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