Local News Archives - Page 66 of 92

Marysville Street Festival sports new name, offers familiar Homegrown favorites

File PhotoFrom left, Alondra, Maria, Suzie and Khiara Morgan browsed over a table of gourmet dog treats during last year’s Homegrown Festival, which this year has been rechristened the Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown. — File Photo
From left, Alondra, Maria, Suzie and Khiara Morgan browsed over a table of gourmet dog treats during last year’s Homegrown Festival, which this year has been rechristened the Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown.

MARYSVILLE — The Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown has been rechristened this year, but it still promises to offer the same features that have become familiar favorites through its nearly three decades, according to vendor coordinator Vicki Miniken of The Vintage Violet.

“There were a number of reasons for changing the name,” Miniken said. “We’ll get more regional recognition as the Marysville Street Festival than as just ‘Homegrown,’ but the emphasis remains on ‘Handmade & Homegrown,’ which we’ve kept in the title to help people search for us on the Internet. After 28 years, we still have people who live in Marysville asking, ‘What’s Homegrown?’ So we needed to boost its profile.”

Miniken explained that last year’s extension of the Street Festival from two to three days was so successful that it was continued this year, with the event running from Aug. 9-11.

“Aug. 11 is Kids’ Day, which is new this year,” Miniken said. “Kids will be able to enter hula-hoop and veggie-carving contests, bounce until they drop in a bouncy house and visit with Lolly the Clown, who was a big hit last year, or Danny the Uncanny Magician, who’s new this year.”

While the kids are being entertained during Kids’ Day and through Lang’s Traveling Pony Rides, the latter available on all three days of the Street Festival, adults can take in the musical lineups on Aug. 9 and 10, in between shopping from two blocks of more than 100 vendors, which Miniken estimated to be at least as many as last year’s count.

“Among our new vendors are Magic Magpie Studio, which does henna art, and the Longneckers Alpaca Ranch, which will be bringing alpacas for people to see up close and personal,” Miniken said. “Of course, Colors by Carla is returning, with her tie-dye clothing, as are the Mai Houa Garden and Frontier Flyers Honey. Mr. Kitty’s Soap Shop of Seattle is another one that’s become a hit, because men love their toiletries.”

Another new feature this year is an interactive art exhibit, courtesy of the Marysville Arts Coalition, and Miniken was quick to credit the hard work of all those involved in making the Street Festival a reality each year.

“All the members of the Downtown Marysville Merchants Association work together to bring more business to this corridor, which is what this is all about,” Miniken said. “It’s not just one person who does any of this.”

Among the challenges that the Downtown Marysville Merchants Association is faced with is ensuring both breadth and diversity in the Street Festival’s selection of vendors.

“We have to make sure we don’t have too much of any one thing, but we still have enough of everything,” Miniken said. “We want everyone to be able to participate, but we don’t want the Street Festival dominated too much by any one field. And obviously, we won’t put two vendors in the same field right next to each other, because we want to keep harmony,” she laughed.

For all the time, effort and planning that everyone involved invests in the Street Festival, Miniken believes its rewards make it more than worthwhile.

“The best thing is the day of the event itself, when you get to see everybody having a great time selling their wares, strolling down the street to shop and enjoying the music,” Miniken said.

For more information on the Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown, log onto www.marysvillemerchants.com.

Marysville Street Festival schedule:

Friday, Aug. 9:

All day — Lang’s Traveling Pony Rides.

12:45 p.m. — Music by Jed Skenandore.

3 p.m. — Music by Earl Gray.

5 p.m. — Music by The Bobbers.

6 p.m. — Activities in the Outer Court.

Saturday, Aug. 10:

All day — Lang’s Traveling Pony Rides.

Noon — Music by The Tarentellas.

1 p.m. — Music by The Magic Roads.

4 p.m. — Music by Rare Elephant.

Sunday, Aug. 11 — Kids’ Day:

All day — Bouncy house and Lang’s Traveling Pony Rides.

11 a.m. — Lolly the Clown.

1 p.m. — Danny the Uncanny Magician.

