shanty, Islander Resort, Totem RV & Trailer Park
• Halibut $1,000 – Bennett’s Restaurants, Fishing Vessel Owners Association
• Tuna $1,000 – Half Moon Bay Bar & Grill, Price & Price, Inc, Timberland Bank
• Largest Chinook in July $1,000 – Shoalwater Bay Casino
• Largest Chinook in August $1,000 – Shoalwater Bay Casino
Additional sponsors:
Alaskan Motel, Boat Seafood, Brown Lewis Janhunen & Spencer, Chateau Westport, Glenacres Inn/Bed & Café, Grayland Hardware, Holiday Motel, Local Bar & Grill, Lindley Financial, Lucky Eagle Casino, McBee’s Silver Sands Motel, Original House of Pizza, Pacific Motel, Preszler Larner Mertz & Company, Ron Cowles, DDS, Seagull’s Nest Motel, South Beach Buccaneers, South Beach Dental Clinic, Washington Crab Producers, Westport ‘Y’ Deli and Windermere Real Estate
More info: www.charterwestport.com
Mark Cedergreen is the CEO of the Westport Charterboat Association