Many people walking the Ilwaco docks have heard rumors or seen new boats in the harbor which they had not been previously been accustomed to seeing. This is the latest update on a couple of the recent changes.

The Big Dipper, which I have owned and operated for the past six years, was sold in October 2006 to Sea Sport Fishing Charters. The Dipper was then extensively outfitted with a live well for crab along with davit, and will be moving to a new moorage in Westport. The Big Dipper will be operating as a charter boat during the summer and a commercial fishing and crabber during the rest of the year. A sad goodbye for me but a great rebirth for a tremendous offshore boat. Taking its place in the Sea Sport Fishing stable will be the newly-renovated Shamrock, which I will be the captain of this charter season. The Shamrock is a 47-foot vessel powered by twin John Deere turbo-powered diesels and will fish 14 people.

Pacific Salmon Charters also has a new addition to their fleet, a 43-foot Delta, the Northern. It also is a twin-screwed vessel from Alaska, will fish 14 people and is skippered by Ed Green. Both vessels are fast enough to fish for tuna and halibut.

Halibut OpenerSunday, May 1 marks the halibut opener for Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco). Due to the rising popularity of the sport, the quota for the fishery will probably be reached within three weeks. So, if you are interested, now is the time to call a charter office and make a reservation for this limited fishery. The season is open seven days a week until the quota is reached. It is unlawful to retain any bottomfish, except black cod while a halibut is aboard there is no size limit for halibut and the limit is one fish per day.

Spring ChinookThe sport fishery for spring Chinook salmon on the Lower Columbia River closed at the end of the day on Sunday, April 15 as scheduled, but could reopen in the weeks ahead if additional fish return, according to fishery managers from Washington and Oregon.

  After analyzing spring Chinook catches to date, fishery managers decided to close the fishery from the Interstate 5 bridge downstream to Buoy 10 at 12:01 a.m. Monday as previously planned.  The closure includes all fishing for steelhead and shad in that stretch of the Columbia River.

  Anglers are expected to reach the fishery’s impact guideline by Sunday with a catch of 6,100 spring Chinook, said Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fishery managers set the Columbia River spring Chinook fishery based on the number of fish expected to return from the ocean and the allowable impact to wild salmon and steelhead stocks listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

  Through April 12, only 755 spring Chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam. That’s much lower than the number of Chinook expected through the dam this time of year, LeFleur said.

Nautical StuffQuestion: What is the penalty for transmitting obscene, indecent or profane language during a marine radio transmission?

Answer: $10,000 and/or two years in prison.

Question: Mount Everest rises to a height of 29,002 feet above sea level. How many feet below sea level is the deepest known depth of the ocean?

Answer: 35,800 feet. If you could transplant Mount Everest to the deepest part of the ocean, in the Marinas Trench, there still would be a mile of water above its peak to the surface of the ocean.

Ron Malast is operator of the charter boat Shamrock chartering through Sea Sport Fishing in Ilwaco at 642-8862. He can be reached at home at 665-3573.