Puget Sound Anglers – Gig Harbor & Tacoma

June President message

Club Members,

Well, June is finally here, and for us in Marine Area 11 that means the beginning of chinook season. On May 20th, WDFW announced the opening of MA-11 for salmon fishing seven days a week, starting June 1. It is scheduled to be open the whole month of June, but if similar to recent years, that may be dependent on available quota and test fisheries. If you are able to get out and fish, be careful, as I am sure there will be a lot of other boats out in Marine Areas 11 and 13. These are the only areas open to salmon fishing in the Puget Sound.

On May 9th, the club participated in the annual Point Defiance Boathouse rummage sale. Although not as profitable for the club as compared to recent years, we still had a successful sale. Thank you to the club members who donated items for sale this year.

In addition to the rummage sale, our club sponsored a youth trout pond at the Boathouse. This was an extremely successful activity. We don’t have a way of tracking the exact number of kids who participated, but I’m sure there were many more than 150. There were a LOT of very happy and excited kids, who caught a LOT of fish. Some of the kids didn’t want to stop, so they caught two, three, four, five and even six fish. The sheer joy and overwhelming excitement of the kids as they caught their first ever fish, made sponsoring the event well worth the effort.

Thank you to the many volunteers who helped with the rummage sale and trout pond: Les, Pete, Patrick, Michael, Dan, Everett, Jim, Joe, and Ted. And a special thanks to Art and Ron who worked many hours behind the scenes to coordinate procuring the trout pond. This day wouldn’t have been possible without the help of these volunteers.

Our club has been asked to help with trout ponds during two weekends at Bass Pro Shop in Tacoma and Cabela’s in Lacey. The dates are June 13th and 14th, and June 20th and 21st. Times are 10:00am to 2:00pm each day. We have asked the South Sound PSA chapter to help with the Cabela’s trout pond. Please consider helping at either of these venues on any of the dates.

Heads up on another potential volunteer opportunity. We have been asked to help with the trout pond at the State Fair in Puyallup this year. The dates and times are yet to be determined, but have been told volunteers will be provided free access to the fair, free parking, and lunch or dinner. We have also asked the Auburn and South Sound PSA chapters to assist. As we obtain more information about this activity, we will let you know.

A few Key dates for upcoming club activities. The dates will also be available on the website and at our monthly meetings. Trout ponds June 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st, the Annual salmon derby August 8th, club picnic on Saturday September 12th.

Thank you to the May guest speaker Rob Larson and to Tech Tips presenter Tony Scoccolo. Unfortunately, I was not present, but I heard both had excellent presentations and had a lot of timely information.

The guest speaker for our June club meeting is Jason Van, from Father and Son Tackle. Jason and Tyler design and manufacture their own line of jigs and tackle. Hopefully, Tony shared one of his favorite jigs, a jig made by Father and Son Tackle. The Tech Tips topic is another one of great interest to us in the south sound, especially since the season opening is next month. Club member Larry will be discussing tips and techniques he uses for very successful crabbing in Puget Sound.

As you may know, club member Phillip Olson of Badger Fishing, donated a new Scotty 2500 electric line puller for our big ticket item raffle. Raffle tickets will be sold at all club events and activities. Price is $10 per ticket. The Scotty 2500 electric line puller raffle drawing will be held at our annual Christmas dinner, scheduled for Friday, December 4th. You do not need to be present at the Christmas party to win. See Jeff Stockman (the raffle guy) to purchase the raffle tickets.

As you may have seen in recent emails from the club, the Point Defiance netpen salmon are in great shape, large and healthy. The Clarks Creek hatchery manager said the Salmon need to be released soon. The salmon will be released on Wednesday, June 3rd at 11:30 am. Help is needed to remove the predator suppression material, drop the corner of the inside net, pull corner weights and push the Salmon out. After the salmon are released we will then prepare the netpen for the second batch of salmon smolt, scheduled for delivery on June 8th at 10:00 am. There will not be any feeding of the smolts after June 3rd until June 10th.

We still need volunteers to assist with the feeding. The fish are fed three times daily; morning, afternoon, and evening, and it only takes a few minutes to feed the fish. Please visit our web page to sign up to feed the fish. In addition, you are recognized as a volunteer and are eligible for the volunteer award drawing at the Christmas party. The first time you feed the fish, your name is added to the hat. And every five times thereafter, your name is added to the hat. We need your help, so please sign up.

