Hunting & Fishing Report: Watching the Green Grass Grow; An Ode to a Sports Editor Who Let Me Blossom

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Many people may not know this, but the roots of my tenure at The Chronicle reach back to a pair of hayfields situated along the Skookumchuck and Chehalis rivers.

Back in 2012 I was nothing more than a swashbuckling hay monger hustling green bales off of luscious fields in the greater Chehalis Basin. Sure I had experience in the newspaper racket and a journalism degree to boot, but time has a way of growing long and separating us from who we once were more rapidly than we realize.

It was in one of those moments, while I looked out of a morning dew speckled field full of freshly baled hay, that I made an offhand comment to a field owner about how I had once fancied myself a sportswriter in the making and how I was now itching to get back in the game.

As it happened, the person I mentioned that goal to was none other than Carmen VanTuyl, the brains behind the infamous Adna VanTuyl bunch and the mother of one outgoing editor of The Chronicle sports department.

When I told Carmen my secret I had no idea about her connection to The Chronicle. I didn’t even really expect her to care, since it was essentially just idle pasture talk. But where most folks would have simply seen a haypricked ranch hand with a red neck and a farmers tan, Carmen was able to see some sort of promise and graciously passed along a recommendation to her son at the head of the sports desk.

At first I slowly worked my way in by covering a few fall football games. Then I got the call from the bullpen during winter break to cover high school basketball and spun those opportunities into a few full days of district basketball coverage. By the fall The Chronicle had bumped me up from stringer status to a real part-time employee with a desk and everything. It was like I’d hit the big time!

Ironically, not long after I settled into the desk life of night duty sports work I was offered the chance to take over the sports section outdoors coverage and now, five years later, you are reading what I wrote.

The great out of doors, I came to find out, were a bit of a blind spot for the ol’ sport ChronAVT. His biggest accomplishment outside the brick walls of The Chronicle seemed to be a last-place finish in state golf back in his Adna Pirate days. And while he claimed to have oodles of experience bucking hay bales around the old farm back in his younger days, I have only been able to get him on the field one time over the years. Of course, he hit the hay field in shorts and a cutoff shirt and complained the entire time, but didn’t quit until the work was complete.

Come to think of it, that’s a lot like how Aaron approached his nine year stint as captain of The Chronicle sports ship. It’s no knock on the man. He simply knows his niche.

Pouting. Pontificating. And Power Rankings.

I must admit that over the years Aaron showed slightly more moxy for the outdoors than I had first perceived. I’ve seen him tweet photos of his feet at the edge of some far flung alpine lake. He’s also spilled ink in these very pages detailing his day hikes to the tip top of the Olympic Peninsula and his brave encounters in the face of whelmed mountain goats. Heck, one time I even saw him make an instagram post about his exploits on the back of a trail horse, although his ghost white knuckles choking the saddlehorn seemed a somewhat better indication of just how much of a cowboy he is at heart.

While he may have needed me to help cover his six on the outdoors page over the years, I consider myself the lucky one for having the support of such an accommodating editor. As you dutiful readers no doubt understand, it is no easy chore to pore over all these words each week, and VanTuyl has had to wade through the rough version every time. Often times they were late, almost always they were long, but Aarron never wavered in his confidence that the FishRap would indeed be delivered. Thanks to his trust, I have been able to work myself back into the fold of the newspaper life, and perhaps even said something interesting along the way.

As I sit and watch the grass grow tall under an unseasonably warm springtime sorbet sunset I find myself amazed at the serendipity of life and grateful for my good fortune. Where another, lesser, editor may have grown weary of my voluminous words and gone to work cutting my crop of text and ambition down to size, Aaron only cut when he had to in order to keep the weeds at bay. Instead of overgrown grass he saw the potential for a fine finished product.

No matter what tomorrow may hold for the both of us, I’m proud to have made hay with VanTuyl at The Chronicle while the sun was still shining.

FISHIN’

Saturday will likely be the busiest fishing day of the year as lowland lakes across the state open for the start of their six month angling season. In Centralia, Fort Borst Park Pond will be hopping with youngsters all morning as the Lions Club hosts their annual youth fishing derby to kick off the popular fishery.

Registration for the Centralia Youth Fishing Derby will begin at 9 a.m. at Fort Borst Park with official fishing hours lasting until noon. Prizes will be awarded by age groups with anglers split up between 3-6, 7-11, and 12-14. Each registered angler will be given a free hot dog and a container of milk to keep their bellies full and their reeling arms strong.

