Outdoors
Notebook: Recent catch becomes rarest of fish stories

By Mark Yuasa
Seattle Times staff reporter

PAUL JOHNSON Keith Robbins shows off the 48-inch sturgeon he caught and released in northern Puget Sound last week.

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Here is a fish story of prehistoric proportions.

On Monday, Keith Robbins and Paul Johnson were out on Puget Sound a few miles off the Snohomish River mouth, casting flies for cutthroat and Dolly Varden trout.

After about six hours of fly-fishing with only one 12-inch cutthroat to show for it, the duo decided to take a look around elsewhere.

Robbins, the owner of A Spot Tail Salmon Guide service, ran offshore at a "middle of nowhere" area where a bunch of birds were working on the water's surface.

"We flailed away for a short while and nothing was happening, so we decided to sit back and have a carbonated beverage," Robbins said.

Johnson, who works for Sage Fly Rods, noticed something unusual on the surface and asked Robbins what it was.

"I informed him it was a stick just as it sank below the surface," Robbins said. "A few minutes later it came back up. I then speculated it was a bird swimming very slowly with its head below the surface."

Wrong again. They decided to take a closer look.

"I approached slowly, put the boat in neutral. We ran to the bow to look and drifted toward it," Robbins said. "As we approached what looked like the stubby back of an alligator, we proceeded to drift right on top of it, sending it to the depths."
 
Robbins realized it was a sturgeon, which fossil records date back 100 million years to the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

"We had just seen something that I had never seen in my 28 years of having a boat and my whole life of fishing in Puget Sound," Robbins said.

After about five minutes, the monster rose to the surface again.

This time they were ready.

"We slowly approached the laid-up reptile, and Paul started shooting (photos) and I started casting," Robbins said.

The pair had the evidence photographed, and now they wanted to get up close and personal.

"I made what would have been a very good cast for any laid-up tarpon, but not for this laid-up dinosaur," Robbins said.

Two casts later, the big bend of the fly rod happened.

Robbins doubted he would be able to land the big fish with a seven-weight fly rod, a clouser and seven-pound tippet.

Robbins said the fight resembled more of a slow pull down and out. No screaming runs, just slow and steady to the backing.

After a tug of war, the big dark mass began to appear on top.

Johnson grabbed the net and made several valiant attempts, finally getting about two-thirds of the fish in the rubber-meshed net.

The pair grabbed both sides of the net and lifted the fish.

"We measured the fish (48 inches long), documented and released our fish story," Robbins said.

Catching sturgeon is common in places like the Columbia River, and in estuaries and rivers of Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal. But to catch one in saltwater is unusual.

"In the 15 years we've been working on the coast, it has happened only six times," said Wendy Beeghley, a state Fish and Wildlife coastal biologist.

There was plenty of speculation why the fish was roaming where it shouldn't have been. Some say it could have been distressed, sick or dying.

"I don't think you can put this in the 'It happens all the time' category, and it sounds like he wasn't the healthiest fish in the world," said Doug Milward, a state Fish and Wildlife resource manager. "I've seen them in treaty drift net fishery catches in Skagit Bay, including one that was at least six feet long which was released."

Razor clam dig possible

State Fish and Wildlife has set a tentative season at two coastal beaches that would be open Wednesday to Friday.

If tests for marine toxin results are favorable, then Twin Harbors and Kalaloch beaches will be open for digging during morning hours until noon.

"There are just enough clams remaining under the allocation to allow the proposed weekday dig," said Dan Ayres, the head state Fish and Wildlife coastal shellfish biologist. "Overall, it's been a great season and this opening would just be the icing on the cake."

Low tides: Wednesday, minus-1.9 feet at 7:41 a.m.; Thursday, -2.2 at 8:27 a.m.; and Friday, -2.1 at 9:15 a.m. Check the regulations for specific details.

The final decision will be made tomorrow. Details: wdfw.wa.gov/ or call 866-880-5431.

Notes

• A fly-casting clinic to benefit Northwest Casting for Recovery will be held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. next Sunday at Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation. The non-profit organization has gathered nationally acclaimed fly-fishers George Cook, retired director of Sage Rods; Jimmy LeMert, a certified master fly-casting instructor; and Tony and Marilyn Vitale, master fly-casting instructors and owners of KCS Flycasting School in Sammamish. The clinic is open to all levels of ability. Attend one morning or afternoon session for $50, or both for $75. The fee includes lunch.

All proceeds will support a fly-fishing retreat for Washington breast-cancer survivors. Details: 425-481-7867 or e-mail Joanne Elston at joanfish@aol.com.

• Sport fishing for lingcod and halibut previously scheduled to open in Hood Canal the first week of this month will remain closed until further notice.

Both fisheries will be delayed — and possibly cancelled — because of continuing problems with low dissolved oxygen levels in the 60-mile-long fjord.

Fisheries for herring, smelt, squid, octopus, sea cucumbers and most other species of bottomfish have been closed since Feb. 17 for the same reason.

• The Northshore Chapter of Trout Unlimited meeting is 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bothell American Legion Hall, 19215 Bothell Way N.E. Guide Dave Vedder will talk about how to catch peacock bass in the Amazon River. Details: 206-362-6358.

• The Washington Butterfly Association is hosting some upcoming events. Next: "Habitats and their Butterflies," a free presentation by Jon Pelham, curator of butterflies, 7 p.m. Wednesday at Seattle's Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 N.E. 41st Street; and a field trip to Cowiche Canyon, west of Yakima, at 7 a.m. Saturday from the north lot of Ravenna Park-and-Ride in Seattle. A $5 donation is requested. Details: 206-633-2313, 425-392-2565 or www.naba.org/chapters/nabaws.

• The Wild Steelhead Coalition meeting is 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Bothell American Legion Hall, 19215 Bothell Way N.E. Guest speaker Dan Rawding, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist, will talk about The Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment model, which relates salmon and steelhead performance to the quality and quantity of stream habitat.

• The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites volunteer groups to celebrate Earth Day. The event provides a chance to help refresh state parks by clean-up and repair projects, including trail restoration and enhancement, litter pickup, facilities repair, clearing weeds and planting native vegetation. Details: 360-902-8582.

Speaking volunteers are needed to give interpretive programs at state parks in Thurston, Mason and Lewis counties. Training is May 13 in Olympia. Details: 360-753-7143.

Natural resource stewardship volunteers are needed to monitor condition of natural resources at select state park sites. Details: 360-902-8592.

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