During our May meeting, we did not have a winner in our monthly membership drawing. Through the generosity of John Haggard of Southworth Marine, the next membership drawing in June will be for an amount of $260. Be sure to come to the general meeting to be eligible for the drawing.

Our board meetings are held at Ben Dew’s Clubhouse on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. The address is 6501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA. All club members are invited, and encouraged to attend this meeting.

The next club meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 10th, at 7 pm at Tower Lanes, located at 6323 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA.

Thank you,

Bill Macaras, president GHPSA

Club Members,

The Blackmouth fishing season came and went, but while the season was open, it was fairly successful.  I saw, and heard of, some very nice fish getting caught during the eight days of fishing.  I know of one club member who caught an 18 lb fish!  We also had our club Blackmouth fishing event and a few fish were caught.  The largest caught and checked in was 5.71 lbs by Don Auman.  Congratulations Don!

Our annual clam and spaghetti dinner was held on Wednesday, April 8^th. By all accounts it was an enjoyable evening with some great food.  Thank you to the many volunteers who helped setup, cook, and clean up for the event. These events are not possible without your help.  A special thank you to Patrick and Alicia Sanchez for organizing another great event.

The guest speaker for our May club meeting is Rob Larsen, and the topic is on Baker Lake sockeye fishing.  Rob is an avid angler and is an expert on the Baker Lake fishery.  Many of you know Rob as he is the long time president of the Save our Fish chapter of Puget Sound Anglers in Auburn, and helps our club with the nutrient enhancement program in the fall.  The Tech Tips topic is another one of great interest to us in the south sound.  Club member Tony Scoccolo will be discussing tips and techniques he uses for very successful jig fishing, and will even be sharing (showing) some of his favorite jigs. (Club secret – the maker and seller of those jigs is our June speaker).

We had a club member donate a new Scotty 2500 electric line puller for our big ticket item raffle.  Raffle tickets will be sold at all club events and will be sold for $10 per ticket.  The Scotty 2500 electric line puller raffle drawing will be held at our annual Christmas dinner, scheduled for Friday, December 4^th.  You do not need to be present at the Christmas party to win.  See Jeff Stockman (the raffle guy) to purchase the raffle tickets.

The annual Pt. Defiance Boathouse rummage sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 9^th, 9:00 am until 3:00 pm.  We will again have a booth at the rummage sale and are looking for donated items for our booth, preferably fishing and outdoor related items, but any items in good repair will be appreciated.   We will also have a youth trout pond and will need lots of volunteers to help with the youth fishing pond, please consider helping.  You can bring donated items to the Boathouse Marina on the morning of May 9^th.

The chinook salmon smolt have arrived and are happily swimming in our net pens.  We need volunteers to assist with the feeding.  The fish are fed three times daily; morning, afternoon, and evening, and it only takes a few minutes to feed the fish.  Please visit our web page to sign up to feed the fish.  In addition, you are recognized as a volunteer and are eligible for the volunteer award drawing at the Christmas party.  The first time you feed the fish, your name is added to the hat.  And every five times thereafter, your name is added to the hat.  We need your help, so please sign up.

The South Sound PSA chapter (Lacey area) is also sponsoring a trout pond at Columbus Park, on Black Lake on May 9th.  Unfortunately it is the same date as our trout pond and the swap meet, but if you are down that way and want to help them, they would appreciate it.  They will be setting the pond up on the 7^th and could use some help with this as well.  Contact their president, Ken Tackett (ktack174@comcast.net) for more information.

During our March meeting, we had a winner in our monthly membership drawing.  The winner took home $150.  Through the generosity of John Haggard of Southworth Marine, the next membership drawing in May will be for an amount of $150.  Be sure to come to the general meeting to be eligible for the drawing. 

Our board meetings are held at Ben Dew’s Clubhouse on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. The address is 6501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA.  All club members are invited, and encouraged to attend this meeting.

The next club meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 13th, at 7 pm at Tower Lanes, located at 6323 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA.

