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Washington Salmon, Steelhead, and Sturgeon Fishing Guides, Charters & Trips
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Early start means big Bubble of opportunity
Washington fishing map feature
By Joel Shangle
Fishing and Hunting News
When the North of Falcon honchos put their stamp of approval on the 2001-2002 salmon regulations, they threw a two-weekend gift to anglers cozy with Marine Area 8-2: they set the opener of the Tulalip Bay Terminal Fishery — the famed Tulalip Bubble — two full weeks earlier than last year. For the first time in recent memory, you'll have the opportunity to slap a fresh Tulalip Hatchery king steak on your Fourth of July barbecue.
"Them opening that fishery two weeks earlier than last year equates to two more full weekends of fishing," noted Gary Krein at All Star Charters (425-252-4188) in Everett, Wash. "It's a weekend-only fishery, but that early opener still leaves you with two weekends in early July that we didn't have last year. "That's by no means the peak of the run, and I don't think the opening weekend will be a fair indicator of how the rest of the season is going to go. But there are enough early kings that arrive there'll that allow you to catch a fish." Tulalip timing As Krein notes, the peak of the Tulalip king run is well past the July 1 opener, roughly around the first week in August. But the timing of the fishery isn't quite as important as the opportunity presented by those two bonus weekends. "Oh, I'd expect it to be better around Aug. 1 than I would at the opener," he said. "The timing of the peak of the run is certainly later than the start of the season. But there'll be fish there to catch right from the first day, and I think it'll just improve from there. I don't think the timing is as important for these hatchery fish as it is for native fish, though." Cookie cutters The majority of the Tulalip summer fishery is composed of 4-year-old fish, most ranging into the high teens. There will, of course, be a number of 20-plus-pounders caught, as well, but most Tulalip kings are standard "teenager" fish that could all be twins of one another.
"These fish run a pretty fair average," Krein said. "There have been fish caught in the 50s and sublegal blackmouth. It runs the gamut, but I'd say that teenagers are the norm. A 15- to 19-pound fish is about average." Limited area The fishery's boundaries are defined as such: 1) To the east by a line running across the mouth of Tulalip Bay, from Hermosa Point to Mission Point; 2) To the south by the pilings at the old Bowers Resort; 3) To the north by a boundary marker falling roughly 1.4 miles north of Hermosa Point; 4) No more than 2,000 feet offshore from the northern and southern boundaries. "It's not a very large area to fish in — it isn't three miles from one end to the other, and it's only 2,000 feet wide," Krein said. "In relation to the entire marine area, it's pretty small. It's a congested fishery, with quite a number of boats. It's not open, pristine-water fishing. You put in your time and you catch your fish." The Bubble's limited space is plenty fishy, and it'll get even fishier after Aug. 1, when humpies and silvers become legal keepers.
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