1-3 p.m. — Hula-hoop, veggie-carving and minute-to-win-it contests.

A horde of humpies heading our way

By Wayne Kruse, The Herald

It’s time to start thinking pink.

For many seasoned anglers, Aug. 10 is the rule-of-thumb start to the odd-year pink salmon fishery in local saltwater. That means this weekend could see solid catch rates — instead of just a scattering of “humpies” — at Possession Bar and the stretch of shoreline between Mukilteo and the “shipwreck” known as Humpy Hollow.

River fishing will take longer to develop, particularly in this summer of very low, warm stream flows. But make no mistake, there’s a horde of humpies on the way. State Fish and Wildlife Department salmon managers expect upwards of 6 million pinks to enter Puget Sound, and another 6 million Fraser River fish to be available to Washington anglers in the San Juan Islands.

Predictions are for 1.25 million pinks to return to the Skagit River; 1 million to the Snohomish/Skykomish; 1.25 million to the Puyallup; and 1.3 million to the Green. And even though humpies are smallish and a couple of notches down the list of top table salmon, a million-plus fish off Mukilteo and in the Snohomish River will bring recreational fishermen out of the woodwork. Lots of fish, lots of fishing, lots of fun.

As of early this week, humpy reports were as follows:

n Skagit River: The Skagit pink run is usually a little earlier than that in the Snohomish system, and this summer seems to be following the script. The Skagit opened Aug. 1 up to Gilligan Creek, and good fishing was the rule in the lower end. Kevin John at Holiday Sports in Burlington said plunkers in the Mount Vernon area scored well fishing off the bars with red or pink Spin N Glos and shrimp.

“It was pretty decent,” John said. “There were actually more fish in the river early than we had expected.”

Young’s Bar at Mount Vernon bristled with plunking rods, as did the forks area and the “trestle” in Burlington. John said techniques changed farther upriver, to trolling spoons above Burlington and working jigs above Sedro-Woolley.

John said the third week of August is usually the peak for pink fishing in the Skagit, but that it may be a little earlier this year. He said the westside Whidbey Island beaches are putting out humpies consistently now to shore casters, including Fort Casey, Bush and Lagoon points, and North Beach at Deception Pass. Those folks are tossing Buzz Bombs and Rotators in pinks and greens, John said, concentrating on low slack and the first portion of the incoming tide.

n Snohomish River: The Sno opened Aug. 1 below Highway 9 to so-so results, said John Martinis at John’s Sporting Goods in north Everett. “I expect the river fishing to gradually improve, with the last week of August being the usual peak,” Martinis said.

He likes jig fishing for humpies in the lower Snohomish. Drift and cast quarter-ounce pink jigs to rolling fish or, better yet, anchor above a pod of fish showing well and fish jigs down to them. Try to get a feel for where the bottom is, he said, because the fish generally will be about a foot off the bottom.

“The Snohomish can be a little ‘grabby,'” he said, “so I suggest to customers they try the Danielson jigs. If you buy them in packages, they’re something like nine cents or 10 cents each, and you’re set for the whole day.”

The morning incoming tide is the best time to hit the lower Snohomish, and there are spots to fish from Lowell Rotary Park all the way up to Snohomish, on both sides of the river.

n Local saltwater: “The run is building,” said Mike Chamberlain of Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood. “A lot of guys fishing last weekend in Humpy Hollow hit two or three fish per boat. Limits? Not yet, but it won’t be long.”

He agreed that the westside Whidbey beaches are a good bet, casting 2- or 21/2-inch Buzz Bombs or Rotators in “pink, pink, and more pink.” Prime time, he says, is the last hour of the incoming tide through high slack and the first two hours of the ebb.

In saltwater, rig with a size “0” white dodger, 8-inch Coyote Flasher, or Gibbs white flasher; a 25-pound test leader two times the length of the dodger or 11/2 times the length of the flasher; and a pink mini-squid on either a single 3/0 hook or a double 2/0, tied close together. The trolling speed should be very slow, Chamberlain said, so your flasher/dodger swings side to side instead of rotating.

Early in the day, start at 30 feet, later dropping to 70 feet or deeper.

Humpy derby

Pink salmon have their own event with the debut this summer of the Bad Draw Humpy Showdown Derby, Aug. 24, rain or shine, in any water, fresh or salt, legally open to pink salmon fishing. The event is a fund-raiser for the Bad Draw Wrestling Club of Snohomish County and proceeds benefit youth sports.

The entry fee is $25 adult (13 and over), and $15 youth (12 and under), with tickets available at Doug’s Boats, Woodinville; Holiday Sports, Burlington; Greg’s Custom Rods, Lake Stevens; McDaniel’s, Snohomish; Harbor Marine, Bayside Marine, John’s Sporting Goods and Precision Machine, all of Everett; Sky Valley Traders, Monroe; Ted’s Sporting Goods and Ed’s Surplus, both in Lynnwood; Triangle Beverage, Snohomish; Three Rivers Marine, Woodinville; Anglers Choice, Shoreline; The Coffee Box, Sultan; and Outdoor Emporium, Seattle.

The largest pink wins $2,500 (adult) or $500 (youth), and the grand prize draw will award a Lavro drift boat, fully equipped, with trailer — an $8,500 package.

For more information,visit www.baddrawwrestling.com or call Adam Aney at 425-231-1301.

Buoy 10

The popular chinook/coho fishery on the bottom end of the Columbia River opened Aug 1, and the success rate has increased slowly from that point. The latest creel sampling, on Aug. 4, showed 155 anglers in 52 boats, with 15 kings and 13 coho. The fishery will be working on the largest run of “upriver bright” fall chinook in nearly a half-century, according to state biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver. Those fish also will provide a top recreational fishery later this year in the Hanford Reach portion of the Columbia, above the Tri-Cities.

For more outdoors news, read Wayne Kruse’s blog at www.heraldnet.com/huntingandfishing.

WSU study finds no more genetically modified wheat

Credit: Getty ImagesWheat Field — Credit: Getty Images
Wheat Field

August 7, 2013

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS — Associated Press

PULLMAN, WASH. — A study by Washington State University has found no additional sign of the genetically modified wheat discovered at one Oregon farm this spring.

The tests involved dozens of wheat varieties developed at Washington State, the University of Idaho and Oregon State University, plus varieties from Westbred/Monsanto and Limagrain Cereal Seeds, WSU said this week.

The time-consuming study included checking more than 20,000 individual plots, Washington State University said.

“WSU undertook its own investigation as part of its commitment to serving Northwest farmers,” said James Moyer, director of WSU’s Agricultural Research Center.

The study’s collaboration with the other universities and the commercial seed companies was unprecedented, and reflected the common goal of trying to determine if the genetically modified wheat discovered in Oregon was an isolated case or if the industry had a larger problem, Moyer said.

WSU’s data clearly suggests this was an isolated case, Moyer said.

The tests involved growing seed, spraying infant plants with the herbicide glyphosate and conducting molecular testing. None of the plants showed the glyphosate resistance found in the fields of an as-yet-unnamed Oregon farmer, WSU said.

Last month, the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service also said grain tests and interviews with several hundred farmers found no other instances of herbicide-resistant crops beyond that one Oregon farm.

The modified wheat was discovered in May when field workers at an eastern Oregon farm were clearing acres for the bare offseason and came across a patch of wheat that didn’t belong. The workers sprayed it, but the wheat wouldn’t die, so the farmer sent a sample to Oregon State University to test.

A few weeks later, Oregon State wheat scientists discovered that the wheat was genetically modified. They contacted the USDA, which ran more tests and confirmed the discovery.

Agriculture Department officials have said the modified wheat discovered in the Oregon field is the same strain as a genetically modified wheat that was designed to be herbicide-resistant and was legally tested by seed giant Monsanto a decade ago but never approved.

Most of the corn and soybeans grown in the United States are already modified, or genetically altered to include certain traits, often resistance to herbicides or pesticides. But the country’s wheat crop is not, as many wheat farmers have shown reluctance to use genetically engineered seeds since their product is usually consumed directly. Much of the corn and soybean crop is used as feed.

The USDA has said the wheat would be safe to eat if consumed. But American consumers, like many consumers in Europe and Asia, have shown an increasing interest in avoiding genetically modified foods.

The vast majority of Washington’s wheat is exported.

Marysville Historical Society prepares for Street Festival, museum opening

Kirk BoxleitnerMarysville Historical Society President Ken Cage peruses some of the books of old photos that will be on display for the public during the Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown from Aug. 9-11. — Kirk Boxleitner
Marysville Historical Society President Ken Cage peruses some of the books of old photos that will be on display for the public during the Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown from Aug. 9-11.

Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — The Marysville Historical Society will be bustling with activity during the Marysville Street Festival: Handmade & Homegrown from Aug. 9-11 and beyond.

As the rest of Third Street gets into the Homegrown spirit of the Street Festival that weekend, the Historical Society will be joining in by conducting a summer fundraising raffle and inviting the community to help them identify historic photos that have been donated to the Society by fellow members of the public.

Marysville Historical Society President Ken Cage explained that the first prize — a fishing trip for two with Tom Nelson, the host of 710 ESPN’s “Outdoor Line,” on board their “Big Red” flagship boat — was obtained through Nelson’s family connections to the Marysville community, while Silvana Meats will provide the second prize of a $250 gift card for their wares, and Chirocare of Marysville will administer massages worth $65 each to the winners of the third and fourth prizes.

“Tom was a member of our local Scout troop,” Cage said. “His mother worked at a dental office in town. She’s still a member of the Historical Society, who supports us strongly.”

The prize drawing will be conducted on Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Marysville Historical Society, located at 1508-B Third St., but contestants need not be present to win. Tickets are $5 each and may be purchased by calling 360-659-3090 or stopping by the Historical Society during its hours of operation, Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

While the drawing will coincide with the final day of the Street Festival, all three days of the Festival will see the Historical Society offering visitors the chance to go through the unclassified and uncategorized old photos that the Society has received, to try and identify who and what the photos show, as well as when and where they were taken.

“If a photo turns out not to have any connections to Marysville, we’ll even let you keep it, if you want it,” Cage said. “Of course, if it is pertinent to Marysville, we’ll be keeping it for our own collection. A huge amount of these photos actually came from The Marysville Globe and Bob Buttke, but a number of them came from folks’ homes in town.”

Depending on the weather, the photos will be displayed either in front of, or inside of, the Marysville Historical Society on Third Street.

Looking ahead, the Marysville Historical Society will also be printing its 2014 calendars in time to distribute at the Street Festival.

“The theme for 2014 will be the early days of business in Marysville,” Cage said. “We try to have a theme for each year’s calendar. Previous years’ themes have included the local logging industry and the Marysville Strawberry Festival.”

Cage expects 2014 will see the opening of the Marysville Historical Society’s long-awaited museum, following the resolution of “issues in the permitting process” that had delayed the originally intended start of construction in July of this year.

“We should be able to start construction this August,” Cage said. “The first phase involves laying down the foundation slab and putting up the shell of the building, which should take about three or four months. The second phase involves the inside layout and design, which will be an ongoing work-in-progress, but we should have most of our exhibitions in place in time for a grand opening early next year.”

For more information on the Marysville Historical Society, log onto its website at http://www.marysvillehistory.org.

Video: Treaty tribes honor first salmon, bless fishermen

Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

In the Pacific Northwest, many treaty Indian tribes hold First Salmon Ceremonies and Blessings of the Fleet to honor the salmon that sustain them, and protect the fishermen who procure it. This video shows some of the traditions practiced by the Swinomish, Lummi, Upper Skagit, Tulalip and Stillaguamish tribes.

First Salmon Ceremonies and Blessings of the Fleet from NW Indian Fisheries Commission on Vimeo.

Exotic fish caught in lake near Marysville

Photo courtesy John DentonJohn Denton caught what he believes to be a pacu, a relative of the piranha, in Lake Ki over the weekend. The fish is being held at Cabela's. — Photo courtesy John Denton
John Denton caught what he believes to be a pacu, a relative of the piranha, in Lake Ki over the weekend. The fish is being held at Cabela’s.

By Jim Davis, The Herald

John Denton hoped to catch a perch or bluegill on Sunday when he cast his line into Lake Ki, northwest of Marysville.

What he caught was something entirely different.

“Bang, there it was,” Denton said. “It’s a pretty big fish, a big ol’ herking fish.”

The fish he pulled out of the water was what looks like a pacu, an omnivorous South American freshwater fish that’s related to the piranha. The pacu is not nearly as ferocious as its cousin — it eats mainly fruit and vegetables and is known as the vegetarian piranha.

Like their cousins, pacu do have big teeth.

Denton’s fish weighs about four to five pounds and it took him about 20 minutes to reel it onto the dock in his back yard. He was using a worm and a hook known as a wedding ring.

By the time he got it into his net, his whole neighborhood came to see what was happening.

“Every neighbor I never met in this cul-de-sac I met yesterday,” Denton said.

One of the neighbors used to work at an aquarium and said he believed the fish was a pacu.

“Obviously it’s outgrown someone’s fish tank and they threw it in,” Denton said. “I don’t know how long it’s been there; it’s a big fish for an aquarium.”

Denton, 40, who’s a commercial painter for Mehrer Drywall, kept the fish alive by keeping it in a cooler of water: “My neighbor’s daughter kept pouring water in there all the time.”

Denton’s wife works at the Tulalip Cabela’s, where they have large fish tanks in the back of the store. Cabela’s agreed to hold on to the fish until the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife could give them direction on what to do.

Katie Sanford, Cabela’s retail marketing manager, said the fish was still doing its fishy things on Monday afternoon. She said they had been doing some research on what it needs and what it eats.

“It looks like a really cute fish until it opens its mouth and you see its teeth,” Sanford said.

People have caught the pacu in lakes around Snohomish County, said Jeff Holmes, of Fish & Wildlife. In 1994, an 18-inch pacu was pulled out of Silver Lake in Everett.

“They’re a warm water fish and the odds of them establishing a population here are very low, if not impossible,” Holmes said.

Holmes said a biologist will confirm whether the fish is a pacu. He noted that pacu have recently been featured on the popular cable show “River Monsters” and that may be shading people’s opinions.

Mike Kirkham, a manager at The Fish Store, a Seattle aquarium and tropical fish business, saw photos of the fish and said he believes it is a pacu.

He’s been at the store for a decade and has heard several stories of people finding pacu in lakes in the Puget Sound area. The warm water fish can’t survive Northwest winters.

“In the fall, they tend to just die and float to the surface,” Kirkham said.

The fish can grow up to three or four feet long. He urged people against dumping unwanted pacu into waters around here. Instead, they should call pet shops or post advertisements to get rid of the unwanted pets. He said his shop doesn’t sale sell pacus, red-tail catfish or oscars because those species grow too large, making them prone to dumping.

For Denton, the fish created a keeper of a story.

“It was a pretty amazing experience,” Denton said. “I’ll never forget it.”

Jim Davis; 425-339-3097; jdavis@heraldnet.com

What are pacu?

Pacu are omnivorous South American freshwater fish that are related to the piranha. They have square, straight teeth that resemble a human’s. They can grow to 3 feet long and 55 pounds in the wild – much larger than a piranha.

Pacu are often sold as “Vegetarian Piranhas” to home aquarium owners. A pacu named Swish lived for two decades in a tank at a restaurant in Seattle’s International District.

Every Forest Once a Food Forest

By Billy Frank Jr., Chairman, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

OLYMPIA – Folks up in Seattle are developing a “food forest” on Beacon Hill. Right there, near the heart of the city, a place where anyone can come along and pick fruit, vegetables, herbs, berries and more. The first harvests from the forest are expected this fall.

It’s a great idea. Sharing food and community are two things that I care a lot about. Most of my life has been centered on food and the rights of tribes to be able to harvest their own food.

For us Indian people, all of western Washington was once a food forest.

The trouble is that it’s getting harder and harder for these forests, rivers and beaches to provide us with much food because they’ve been treated so poorly. For us, the U.S. v. Washington ruling that upheld our treaty fishing, hunting and gathering rights came too late.

Since almost the first day that Judge George Boldt’s decision became law, we’ve had to cut back on our fishing because of declining runs. This ongoing decline is being driven by habitat loss and damage, and it isn’t getting better.

Shellfish was always a dependable source of food for Indian people. But pollution from stormwater runoff, failing septic systems and agricultural impacts threaten that vital food source

Wildlife habitat in our forests continues to shrink. More and more animals are being forced into smaller and smaller areas.

We’re losing our mountain huckleberries to busloads of commercial harvesters who come in with rakes and other tools to strip the bushes clean, often causing damage to the plants and reducing future yields.

Salmon, shellfish, wildlife and huckleberries are all important, traditional and treaty-protected foods. Our ancestors knew their importance. That’s why they reserved the right to access and harvest them in treaties with the U.S. government.

Projects like the edible food forest in Seattle are important. I hope they make an effort to include native forest plants that were once up on Beacon Hill before the city came along.

We need to bring our rivers back to life, clean up and protect our beaches, and bring food back to the forests all around us.

Night Out gatherings target crime

Rikki King, The Herald

EVERETT — In Granite Falls, they’ll have a Humvee.

In downtown Lake Stevens, a DJ will play. In Snohomish, neighbors will throw block parties.

A number of Snohomish County cities and neighborhoods plan family fairs on Tuesday as part of National Night Out, an annual event that promotes meeting the neighbors and preventing crime. Some communities also plan neighborhood block parties.

The Granite Falls event is a partnership between police, the local IGA and community groups, police officer Don Lauer said

“It’s going to be a great time for the kids,” he said. “They’re going to have a lot of fun. There are a lot of giveaways.”

Like many of the Night Out events, Granite Falls will have police, fire and military vehicles for kids to check out, free food, and a bouncy house.

“It’s a great opportunity for the parents to find out about services that are available in the community and talk with not only community organizations, but with community leaders as well,” Lauer said.

As fall approaches, National Night Out is a chance for families to talk about safety, Mukilteo police officer Cheol Kang said. Kids heading back to school can have fun, eat food and win prizes. The events bring people together, Kang said.

“It’s just good to have that reminder about what’s available as resources and crime prevention,” he said.

Lake Stevens plans two kinds of music downtown along Main Street during National Night Out, said Kirsten Mueller, program coordinator at the Lake Stevens Family Center.

There will be a DJ in one spot playing family-friendly music and karaoke, she said. In another spot, a live band will play pop hits from the 1980s.

Activities include laser tag, face-painting and a race car display from the Evergreen Speedway, Mueller said. About 30 booths are planned, along with free hot dogs, nachos and popcorn.

“A lot of what we’re promoting is a chance to come together as a community and let people know that these people in your community are here,” she said. “We want to meet you. We want to get to know you. And as we collaborate as a community, it instills a sense of pride.”

Mountlake Terrace plans a martial arts demonstration and square dancing. More than 1,000 people attended the city’s event last year.

For more information about specific events, contact your local police department.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Arlington: Block parties.

Bothell: Block parties.

Brier: 6 p.m., Brier Park

Edmonds: Was held July 30.

Everett: Block parties.

Gold Bar: Parade starts at 6:30 p.m. at 10th Street and Lewis Avenue, then ends at Gold Bar Elementary. Event ends at 9 p.m.

Granite Falls: 5 to 8 p.m. in the field between Alfy’s Pizza and the IGA.

Lake Stevens: 5 to 8:30 p.m. at North Cove Park and Main Street.

Lynnwood: Block parties.

Marysville: 6 to 8:30 p.m., Comeford Park, 514 Delta Ave.

Mill Creek: Shared with the county.

