The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) cleared the way for yet another Razor Clam dig for the end of April and early May at up to five area beaches. These will all be early morning low tide openings. No digging will be allowed on any of the days after Noon.

Be advised that some of the beaches south of Twin Harbors have been closed to vehicular access. Always be sure that you’re driving on packed sand, or trust me, you’ll be packing sand!

Beach openings, along with morning low tides, will be:

• Tuesday, April 27, 6:21 a.m., -1.0 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Wednesday, April 28, 7:06 a.m., -1.4 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Thursday, April 29, 7:50 a.m., -1.6 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Friday, April 30, 8:32 a.m., -1.5 ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks

• Saturday, May 1, 9:15 a.m., -1.0ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

• Sunday, May 2, 9:58 a.m., -0.7ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

On May 1st, the Puget Sound’s recreational shrimp season opens. Mark O’Toole, WDFW’s Puget Sound Shrimp Management Biologist, predicts that the 2010 Shrimp season could possibly yield one of the highest catch-per-pot ratios we’ve seen in the past 10 years! Overall, it’s expected that Puget Sound sports fishers will pull approximately 130,000 pounds of spot shrimp out of area waters during the course of the season. Now doesn’t that make your mouth water?

Fishing will be open in the following areas:

• Marine Areas 4 (east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 and 6 (excluding shrimp districts), will open daily beginning May 1 at 7 a.m. The spot shrimp season closes when quota is attained or Sept. 15, whichever comes first.
• Marine Area 6 (Discovery Bay) will be open May 1 and 5 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 7 opens May 1 at 7 a.m., and will be open on May 5, 6, 7, 8, 21 and 22. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Areas 8, 9 and 10 will be open May 1 and 5 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 11 , from the northern tip of Vashon Island to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, will be open May 1 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) will be open May 1, 5, 8 and 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 13 will open daily beginning May 1 at 7 a.m. through May 31.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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During an upcoming public meeting scheduled for Feb. 4 thru 6 in Olympia, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider adopting a new package of sportfishing rules for 2010-12, as well as updates to the Columbia River sturgeon management policy.

Of particular interest is a proposed change to the Dungeness Crab Season and Daily Limit. This past year when the season opened, recreational crabbing was allowed each week from Wednesday through Saturday, with a legal limit of 5 per day, per licensed person. The newly proposed rules would change the allowable days for crabbing to Friday through Monday, and reduce the legal limit down to 4 per day, per licensed person.

While the day changes are certainly welcome, it’s hard to swallow (or maybe I should say ‘not’ to swallow) the reduction in daily limits. This is the second time in recent years that the limit amount has been lowered.

The commission, a nine-member citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will convene for its regular meeting Feb. 5-6 in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. both days.

For more information, go to WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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No sweat, this is the Pacific Northwest! We always have an abundance of yummy foodstuff hanging around the waters of Hood Canal. For this occasion, I thought a big pot of freshly steamed native Littleneck Clams would fit the bill nicely.

Fortunately, we have a number of easily accessible beaches in which to find our delicious bounty.

First thing, you’ll want to select which beach you plan to dig at. The WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife has a nice mapping program that identifies area beaches and their relevant regulations. Be mindful of the appropriate ‘season’ or time of year that each beach is open and clamming is allowed. Also be aware of beaches that are closed due to health concerns.

Second, check your local tide schedule. The best clamming is always during low tide, preferably a minus tide. I use the tide tables at SaltwaterTides.com. Just scroll down to the specific area within the Puget Sound, then enter the particular date you’re going to go dig. I usually try to get out to the beach about an hour before the peak of low tide.

Personally I prefer the Littleneck Clams. They steam up easily and taste incredible dipped in drawn butter. When you steam your clams, throw in some butter, parsley, chopped garlic, and white wine. The broth is almost as good as the clams!

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com and SOUNDBITEBLOG, or email at rich@windermere.com

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One of the many benefits of boating on the Hood Canal is recreational crabbing. The Dungeness Crab is the prized catch in these waters. The season typically opens the first week of July and runs through Labor Day weekend. The Washington Department of Fish & Game is extremely active in monitoring sports fishing in our state, so you better be in compliance with all current rules and regulations! (WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife)

We launch our boat out at Miami Beach in Seabeck WA. We learned through experience to be mindful of the tide schedule. If you go out too close to low tide, you will have a rough time getting your boat down the ramp. So we usually launch an hour or two before the peak of high tide. (WA Tide Schedules)

Once on the water, we head over towards Dabob Bay, just around the Toandoes Peninsula, and prepare to lower our crab pots. You can purchase crabbing gear from the Sportsman Warehouse in Silverdale. You can figure on spending a minimum of $80 per rig, including the crap pot (cage), buoy & flag, 100′ of weighted line, bait box, and weights. Being bottom-dwellers, crabs will eat just about anything, but they seem to be partial to salmon guts. Several of our area supermarkets (Silverdale Red Apple Market and Central Market in Poulsbo WA) save the guts when they clean the fish, and sell them for crab bait.

We lower the crab pots (usually in about 60 to 100 feet of water) and then head over to Pleasant Harbor, a quaint little port nestled on the Olympic side. They have a convenience store, pizza parlor, and deck overlooking the harbor. We’ll grab some cold drinks, pork-out on pizza, and catch some rays as we wait a couple hours in hopeful expectation that our pots will fill up.

We head back and pull up our crab pots, carefully extracting the prized booty. We prefer to clean the crabs while we’re out on the water. It makes for less clean-up later and allows you to put more edible crab into the pot when cooking. We also bring salt water back with us, to use for boiling the crab in. Some people prefer to use fresh water and add a crab boil spice pouch. I have found that boiling the crab in saltwater gives it a really great natural flavor. There is a difference of opinion on how long to boil the crab. I have found that 12 to 15 minutes after reaching boiling point is more than enough time. I’ll drain the water, and put the crab into a big stainless bowl, covering it with ice to cool it quickly. Some people like to dip their crab in melted butter, but I prefer to eat it right out of the shell.

There are few things better in life than spending a few relaxing hours out on the Hood Canal, bringing home some fresh crab, and porking out!

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, and SOUNDBITEBLOG.

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