Fishing | For chinook salmon, try North Sound

Saltwater salmon action continues to be the main attraction on the fishing front, and it's turning out to be a remarkable winter season.

"The huge turnout for the derby took us all by surprise, and fishing ended up being pretty good despite the bad weather," said Jay Field, president of the Fidalgo Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers that hosts of the Anacortes Derby.

Last weekend's derby sold a remarkable 752 tickets and weighed in 155 chinook.

The winning chinook weighed 22.08 pounds, caught by Ronald Henning of Puyallup, who earned a $5,000 prize. He used a cut-plug herring for the catch in Spring Pass. Bob Burress of Burlington took second place with a 21.30-pound fish.

Other good places to fish in the islands are Middle and Hein banks, the north and west sides of Orcas Island, Obstruction Pass, Lopez Pass, President's Channel, Thatcher Pass and Parker Reef.

The inside areas of Northern Puget Sound continue to produce some of the best winter fishing seen in many years.

"Fishing has been good along the shoreline from Apple Cove Point past Point No Point and into Skunk Bay, and it is producing consistent fishing no matter what the tides are doing," said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. "Good fishing at Possession Bar has been more specific on the right tides, so timing is important there to catch the fish."

Other high-volume locations are Double Bluff off Whidbey Island, Useless Bay and Lip Lip Point on Marrowstone Island.

Hatchery chinook fishing in Saratoga Passage has been fair, and the fish tend to be larger in size. Other places to try are East Point, Camano Island, Camano Head, Langley, Elger Bay and Columbia Beach.

Other good reports came from Winter Hole off Port Angeles. The long drive to Sekiu could be a viable option.

In Hood Canal, fishing was fair from Point Whitney to Quatsap Point, Pleasant Harbor, Oak Head, Hazel Point and Tskutsko Point.

South-central Puget Sound is fair at Quartermaster Harbor, and from the Clay Banks to the slag pile off Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. Other worthwhile spots are the Southworth Ferry Landing, Point Dalco and Point Evans.

The Hot Plug Blackmouth Salmon Derby is March 17-18 at the Stanwood Eagles. More information is available by calling 360-387-5638 or 425-231-5640.

Top spots of the week

1 . Razor clams on coastal beaches: Tomorrow's open beaches for clam digging are Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks. Saturday it's Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch, and Sunday, Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Kalaloch are open. Digging is allowed from noon to midnight only.

For best results, diggers should start an hour or two before low tide.

Low tides: Tomorrow, plus-0.1 feet at 5:31 p.m.; Saturday, -0.1 at 6:16 p.m.; and Sunday, -0.1 at 6:58 p.m.

2. Trout in statewide lakes: "We're seeing some fairly good fishing in local lakes, and fly fishermen on Lone Lake are catching them using blood worms and chironomids or leech-type pattern flies," said Mike Chamberlain at Ted's Sports Center in Lynnwood. "Blackman's Lake started receiving plants of the big triploid trout from the local sportsmen's club."

Panther and Spanaway lakes, and North Gissburg Pond (open for youth under age 15 only) received plants of trout. Pass Lake on Deception Pass is another good fly-fishing spot.

East of the Cascades, good reports came out of Burke, Martha, Quincy, Lenice and Dusty lakes. Big lake trout weighing up to 30 pounds were caught in Lake Chelan, and Rufus Woods Reservoir near Lake Chelan perked up for trout in the 2- to 5-pound range.

3. Steelhead in Western Washington rivers: "Those targeting wild fish were doing good in the Olympic Peninsula region before the rivers got blown out, with some weighing up in the 20- pound range," said John Hansen at Outdoor Emporium in Seattle. "The Chehalis tributaries continue to produce hatchery fish."

More rain is expected, which could put coastal rivers over their banks again. Once they recede try the Wynoochee, Satsop, Queets, Bogachiel, Calawah, Soleduck and Hoh rivers. The Skagit and Sauk rivers are still unfishable.

The Skagit River is open through today, then goes to catch-and-release fishing with selective gear rules through April 30 from the Dalles Bridge to Cascade River only.

In Southwest Washington, fishing is fair for late steelhead in the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers.

4. Spring chinook, walleye and sturgeon in the Lower Columbia River: "The Columbia water flows have gone up and visibility has gone, which will dampen the fishery," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "It may get better with the stronger tides this week, but we are also expecting warmer temperatures which creates more snowmelt and higher flows."

Boat anglers this past week from the I-5 Bridge downstream averaged one chinook kept or released for every 17.7 rods. The best boat fishing was in the Vancouver area, where anglers averaged a fish for every 12.6 rods.

Slow for legal-sized sturgeon in the Lower Columbia. Fair for sturgeon in the John Day Pool. Fair to good for walleye in Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day pools.

5. Smelt in Puget Sound and Cowlitz River: "Some fair jigging for smelt on the Everett waterfront before the freshwater influence from the Snohomish River blew the smelt out," Chamberlain said.

Forget about making the long drive south to the Lower Cowlitz.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com