Marking the start of the spring season, the WDFW has tentatively scheduled razor-clam digs on ocean beaches late this month and again in mid-April.

As always, final approval of both digs will depend on results of marine toxin tests that show the clams are safe to eat.

Prospective diggers should note that the first opening – scheduled March 26-April 1 -starts on evening tides, then switches to morning tides for the final four days.

Tentative days & tides for this month’s dig are:

• Friday, March 26, (4:29 pm, +0.1)
• Saturday, March 27, (5:19 pm, -0.1)
• Sunday, March 28, (6:04 pm, 0.0)
• Monday, March 29, (6:35 am, -0.1)
• Tuesday, March 30, (7:22 am, -0.7)
• Wednesday, March 31, (8:07 am, -1.0)
• Thursday, April 1, (8:52 am -1.0)

Another dig is also tentatively scheduled on morning tides in mid-April on the following days:

• Friday, April 16, (8:32 am, -0.7)
• Saturday, April 17, (9:12 am, -0.7)
• Sunday, April 18, (9:56 am, -0.6)

Any 2009-10 annual shellfish/seaweed license or combination license is valid through March 31.  However, a new license will be required for anyone age 15 or older to participate in the April dig.  Descriptions of the various licensing options are available on the SDFW website at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov.

Volunteers are needed for the Children’s Loyalty Day Parade, being held on May 1st, 2010.

If you would like to help out, please come to a meeting, this Thursday, February 25, 2010, at 9:00am at the Port of Ilwaco.  We need all the volunteers that we can get!

Ilwaco, known as the ‘Fishing Capital of the West’, boasts of having the nicest port basin on the coast. Most of the waterfront consists of a large boat basin, which will accommodate 800 sport and commercial fishing vessels. Here experienced skippers continue a longtime tradition of this quaint fishing village: taking locals and visitors out on charter fishing trips.

New harvest guidelines approved by both states will limit this year’s catch below the dam to 24,000 fish, a 40 percent reduction from levels approved in 2009.  Of that total, 19,200 will be available for harvest by the sport fishery and 4,800 by the commercial fishery.
To increase protection for spawning sturgeon, fishery managers also agreed to expand the existing six-mile sanctuary area below Bonneville Dam, where sturgeon fishing is prohibited in late spring and early summer. The new agreement expands the sanctuary 3.5 miles downstream to Skamania Island and extends the fishing prohibition from May 1 to Aug. 31, adding the month of August.
Fishing seasons for retention of white sturgeon approved for the 2010 sport fishery in the Columbia River and adjacent tributaries are as follows:

Buoy 10 to the Wauna powerlines:   The retention fishery for white sturgeon will be open seven days per week from May 22 to June 26.  The fork length of retained sturgeon must be a minimum of 41 inches and a maximum of 54 inches.  Catch-and-release fishing is allowed during the rest of the year.

The fishing periods will be reassessed in June based on available catch data, and may be modified to match catch guidelines.  Any changes will be posted on the WDFW website ( http://wdfw.wa.gov/ ) and distributed to the news media.

Columbia River spring chinook season reflects extraordinary promise, caution.

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon today adopted fishing seasons for this year’s spring chinook fishery on the Columbia River, where the prized salmon are projected to return in the largest numbers since at least 1938.

Encouraged by a forecast of 559,900 returning fish, both states approved regulations that will provide Columbia River anglers with a full range of fishing opportunities above and below Bonneville Dam in March and April.

Buoy 10 upstream to the I-5 Bridge: Seven days per week from March 1 through April 18, except closed on the following Tuesdays: March 9, 16, 23 and 30. Anglers will be allowed to retain one adult spring chinook salmon per day.

Although spring chinook salmon do not begin to enter the Columbia River in large numbers until mid-March, some catches have already been reported.  Until March 1, the fishery is open under regulations described in the 2009-10 Fishing in Washington rule pamphlet ( http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm ).

As outlined in the rule pamphlet, anglers may retain shad and hatchery steelhead when fishing is open for spring chinook salmon.    

THIS POST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

The Children’s Loyalty Day Parade will be held on Saturday May 1st, 2010.

Plan to join us!

The Port of Ilwaco date for the 2010 Oregon Tuna Classic will be held on Saturday, July 31st. Hope to see you here.

RULES

Slow Drag at the Port of Ilwaco

1. Must have driver’s license & proof of insurance.
2. No tire spinning or excess engine revving.
3. Brake lights must be in working order.
4. Both cars leave the start at the same time.
5. Not to exceed 20 mph.
6. Put vehicle in neutral immediately upon crossing the “coast line” and keep it in neutral until vehicle comes to a stop.
7. Use of any brake prohibited.
8. Driver’s hands must stay at 10 & 2 position. Passenger’s hands remain visible.
9. Driver and passenger must remain in vehicle with nothing dragging.
10. Must stay in own lane.
11. Winner is vehicle closest to and with all wheels across finish line.

Judges decisions are final!!

Have fun!!