Puget Sound Anglers – Gig Harbor & Tacoma

Happy New Year!  With the start of a new year I’m inclined to set some new year’s resolutions.  For example, I resolve to fish at all of our PSA club outings in 2015 (work schedule permitting).  I resolve to sit down with my fishing buddy and plan out our annual fishing calendar… too many missed opportunities when we don’t plan.  I also resolve to fish a new marine area or river.  Finally, I resolve to get someone new interested in fishing.  Have you set any resolutions for 2015?  If not why not take some time to think about some 2015 bucket list items and go out and do them!

Our January meeting was the first meeting with our newly elected board members and I look forward to working with each of them in 2015.  We look forward to a really fun and informative year.  John Hagar of Southworth Marine could not speak at our January meeting as originally announced so Pete Chadwick from Riverbend Jigs and Bait came and spoke at our meeting.  Pete is the owner or should I say former owner of Riverbend Jigs and Bait.  He introduced Cody Hayes as the new owner.  Both spoke on river fishing for Coho and Steelhead using twitching jigs and jigs under a float.  It was very informative session.  I actually got to try my hand twitching jigs with Pete and fishing buddy and caught my first Satsop River Steelhead on the Thursday following our meeting.  Twitching works and it’s a lot of fun…  Resolve to give it a try.  There were not a lot of member fishing reports for January.  It did sound like razor clamming was excellent.  We had 2 new members join our club, welcome Ted and John.  We did have our monthly membership drawing and unfortunately the name drawn was not present.  That means that our February meeting will be $260.  A big thanks to Sourthworth Marine for sponsoring our membership drawing.  We concluded our meeting with our regular raffle drawing.  Oh and before I forget, now is the time to renew your membership.  Cost is a $30.00 donation and covers your entire family.

On January 17^th we held our first club outing on Lake Washington and fished for Cutthroat Trout.  It was a fun outing and the weather wasn’t bad.  It was the typical northwest drizzle but not very cold.  There were 3 fish caught.  This is a great fishery and doesn’t seem to get much fishing pressure.  Not sure who caught the largest fish, this will be announced at our February 10^th general meeting.  Our next club specific outing will be on May 21st.  We will be fishing for Kokanee on American Lake.

Our February 10^th meeting is our annual Crab Dinner and Awards Ceremony.  We need everyone who wants to join us for the crab dinner to RSVP by no later than February 3^rd.  We will be announcing the winners of our annual largest fish awards and our anger of the year award.   The dinner will begin at 6:00 PM followed by our general meeting at 7:00 PM.  Our speaker for February will be Eric Linde.  This will be my first time hearing Eric.  I have heard that he is a fantastic speaker and am really looking forward to hearing him.  Our March 10^th Speaker will be Todd Girtz from Todd’s Extreme Fishing.  He will be talking to us about his new business and coastal fishing opportunities.  It should be another great meeting.

In 2014 we had 163 active members in the Gig Harbor Chapter.  Our goal is to raise our membership to 200 in 2015.  If you want to become a better fisherman, come check us out!  Guests are always welcome.  Checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding our meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing…

Merry Christmas!  We had a phenomenal turnout for our December Christmas Party on December 9th.  I’d estimate that we had at least 150 in attendance from ages 1 to 89.  Santa Clause was also in attendance and all of the children were eager to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  Christina S. was an 89-years young guest had never had her picture taken with Santa.  Santa was happy to accommodate!  As is our custom, all the children received a gift.  We had a special ladies raffle along with our regular membership raffle.  There were lots of great prizes won.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and there was plenty of good eats.  I’d like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who volunteered and assisted with the cooking of turkeys and hams, kitchen crew, setup and cleanup crew!  

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  I hope everyone took advantage to get out and enjoy the many opportunities to fish and enjoy the great outdoors.  We are really fortunate to live where we do and have access to the fisheries we have!  Speaking of opportunities, the first meeting of the year will be on January 13^th.  We hope to see all of our members in attendance.  Our speaker for the January meeting will be John Hager of Southworth Marine.  John is a club member from our chapter and will be talking about boat winterization and proper maintenance.  I have heard John speak on several occasions and I always get good information on how to better care for my boat.  Our first club outing is on January 17^th.  We will be fishing Lake Washington for Cutthroat.  Specific details about this outing are posted on our website (https://www.gigharborpsa.org).  Our club will be working the Puget Sound Anglers booth at both the Puyallup Sportsman Show on January 24^th and the Seattle Boat Show on January 30^th.  If you want to find out more about the PSA Gig Harbor Chapter stop by the booth and we would be happy to answer any questions.  

