The depths of winter are like the black bottom of the ocean. As a mysterious chasm devoid of light, it inspires paralysis-inducing fear of the unknown and uncontrollable. The nothingness is suffocating and crushes like claustrophobia.
Life does not cease to exist in the great void but it is infinitely more difficult to perceive and properly identify in its many incarnations. Friend and foe lurk in the same shadowy manner, one out of nefarious caution and the other out of natural lethargy. A shelf of respite may in fact be a pit of regret. The difference is one misstep. The blackness, the silence, the stillness add up, then multiply before propagating exponentially by the powers of the dark side. Even the tranquil sea anemone has its secret list of sworn enemies.
But now we are buoyed aloft in our submarine carriage to greater, more illuminated heights by the power of the sun. The human soul seems to be solar powered. We are periscope up in the turbulent seas of winter but there is light at the end of that peering optical tunnel. Miles of suffocating waters and chilled airs may separate us from the magnificent powers of the burning heavens but those distances of space and time are growing shorter and shorter every day. Life is a fluctuating wave length. Surf’s up, Bud!
From our current position it seems that long forgotten subterranean bulbs may soon burst forth from hibernating tilth in order to blossom in magnificent blasts of shade and hue. Barnyard animals hunker down in blissful gestation while their pastures begin to feel the tickle that tells the grass to grow. Dandelions, scotch broom and skunk cabbage feel the tickle too.
Rain and wind storms and even snow are sure to pummel our submarine sanity once again before spring breaches the surface in its fashionably late tradition. And that is okay because our celestial vessel is slowly but surely churning toward the beckoning sunlit horizon. We know the inevitable because the returning glow of the sun allows us to see through through the opaque and electrifying jellyfish membrane of gloom.
Soon the bees will buzz, baseball will slog through the mud, trees will bloom and snowbirds will reverse their north and south course. Even whales will snorkel haunting songs in celebration. Yes sir, yes ma'am, good times are comin', hummin', damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!
FISHIN'
Anglers have had a slow go of it lately and things don't look like they are going to improve in time for favorable fishing this weekend. A few rainstorms have done their best to wash out area rivers of late but even when the water is in shape the fish have not been prolific. Eager anglers will want to hit the river Thursday, even if it’s raining, because the storms are only supposed to increase in frequency and volume into next week, meaning the rivers will likely be running wild and muddy.
Showcasing the sign of the times, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had no report of angling success on the Cowlitz River last week and employees at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator collected only 52 adult coho, 19 jacks and four winter run steelhead. River flow at Mayfield Dam on Tuesday was about 9,730 cubic feet per second.
A simple creel report from the WDFW noted that last week 11 bank anglers caught and released one wild steelhead on the Coweeman River, 52 bank anglers caught three steelhead on the Kalama River and 30 bank anglers caught and released one wild steelhead on the East Fork Lewis River. The angling has been slow and the proof is found in an empty creel.
On the lower Columbia River the WDFW reports “little to no effort and no catch” for salmonids in the Bonneville and The Dalles pools but boat anglers were said to be hooking some steelhead in the John Day Pool. Boat anglers have been catching legal size sturgeon in all three dam pools and as of Jan. 10 an estimated 24 legal size sturgeon had been harvested from Bonneville in the new year.
Out on placid waters the WDFW has recently stocked two local lakes with a heap of rainbow trout. On Jan. 13 Battleground Lake and Klineline Pond were each stocked with 3,000 rainbows. There was no report on angling effort or success.
Inside banal boardrooms important decisions are being made about the future of Washington's fish and the WDFW is pandering for public comment. Most urgently, a public meeting will be held over Jan. 22-23 in Vancouver in order to discuss the management of sturgeon on the lower Columbia River.
At the meeting the WDFW Wildlife Commission will also listen to comments from biologists and the public in regard to the protected status of the northern spotted owl, snowy plover, western gray squirrel and greater sage-grouse.
The meetings will begin at 8 am each day at the Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Dr., Vancouver, Washington, but public comment will likely be restricted to the morning of Jan. 23. A complete agenda for the meeting is available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings.html.
Next, the WDFW is dangling free fishing gear as bait in order to get the public to take a survey in regard to recreational fishing in Puget Sound.
The survey, available through March 31 on the WDFW website, is intended to help the WDFW understand the public's grasp of their eloquently named Puget Sound Recreational Salmon and Marine Fish Enhancement Program.
The survey can be accessed online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/psrfef/survey.html. Participants will be entered into a random drawing for a rod, reel and net set valued at $500.
Ryan Lothrop, Puget Sound recreational salmon manager for the WDFW, noted that the survey will help his department make decisions that shape future fisheries. “This is a short survey designed to give us a better idea of people’s understanding of the program and where our efforts should be focused in the future,” said Lothrop in a press release “We are looking at how best to improve recreational fisheries in Puget Sound and our efforts to introduce people to sportfishing.”
HUNTIN'
Nimrods are feeling the pinch as hunting seasons grind to a halt in every direction. The Skagit County brant hunt has only two days remaining (Jan. 23-24), and ducks, snipes, coots and geese all come off the legal quarry list after Jan. 31.