Thank you,

Bill Macaras, president GHPSA 

Club Members,

Well, fishing season is upon us. Springer fishing on the Columbia River, Blackmouth fishing in areas 10 and 11, and freshwater lakes open later this month. Here we go!

Area 11 Blackmouth fishing opens on Wednesday, April 1st this year, and is open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, until quotas are met. Thus, the club members only annual Dick Smythe fishing outing will be held on Saturday April 4th, from daylight to the weigh-in at 11:30 am. The cost is $10 per person and you must be a paid member to participate. Signup with the club president ahead of time. At the time this is being written, it looks like the weather will be partly sunny and favorable winds. But, if the event is cancelled because of weather, participants will be notified via email ASAP or not later than early Friday evening.

The annual clam and spaghetti dinner is scheduled for Wednesday, April 8th, 6:00 pm. Because we had to order the clams, you must have signed up ahead of time to participate. The price of the dinner remains at $20.00 per person. The dinner will be held at the VFW hall, 4741 N Baltimore St, Tacoma, WA.

Heads up for our May club meeting. Our guest speaker is Rob Larsen, president of the South King County PSA chapter, and the topic is on Baker Lake sockeye fishing. The Tech Tips topic is another one of interest to us in the south sound. Tony Scoccolo will be discussing tips and techniques for successful jig fishing.

The annual Pt. Defiance Boathouse rummage sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 9th. We will again have a booth at the rummage sale. We are looking for donated items for our booth, preferably fishing and outdoor related items, but any items in good repair will be appreciated. If you have anything to donate, you can bring it to the clam and spaghetti dinner or to the booth the morning of the event on May 9th. We will also have a youth trout pond and will need lots of volunteers to help with the youth fishing pond, please consider helping.

Thank you to the many volunteers who helped with the youth fishing ponds at Cabela’s and at Bass Pro on March 14th and 15th. Hundreds of kids participated and lots of fish were caught. Then on March 16th we had 21 club members help with the net pen project to assemble the pens, clean the nets, and install the nets and predator fencing. A lot of work was accomplished in such a short time frame. A huge thank you to the South Sound PSA chapter for assisting our chapter with all these events.

The chinook salmon smolt’s are scheduled for delivery the week of April 7th. We will need volunteers to assist with the feeding. The fish are fed three times daily; morning, afternoon, and evening, and it only takes a few minutes to feed the fish. A club email will be sent when a date is confirmed for people to sign up for the feeding. Please visit our web page to sign up to feed the fish, just click on the “Netpen Feeding Schedule” in the banner. In addition, you are recognized as a volunteer and are eligible for the volunteer award drawing at the Christmas party. The first time you feed the fish, your name is added to the hat. And every five times thereafter, your name is added to the hat. We need your help, so please sign up.

During our March meeting, we had a winner in our monthly membership drawing. The winner took home $150. Through the generosity of John Haggard of Southworth Marine, the next membership drawing in May will be for an amount of $150. A membership drawing will not be held at the clam and spaghetti dinner. Be sure to come to the general meeting to be eligible for the drawing.

Our board meetings are held at Ben Dew’s Clubhouse on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. The address is 6501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA. All club members are invited, and encouraged to attend this meeting.

This month’s club meeting has been preempted by the clam and spaghetti dinner, so there will not be a club meeting in April. The next club meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 13th, at 7 pm at Tower Lanes, located at 6323 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA.

Thank you,
Bill Macaras, president

March Message

Club Members,

Here we are nearly a quarter of the way through the new year, and before you know it, Blackmouth and springer seasons will be upon us. Soon we will be back on the water chasing some of our favorite fish.

Area 11 Blackmouth fishing is scheduled to open on Wednesday, April 1st this year, and is open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, until quotas are met. Thus, the club members only annual Dick Smyth fishing outing will be held on Saturday April 4th, from daylight to the weigh-in at 11:30 am. The cost is $10 per person and you must be a paid member to participate. Sign up and pay before April 4th. Contact Bill Macaras if you plan to participate. More details will be available at the March 11th meeting.

The speaker for our March meeting will be Scotty Fishing representative, Nate Alvord. Nate will be sharing information about new Scotty products and downrigger maintenance and repair. There will not be a Tech Tips presentation this month.

