Greetings From
WESTPORT
Activity in Westport’s harbor, home to a still-sizable charter fleet and base for many private boaters, will start to pick up this month with the second-Saturday-in-March bottomfish opener for black rockfish and lingcod . Also known as sea bass, black rocks inhabit all levels of the water column at times and are much faster breeders than some of their ultra-slow-growing reef-bound cousins like yelloweye rockfish. They’re also wonderful table fare, especially when bled as soon as they come aboard. (WASHINGTON DNR)
Rockfish, Lings Lead Off Salmon Capital’s Season
Mid-March’s bottomfish opener is just the first of a parade of angling hits out of Westport and Washington’s South Coast. By Jeff Holmes
W
estport is the biggest, easiest-to-access fishing port in Washington. On March 11, the day before bottomfish season opens, a stream of dedicated early rockfish and lingcod anglers from around the state will head
west to this salty little town on the tip of the southern jaws of Grays Harbor. Private boat owners and charter operators alike will be readying their crafts and watching weather and planning departures. The reward that awaits them up north on the grounds is the prospect of the season’s firmest, snowiest
fillets and the largest concentration of unpressured and snappy rockfish and lingcod of the season. Most of the rockfish will be blacks, but a good mix of canary, yellowtail, quillback and more will show, depending on the trip and location. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has done a good job nwsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2022
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