There are plenty of fishing options to ring in the New Year, including razor clam digging on all coastal beaches.
Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches will open Sunday; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks and Kalaloch will open Monday; and Twin Harbors will also be open Tuesday.
Digging is allowed from noon to midnight each day.
"We had good clam digging on all the open beaches," said Dan Ayres, the head state Fish and Wildlife coastal shellfish biologist.
The average catch was about 14.4 clams per person, but Kalaloch didn't fare as well.
Steelhead action continues to garner plenty of attention.
"The terminal areas of many rivers have been smoking and there are no complaints from anyone I've talked to," said Bryan Nelson at Three Rivers Marine and Tackle in Woodinville. "I fished the Stilly and it was fairly good at Fortson Hole, and from Hazel to C-Post."
On the Skykomish, anglers continue to find fair steelhead fishing at Reiter Ponds and above Sultan. The Wallace River has been off and on for steelhead. The Snoqualmie River around the Big Eddy and Tokul Creek is good when fishable.
The Cascade River remains decent, and the Skagit River drift from above the Sauk to the Cascade continues to benefit from the hefty steelhead smolt plant at the Barnaby Slough Rearing Ponds.
Steelhead fishing on the northern coast remains productive between rainstorms.
"They did pretty well down by the hatchery on the Bogachiel, and a few came out of the Calawah," said Bob Gooding, owner of Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks.
The Soleduck, Hoh, Queets and Salmon rivers should have some fish as well.
Some Southwest Washington rivers, including the Satsop, Wishkah and Willapa have decent fishing for late arriving coho.
"The Satsop River should be full of late-timed mint bright coho, and that will offer a good show when you can at them," said Tony Floor, director of fishing affairs for Northwest Marine Trade Association.
Those opting for steelhead can try the Wynoochee, but the Humptulips was still high and murky as of yesterday.
Tributaries feeding into the Columbia River were swollen with water Tuesday, but some managed to find steelhead.
"Every river has got fish and quite a few people are catching them, but I wouldn't say it is of the limit variety," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "We had quite a bit of rain so the bankies are having a better go ."
While the water was high and dirty, the Lewis River was fair for steelhead and some winter chinook. Starting Monday, anglers on the Lewis may keep only hatchery-marked chinook. The Cowlitz River was also murky, but late last week anglers averaged one steelhead for every two to three rods.
"A fair amount of fish have returned this past week to Kalama Falls Hatchery," said Chris Wagemann with state Fish and Wildlife. "Water conditions have not been favorable to boaters this season, however it is still fishable."
Other places worth looking at for steelhead are the Grays, Elochoman, Washougal and Salmon Creek in Clark County.
No recent reports from beach anglers, but Whidbey Island at Fort Casey, and Bush and Lagoon points should be target areas for migrating steelhead.
Top spots of the week
1. Salmon in Puget Sound: "We fished Friday, Saturday and Monday, and got fish on each trip in Saratoga Pass at Elger Bay, along Langley and Camano Island, but no one spot was better than any other," said Gary Krein of All-Star Charters in Everett.
"In Area 8-2, the hatchery mark rate for all the blackmouth I've caught was 75 percent, but fish of legal-size in December, I've taken 15 fish and released just one," Krein said.
In central and south central Puget Sound, fishing is slow to fair.
"Slow action for 35 Tengu members as only two fish were weighed in," said Doug Hanada, president of the Tengu Derby in Elliott Bay. "The lone blackmouth came from Fourmile Rock, and a late chum was taken from Todd Shipyards."
Tengu results: Ken Ekwall, 4-pound, 4-ounce chinook; Mike Mizumori, 8-8 chum. Final season results: 1, Mas Tahara, 11-6 chinook; 2, Tom Neu, 11-0; 3, Steve Nitta, 8-9; 4, Ken Ekwall, 6-10; 5, Jon Sardeson, 6-2.
Elsewhere look for chinook at Kingston, Jefferson Head, Blake Island, Southworth, Allen Bank, Manchester, Tacoma area and West Point. Fair for resident coho off Doc's Beach, Tacoma-Narrows areas, Point Fosdick and Colvos Passage.
2. Squid in Puget Sound: Off and on jigging at Pier 86 off Elliott Avenue, along the Seattle waterfront piers, and the Edmonds, Redondo, Seacrest, Des Moines and Bremerton piers.
3. Trout and coho in statewide lakes and reservoirs: "The weather has been cold, but the fishing on Lake Chelan has been hot," said Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad's Family Guide Service. "The lower basin from Rocky Point to Pat and Mike's has been lights out. We have been averaging upwards of three fish per hour."
Locally, Lake Stevens has been good for broodstock trout. Lone Lake is worth a try for trout. Pass Lake near Deception Pass should kick out some brown and rainbow trout.
On Dec. 18, Klineline Pond was planted with 850 half-pound rainbows, and 32 bank anglers last week kept 23 trout.
Riffe Lake was planted with 134 cutthroat trout averaging a pound apiece on Dec. 19.
Battleground Lake was planted with 2,000 half-pound rainbows on Dec. 18.
Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com
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