In preparation for Saturday’s opener at several hundred lakes the WDFW has been busy stocking roughly 12 million hatchery trout and kokanee of various sizes for the six-month fishing season. About 2.1 million “catchable size” trout will be included in those stocking efforts and approximately 125,000 regionally stocked fish will weigh at least one pound each.

Fort Borst Park Pond received 5,375 small rainbow trout on April 17 in advance of the derby to go along with the 5,000 rainbow it received on the Ides of March and the 1,600 rainbows that were stocked way back on Jan. 16.

South Lewis County Park Pond has also received loads of fish lately, including a deposit of 3,600 rainbows from Tacoma Power within the last week and a half. Those rainbows join 1,600 trout that were planted earlier this month by the power company and the 1,840 fingerling rainbows planted in early March.

The annual youth fishing derby at South Lewis County Park Pond is set for May 12 this year. On May 10 the pond will close down for two days in order to allow for several thousand more trout to be planted and become acclimated to their new surroundings in time for the derby. The pond will reopen to the public after 2 p.m. on the day of the derby, which is open to all children 14 years of age and under. To register for the event send an email to penny_lancaster@msn.com.

Other recent stocking efforts include 3,361 fingerling rainbow trout dumped in Kress Lake on April 16 that joined the 3,000 rainbows that were left by WDFW crews on April 11. Mineral Lake, Carlisle Pond, Lake Mayfield, Swofford Pond, and Plummer Lake have all received healthy deposits of hatchery trout in recent weeks as well.

During the six-month lowland lake season that’s set to expire at the end of October, the WDFW will be holding a continuous fishing derby. Anglers who catch one of 1,000 green-tagged trout will be eligible to redeem the tag for a prize donated by license vendors. The total value of those prizes is more than $38,000. In Lewis County, tagged trout will be planted at SoCo Pond, Fort Borst Pond, Carlisle Lake (Ol’ Mill Pond), and Mineral Lake. In Cowlitz County, Lake Sacajawea, Silver Lake, Kress Lake and Horseshoe Lake will all have prize-winning fish to catch. A complete list of lakes with prize fish and details on how to claim prizes is available online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/Home/FishingDerby.

Out in Morton at Tri-Mountain Sports and Radio Shack, owner Curt Coleman says the lake fishing has already started to heat up in the Cascade foothills, even while the snow line lingers.

“The good news is that they are starting to launch boats in Riffe Lake,” said Coleman.



Reduced water levels in the dam reservoir have created access issues for several years now but Tacoma Power has recently made efforts to remedy those issues. Coleman said that the north boat launch at Taidnapam Park recently reopened, although the other nearby launch will be out of commission until the dam is repaired. Coleman added that the boat launch on the southwest end of the lake near the campground looks like it is ready for action but it is currently roped off from public use.

“It’s still a little tricky because they’ve got about a half a mile of river you got to run to get down to the main lake,” said Coleman. “The fish are there, it’s just that unfortunately we’re just getting to where we can put a boat in the water.”

Coleman added that big mouth bass have started biting at Swofford Pond with regularity, and that’s not the only East Lewis County waterway to see an uptick in piscatorial prospects as of late.

“They’re catching some fish in Mayfield,” said Coleman, who recommended trolling wedding rings, of sinking powerbait or eggs from the bank at Ike Kinswa Park.

Looking right through the heart of the Twin Cities, the Chehalis River is set to open to spring Chinook fishing beginning May 1 until the end of June. That fishery will extend from the mouth of the river at the Highway 101 Bridge up to the Highway 6 Bridge in Adna. The minimum size for spring Chinook is 12 inches and the daily limit is one fish. Steelhead and other gamefish fisheries will remain unchanged. A press release from the WDFW noted that, “The forecasted abundance of spring chinook returning to the Chehalis River basin is sufficient to support this fishery.”

Salmon fishing is currently shuttered on the lower Columbia but fishing opportunities do exist on the mighty river near the dams. In particular, walleye fishing has been good in both The Dalles and John Day pools. Weekly checking at The Dalles showed one walleye per bank angler, with boat anglers averaging two fish each. At John Day, 128 anglers on 57 boats kept 111 walley and released 34. The spring Chinook run continues to disappoint however and as of April 22 it was counted as the second lowest return on record. The lowest tally was in 2006 when just 427 adult springers had passed the dam.

Anglers have been having a much better time on the Cowlitz River lately though as an influx of lower river springers, along with a late run of winter steelies, have been making the left turn from the Columbia at Gearhart Gardens. Sampling conducted by the WDFW last week found 143 bank anglers downriver from the I-5 bridge with just one keeper springer to go with six steelhead kept and one steelhead released. An additional 18 boat rods kept two adult springers. Between the I-5 Bridge and the barrier dam 195 bank rods kept seven adult springs and 22 steelhead while releasing two steelies. Another 91 boat rods kepts three adult springers and one jack, along with 20 steelhead. One steelhead was also released. Bank anglers should note that the south side of the river will be closed from May 1 through June 1 between Mill Creek and the barrier dam.

Numbers from the Cowlitz salmon separator show that crews recovered 629 winter steelhead last week along with 90 spring Chinook adults and two jacks. Crews also released eight winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton as well as 66 winter-run steelhead and 23 spring Chinook adults into the Cispus River near Yellow Jacket Creek. Another 14 winter-run steelhead and 20 spring Chinook adults were released into Lake Scanewa near Randle.

On the Kalama River last week the WDFW sampled 29 bank anglers with one keeper spring Chinook and five steelhead released. Ten boat anglers kept one adult spring Chinook and released 3 steelhead. The mainstem Lewis River was busy last week as well with 39 bank anglers showing one adult springer and 16 boat anglers keeping one springer and releasing another. On the North Fork Lewis River 56 bank anglers kept one adult Springer and 43 boat rods took home seven springers and released one steelhead. Both the mainstem and North Fork are set to close to spring Chinook harvest on May 1. Additionally, the area from Johnson Creek up to the dam is closed to all fishing during May.

Looking to the ocean, the WDFW recently released a clarification to coastal recreational bottomfish limits. When the season opens in marine areas 1 (Ilwaco) and 2 (Westport) anglers will be allowed up to nine bottomfish per day. That limit will include up to two lingcod, two cabezon, and seven rockfish (of which only two may be canary rockfish). Additionally, anglers will be allowed to keep up to three flatfish (excluding halibut), such as sole, sanddab, and flounder, each day.

HUNTIN’

Wild turkeys are the target de jour in the hunting world. The statewide general spring turkey hunt began on April 15 and will continue through the end of May. Locally hunters typically have the most success in between Bucoda and Yelm, as well as along Highway 101 between Cosmopolis and Raymond. If you’re willing to fudge the dividing line a bit, Klickitat county offers even better gobbler prospects for westside hunters.

The general spring turkey hunt has a combined limit of three birds for the season, of which only two may be taken from Eastern Washington, with the exception of Chelan, Kittitas, and Yakima counties where only one tom may be killed per person. A one turkey limit is also applicable in Western Washington, although two turkeys may be taken in Klickitat County. Only male turkeys, or those with visible beards, are legal for hunting.

Cougar hunts will soon go the way of the sabre tooth tiger. Those long running opportunities to bag a big cat are set to end after April 30 in all areas. However, hunters should still check for closures in units with harvest limits before heading out.

Of course coyote season never ends so long as the sun keeps setting in the ocean.

SHRIMPIN’

The recreational shrimp fishery in Puget Sound is set to open on May 5. A press release noted that the opening will be similar to 2017 and a strong turnout is expected, particularly on opening day. In all open areas of Puget Sound, fishers are limited to 80 shrimp a day during the month of May.

“Because this is such a popular fishery, boat ramps can get pretty crowded on the opener,” said Mark O’Toole, a WDFW shellfish biologist, in a press release.. “As always, we ask that people be patient at the ramps and wait their turn."

While Puget Sound opens to all shrimp varieties (spot, pink, and coonstripe) on May 5, most people will be targeting spot shrimp, which are also known as prawns. Spot shrimp are the largest shrimp in Puget Sound and can grow up to nine inches length.

South Puget Sound open days by area include:

Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island): Open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on May 5.

Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal Shrimp District): Open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 5, 9, 12, and 23.

Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound, Carr Inlet): Open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on May 5, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 9.

Additional dates and times will be announced if sufficient quota remains after the initial fishing days scheduled above.