In 2014 we had 163 active members in the Gig Harbor Chapter.  Now’s a great time to renew your membership or become a new member.  Membership is a $30 donation and covers your family.  You can do this at one of our upcoming meetings or sign-up/renew online at our website. 

Checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding our meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing…

Our November meeting was held on November 11^th.  Turnout was decent considering that a good number of our club members attend the annual Mexico trip to Van Wormer’s resort and the fact that weather was not very accommodating.  With that said, those who were in attendance had a great meeting.  We held our monthly membership drawing and Bill Brengman won the $260 that is generously donated by Southworth Marine Services.  That means we will start the membership drawing in January at $150 (there will be no drawing at our Christmas party in December).  We didn’t have many fishing reports this month so hopefully the members who were in Mexico picked up the slack.  Our speaker for the night was Jim Owens.   Jim is the founder of the CAST for Kids Program.  They have fantastic program that serves children (especially special needs children) and parents from various communities around our nation.   The talk was very informative and hopefully gave a unique perspective about the mission and goals of the CAST for Kids organization.  I know that our chapter is actively involved in some of the events that take place locally and we look forward to assisting in the future.  To find out more about the CAST for Kids programs checkout their website at http://www.castforkids.org.    Our meeting concluded with our regular raffle drawing. 

We have one final outdoor activity for 2014.  December 6^th will be our Annual Dick Smythe Memorial Derby, which is open to club members only.  We will be fishing area 11 from dawn until noon with noon being the official weigh-in time at The Tides Tavern Dock.   Biggest fish gets $100.00 and also buys the first round of beverages at The Tides Tavern.  Speaking of club membership, now is the time to renew your membership for 2015.  Cost is a $30.00 donation and covers your family.  In 2014 we had 163 active members in our Gig Harbor Chapter.  Now’s a great time to renew your membership or become a new member.  Our goal is to grow our club in 2015 so come check us out.  We have great speakers each month and we have a variety of club activities throughout the year.  If you like to fish or want to learn about fishing, what are you waiting for?  On December 9^th, we will hold our Annual Christmas Party.  Dinner will be served at 6:00 PM.  This is a family event.  If you have children that will be attending, we ask that you RSVP to 253-255-8168.  We need the age and gender of your kids so Santa knows what age appropriate gift to deliver.  For the potluck, we ask that you bring the following items:

Last Name Begins With:
A – I = Desert

J – R = Side Dish

S – Z = Salad

Checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding our meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   We have one of the best fishing clubs around!  Stop waiting and come check us out.  Guests are always welcome.  Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing…

For our October meeting we held our last club-only garage sale for 2014.  A lot of good stuff at bargain prices.  Thank you to everyone who participated.    Our general meeting started at 7:00 PM.  We held our annual club elections for new officers.  The following club members have been elected for 2015:

President – Jeff Zuniga

Vice President – Andy Gakin

Secretary – Bob Watts

Treasurer – Thom Names

Congratulations to everyone elected and thanks for serving our club!  The newly elected officers will officially begin their roles in January.   We had 2 new members join our club.  Welcome Rod Friesen and Ken Pfeifle.  We held our monthly membership drawing and there was no winner.  That means the drawing will be $260 for the November meeting. A big thanks to Southworth Marine for continuing to sponsor our monthly membership drawing.  Our speaker for the night was Andy Anderson from King Trailers (http://www.kingtrailers.com).  Andy is the sales manager and has been involved in the trailer industry for many years.  He shared a lot of good information especially about some of the newer features that are available on trailers as well as upgrades that can be retrofit on your existing trailer.  This was very informative talk and very well received by our members.  Thanks again Andy.  We concluded our meeting with our regular raffle drawing.

Calling all derby sponsors and volunteers…Our derby in 2015 will be our 20^th year and we plan on making it our biggest and best!  We have begun recruiting our volunteers that will be needed to help plan and organize our 2015 derby.  Get involved and support your club!  As we announced previously, our club is now officially a 501c3.  Donations to our club are now tax-deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.

The November meeting will feature Jim Owens from the C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation.  This is one of the primary organizations we like to help support.  Don’t miss out and find out more about the C.A.S.T for Kids Foundation.  In December we will hold our Christmas Potluck Dinner.  There will be no guest speakers for this meeting, but I have been told there will be a special appearance by a man in a red suit that hails from the North Pole.    This is a family event and will be the last club activity for 2014.  The last club outing will be our annual Dick Smythe Derby on December 6th.  This is a club-only event in honor of Dick Smythe.  We will be fishing area 11 and weigh-in will be at the Tides Tavern at noon.  Checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding our meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   We have one of the best fishing clubs around!  Stop waiting and come check us out.  Guests are always welcome.  Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing