Recreational spot shrimp fishing will reopen in Marine Area 11 and most of Marine Area 10 for one day on Wednesday.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the opening, saying sufficient recreational spot shrimp quota remains in the waters off Tacoma and central Puget Sound for one more day of fishing

The exception in Marine Area 10 is Elliott Bay, defined as all waters east of a line from West Point to Alki Point. The Elliott Bay portion of Marine Area 10 has a separate spot shrimp quota, and the quota has been reached in that area.
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Halibut fishing in all of Marine Area 2 will close Monday, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this morning.

Anglers taking part in the area’s recreational halibut fishery are projected to have taken the Pacific halibut quota for the primary season and the northern nearshore area by the end of the day Sunday. This rule conforms to federal action taken by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The closure includes the northern nearshore area from the Queets River (47º31.70’N. latitude) south to Point Chehalis (46º58.00’N. latitude) and east of a line approximating the …

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Lakes

American: Some anglers are catching their limits of kokanee, trolling the west side of the lake. Pink seems to be the most productive color, both for a dodger and squid-style lures. The fish were holding 20-25 feet down, according to one report.

Crescent: Trolling Wedding Rings in orange or pink is producing catches of rainbow trout.

Drano: Boat anglers averaged almost a chinook per every four rods last week. About 30 percent of the catch were jacks.

Pattison: The action has not been red hot, but people fishing from shore are catching rainbow trout fishing a worm under a …

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The League of American Bicyclists announced its rankings of bicycle friendly communities today and nothing has really changed in the South Sound.

Communities who earn rankings are given a designations of platinum (highest), gold, silver, bronze or honorable mention.

Olympia remains at the silver level, behind only Seattle’s gold ranking in Washington. Bellingham, Port Townsend and Redmond also earned silver rankings.

Tacoma remains at the bronze level with Bainbridge Island, Snohomish, Spokane and Vancouver.

Anacortes rounded out the Washington communities on the list with an honorable mention.

On May 1 the league announced Washington as the nation’s …

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The Tacoma Mall will be the site of a free yoga class at 1 p.m. on May 18. The first 400 people receive a free yoga mat. The event is sponsored by Molina Healthcare whose spokeswoman says the program is designed to introduce people of all ages to yoga as a form of exercise, chronic pain management and stress reliever.  The class will take place near the entrance to Macy’s.  More than 100 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound plan to attend.  

The grand opening of the Cedar Creek Park Trail Loop will take place Saturday.
Cedar Creek Park is located between Covington and Maple Valley

The Friends of Cedar Creek Park, REI, King County Parks, Washington Trails Association, Middle Green River Coalition, and others worked to create a loop trail through the forest at Cedar Creek Park.

The event will run from noon-4 p.m. at Cedar Creek Park in Covington.

At 2 and 3 p.m., there will be guided hikes of the new trail and other trails in park. Snacks and nonalcoholic beverages also will be provided.

Root rot is forcing the state Parks and Recreation Commission to temporarily close the day-use parking area of Squak Mountain State Park in Issaquah and all of Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island.

Those areas will remain closed while diseased trees are being removed.

Here is the rest of the news release:

Forest health issues have been identified in both parks. Native tree pathogens, primarily laminated root rot, are attacking Douglas-fir trees in developed areas of both parks. The disease, which affects the roots and lower stems of certain conifer tree species, has the potential to cause healthy-looking trees

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The return of spring chinook jacks counted at Bonneville Dam is on a near-record pace. Through May 9, a total of 18,032 spring chinook jacks had been counted at the dam. The record, since at least 1960, was 18,119 fish in 2009. That year, nearly 82,000 jacks were counted through June 15, the end of the spring chinook count at the dam, said Joe Hymer with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Lakes

American: The trout fishing has been good. People are fishing down 15 feet with a worm and a bobber or trolling with some sort of flasher …

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