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Craig Hill
253-597-8497
craig.hill@thenewstribune.com
Jeff Mayor
253-597-8640
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com
John Otness of Tacoma landed a 17.6-pound salmon and the $10,000 check for winning last weekend’s Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
Fishing report
Saturday marks the opening of shrimp season across Puget Sound.
Whether you're looking for fish, shrimp or razor clams the opportunities are abundant this weekend.
With some changes to account for the pink salmon run later this summer, salmon fishing seasons in the South Sound are identical to last season.
I would imagine most folks are already on the water this morning because today is the opening of the lowland-lakes trout season. Slowly warming water temperatures, plus a good weather forecast should mean lots of folks will be out this weekend.
This will be a busy weekend, with the start of the lowland lakes trout season Saturday, the closing of salmon fishing off Tacoma on Saturday and the opening of lingcod season Sunday.
This year's South Sound recreational salmon fishing seasons will be nearly identical to last year's.
Anglers who have fished the Columbia River know firsthand, but a state report said this year's catch rate is the lowest since at least 2000. Through Sunday, just 659 adult chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam. Last year 7,148 fish had been counted at this time. The recent 10-year average is 16,764.
If you have the urge to go fishing, do so before the rains return tonight as predicted. The local lakes that are open have been producing good catches of trout. River fishing is a little trickier because many are still high.