While we are at our March 11th meeting, the wives are having a get together at Ben Dew’s Clubhouse restaurant, 6501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA. This is an excellent opportunity for the wives to meet, socialize, and have fun. All wives are encouraged to attend as Alicia has fun and engaging activities planned. A special thank you to Alicia Sanchez for coordinating this activity.

Art Tachell is working on a potential volunteer activity for Saturday and Sunday, March 14th and 15th. This is Cabela’s annual trout pond at its store in Lacey. The times are 11:00am to 4:00pm each day. We assisted with this event last year and it helps kids learn and enjoy trout fishing. More information will be available at the March club meeting.

The annual clam and spaghetti dinner is scheduled for April 8th, 6:00 pm. Remember to sign up for the dinner, and specify the number clam dinners. The price of the dinner remains at $20.00 per person. You must sign up ahead of time, either at the March club meeting, or online, by March 31st. The dinner is held at the VFW hall, 4741 N Baltimore St, Tacoma, WA.

During our February meeting, we had a winner in our monthly membership drawing, and if I correctly recall, it was a new club member who won $370. Through the generosity of John Haggard of Southworth Marine, the next membership drawing in February will be for an amount of $150. Be sure to come to the general meeting to be eligible for the drawing.

Our board meetings are held at Ben Dew’s Clubhouse on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. The address is 6501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA. All club members are invited, and encouraged to attend this meeting.

This month’s club meeting will be held on the second Wednesday of the month, March 11th, at 7 pm at Tower Lanes, located at 6323 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA.

Thank you,

Bill Macaras, president

Club Members,

I hope you and your family are doing well and your new year is off to a great start. And even though this is a relatively quiet time for the club, the club officers and Board members are busy planning the activities and events for this new year.

During the last club meeting, past president Pat Leahy offered to coordinate a razor clam digging club activity/outing. He is proposing an outing on either Saturday, February 28th or on Sunday March 1st. Low tides on these days are at approximately 4:45 pm with digging starting 1 to 2 hours prior to low tide. The location (Westport, Mocrocks, or Copalis) will be finalized later. Pat has extra clam guns and will provide instructions and assistance as desired. We will also have a wood fire with food and snacks available. If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible so we can plan and coordinate this activity. Please send me an email at wmacaras@centurytel.net.

The speakers at our February meeting will be Art Tachell and Wayne Harmond. They will be discussing and sharing some of the results of our chinook net pen rearing project. It should be an interesting and informative presentation. The Tech Tips presentation this month will be on tackle and boat organization tips and tricks. (If I can remember to bring the materials this month!!) Don Auman has offered to bring his materials again. Thank you Don! Remember, if you have a special way or tip of doing something, consider sharing it in Tech Tips.

The annual Puyallup Sportsman Show last day is February 1st, and the Seattle Boat show began on January 30th and runs until February 7th. Our club manned the PSA Sportsman Show booth on Saturday, January 31st and will be manning the Seattle Boat show booth on February 7th. If you make it to the show, make sure you stop by and say hi. Thank you to Larry for planning the booths and coordinating our volunteers.

Reminder, the 2025 membership expires January 31st and the 2026 annual dues is due by February 1st. If you have not yet renewed your dues, please do so at the next meeting. Let’s keep our membership chair, Phil Crouch, busy during the meetings. You can also scan the QR code below that will take you to our web site, and pay via PayPal. Membership dues for 2026 remains at $40. You must be an up-to-date registered member to be eligible for the membership drawing.

At our January meeting, we did not have a winner in our monthly membership drawing. Through the generosity of John Haggard of Southworth Marine, the next membership drawing in February will be for an amount of $370. Be sure to come to the general meeting to be eligible for the drawing.

We have begun the process of planning for our annual August salmon derby. Please remember, that we depend on volunteers to make this club, and events such as this, run smoothly. We will need your continued help to ensure this event is a success.

And finally, thank you to every one who completed a club survey during last months club meeting. All comments are reviewed and help direct discussions and decisions for the club this year.

Our board meetings are held at Ben Dew’s Clubhouse on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. The address is 6501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA. All club members are invited, and encouraged to attend this meeting.

This month’s club meeting will be held on the second Wednesday of the month, February 11th, at 7 pm at Tower Lanes, located at 6323 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA.

Thank you,

Bill Macaras, president