In eastern Washington a lone elk hunting season remains open for archers through Jan. 30 in Elk area 1010/163. All across the state bobcat, fox, raccoon, cottontail rabbit and snowshoe hare seasons will all remain open through March 15.
Meanwhile, cougar season is set to remain open through April 30 in select units. Those hunts are subject to harvest quota closures, but hunters may use any legal weapon. And as always, coyote season is open all year round.
SHELLFISHIN'
Clam diggers will be unleashed on Long Beach beginning Thursday for a seven day dig on the “World's Longest Beach.” Copalis Beach is also set to open for a one day dig on Jan. 22.
Recent marine testing has shown that toxin levels are low enough in those areas to allow diggers to hit the beach without fear of food related illness. All other coastal beaches in Washington will remain closed to clam digging however.
Two well attended digs at Copalis within the last month have hit that razor clam population hard, necessitating the short opening there during this go round. The hope is that limited opportunities now should foster ample opportunities in the spring.
“Over the last few openings, we had a concentrated effort at Copalis Beach, where we’ve harvested one-third of our annual quota already,” explained Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the WDFW, in a press release.
The upcoming dig is scheduled on the following dates, beaches, and low tides:
• Jan. 21, Thursday, 4:49 p.m.; - 0.4 feet, Long Beach
• Jan. 22, Friday, 5:35 p.m.; -0.7 feet, Long Beach, Copalis
• Jan. 23, Saturday, 6:16 p.m.; -0.8 feet, Long Beach
• Jan. 24, Sunday, 6:54 p.m.; -0.7 feet, Long Beach
• Jan. 25, Monday, 7:31 p.m.; -0.4 feet, Long Beach
• Jan. 26, Tuesday, 8:05 p.m.; 0.0 feet, Long Beach
• Jan. 27, Wednesday, 8:39 p.m.; 0.5 feet, Long Beach
The WDFW is continuing to monitor coastal waters for the presence of domoic acid, a marine toxin which shuttered clam and crab seasons in the second half of 2015. Many areas have shown dramatic improvement over the past month or so, but Twin Harbors has not been so lucky.
“Domoic acid levels in the razor clams at Twin Harbors remain well above the action level,” explained Ayres in an email. “It is the beach that in the peak of the algae bloom had clams with the highest domoic acid levels — so it is just going to take longer for them to rid it from their systems.”
Ayres reminds diggers that the best clam digging is usually had one or two hours before the low tide. Diggers are limited to 15-clams per day and are required to keep the first 15 clams they dig regardless of size or conditions. All diggers 15-years of age or older must have a license and keep their clams in their own personal container.
Looking toward Puget Sound and the future the WDFW recently announced a week long delay of the spring recreational shrimp fishery. That opener has been pushed back to May 14 in order to account for an extreme low tide event that will put many boat launches out of commission and generally create poor shrimping conditions on the previously scheduled opener.
“We’re pushing the season opener to May 14 to allow shrimpers to get the most out of the limited number of days that many marine areas, including Hood Canal, are open each year,” explained Mark O’Toole, a shellfish biologist for the WDFW, in a press release.
The WDFW announced the date change early in order to give shrimpers time to adjust their motel, moorage or vacation arrangements. There are no other extreme low tide events predicted for the spring shrimp opener until May of 2021.
“In general, we expect shrimping opportunities in most marine areas to be similar to last year,” added O’Toole in the press release.
SNOWIN'
Things continue to look plush for powder plank and board enthusiasts. A wave of storms has been gracious with the powder atop the region’s various peaks and temperatures have been low enough to keep most areas in good shape. Expect a flock of Seahawk fans to head for the mountains this weekend now that their annual ride on the 12-train has come to an unceremonious end.
White Pass took on five new inches of powder on Wednesday morning with additional flakes looking probable into the weekend. The mountain was hovering between 26-30 degrees midweek. Out at Mt. Hood Meadows Wednesday's report read, “If this isn't a powder day, we don't know what is.” Their slopes packed on twenty inches in 24-hours midweek with temperatures around 27 degrees and a “bluebird sky.”
Crystal Mountain and Snoqualmie Summit both hung around or just below 30 degrees on Wednesday with eight new inches of powder each. More snow is anticipated at both locations heading into the weekend.
Stevens Pass took on about four inches of snow for their Wednesday tally and it put the author of their snow report in a rather fanciful mood, as evidenced here: “After a day of rest old man winter put in some work yesterday and last night, giving us a fresh coating of the soft stuff. The off-piste will be a bit more playful today, the groomers will be soft and fast, and the park will be as dialed as ever.” Amazingly, the weekend looks even better.
Mt. Baker was about 29 degrees on Wednesday with four new inches of snow over the past 24-hours and recurring snow showers are forecast through the weekend.
Out on Hurricane Ridge, which is coming off of its first weekend of full operation, the powers that be are looking to go full tilt again. The snow has been plentiful for the north Olympic Peninsula so far this season and more pow-pow is slated to dump all weekend.
