GIG HARBOR PUGET SOUND ANGLERS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE April 2022
NOTE: THE GOVERNOR’S INDOOR MASK MANDATE HAS BEEN LIFTED AND OUR CURRENT VENUE OF TOWER LANES IS NOW LONGER REQUIRING MASKS NOR WILL PSAGH. IF YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WEARING A MASK WHILE ATTENDING OUR UPCOMING MEETINGS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DO SO.
Our next scheduled meeting will be on Wednesday, April 13 at Tower Lanes located at 6323 6th Ave., Tacoma, telephone 253-564-8853. The meeting will start at 7:00 PM but feel free to come early and swap fish stories or grab something to eat from the grill. Our April speaker will be Capt. Tommy Donlin whose presentation will be TUNA TUNA TUNA! Tommy is a regular presenter at events such as the Seattle Boat Show. I have had the pleasure of sitting through his presentation a couple of times and look forward to another refresher and more opportunity for Q&A. With Covid limiting some potential speakers if you have a suggestion or wish to volunteer please let me know. Keep checking out our Facebook page for speaker updates.
Our March meeting was a full house with several new members and a couple of old members renewing so as to be eligible for the membership drawing sponsored by John Hager’s Southworth Marine of Port Orchard. The drawing had grown to $930. Tom Owens’ name was drawn but he was not present so the drawing purse will grow to $1,040 for April.
When I invited WDFW Region 6 Director Larry Phillips to be our March speaker little did I know that he was considering leaving WDFW. As a result his presentation was a combination of how our fisheries are managed to include the various layers of bureaucracy as well as some personal glimpses into his career with WDFW (1996-2022) and particularly his time as Region 6 Director (2016-2022. One thing Larry stressed was the need for the sport fishing groups to work together on issues rather than being fragmented. Sage advice from a guy who has seen it play out.
FYI the USCG has a couple of recent regulatory rules of interest. Without going into detail there is one for boats less than 26 feet to have an engine kill switch attached to operator when on plane. That does not apply for boats with helm in an enclosed area. The other is that fire extinguishers will be considered expired after 12 years from the date of manufacture. Check them out for the details.
The collaborative salmon rearing net pen project is moving forward with 100K Chinook expected to be delivered mid-April (50K from the Puyallup tribe and 50K from WDFW). Special thanks to the Puyallup tribe for ensuring that the Corps of Engineers will be issuing a permit in time for this year. There will be several work parties so if you are interested keep an eye on our FB page.
Finally, we are getting started on our 2022 Derby which is scheduled for Saturday, 13 August. We have been engaged in conversations with Metro Parks Tacoma to minimize any potential conflicts with their planning for summer events at nearby Dune Park.