Monroe: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Lake Tye Park.

Mountlake Terrace: 6 to 9 p.m., Evergreen Playfield, 22205 56th Ave West.

Mukilteo: 4 to 7 p.m., Mukilteo YMCA, 10601 47th Place W.), and block parties. More info: http://tinyurl.com/mukNNO2013

Tulalip: Shared with Marysville.

Snohomish: Block parties.

Stanwood: 6 to 9 p.m., former Thrifty Foods parking lot, 27225 90th Ave. NW.

Sultan: Shared with Gold Bar.

Snohomish County: 5 to 8 p.m., Willis Tucker Park, 6705 Puget Park Drive.

Indians 101: Honoring Tulalip Veterans (Photo Diary)

By Ojibwa for Native American Netroots

As with other American Indian nations, people from the Tulalip tribes in western Washington–Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, and others—have served in the American military during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. One room in the Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve honors the Tulalip veterans and tells many of their stories.

The drum shown above belongs to Raymond Moses who served in the Army during the Korean War from 1950-53. The drum depicts images of his guardian spirits; grizzly bears from his father’s side and wolf from his mother’s side. He had visions of his guardian spirits right before he stepped on a grenade that fortunately did not detonate.

While in the past, Indian veterans were denied the use of their traditional religions in dealing with post traumatic stress disorder, today this is not the case.

Cross Posted at Native American Netroots

An ongoing series sponsored by the Native American Netroots team focusing on the current issues faced by American Indian Tribes and current solutions to those issues.

Where to go, what to if hankering for a humpy

By Wayne Kruse, The Herald

Big schools of pink salmon haven’t arrived in local saltwater just yet, but if you’re antsy to bonk a humpy or two, try beach casting at several spots on the west side of Whidbey Island. Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood said pinks are showing there in strong numbers, with limits being taken at Bush Point at times, and good fishing available at Fort Casey as well.

Use an 81/2- to 9-foot steelhead-weight spinning rig, Chamberlain said, 10- to 12-pound test line and a Buzz Bomb in the 21/2-inch size or a Rotator. The Rotator is becoming more popular — a flatter jig than the Buzz Bomb, allowing it to drop more slowly, Chamberlain said.

“Start with pink colors, then experiment from there,” he said. “And some guys like to dress the lures up with a pink mini-hoochie.”

A scattering of pinks also is being caught by trollers on Possession Bar, Richmond Beach, Jefferson Head and many of the other usual spots. The Snohomish River opened today, earlier than normal, from Highway 9 to the mouth, but Chamberlain doesn’t expect consistent catches in the river for a week or two yet.

Marine areas 8-1 and 8-2 also opened today, with most of the salmon action expected to be found toward the north end of the region.

“Pinks will probably be the early target on the incoming tide, at North Beach, around Hope Island and off the mouth of the Skagit,” said Kevin John at Holiday Sports in Burlington. “Pink Buzz Bombs or Rotators will be the popular lures with the beach fishermen.”

Mix incoming pinks with a strong and much earlier than usual coho run, and the ongoing selective chinook fishery in areas 9 and 10, and you have a unique opportunity to score on all three of those species in a single day’s trip. State catch sampling at Olson’s Resort in Sekiu on Saturday, for instance, showed 236 anglers with 84 chinook, 19 coho and 145 pinks. At the Port of Everett ramp on Saturday, it was 444 fishermen with 51 chinook, 27 coho and 63 pinks.

To the north, some 63 fishermen were checked at the Cornet Bay public ramp on Sunday, with 19 chinook, four coho and 44 pinks.

New tournament

The inaugural Harbor Marine Salmon Tournament ran Saturday and Sunday out of Everett, bringing the bass tournament mindset to Northwest salmon derbies. It was a full tournament format, both team and individual, total weight for two days of fishing, eliminating much of the luck factor of one-day derbies. It brought out many of the best salmon anglers on Puget Sound, not only for the money involved, but for the chance to compete against a field of their peers.

The event also was the newest stop on the prestigious Northwest Salmon Derby Series.

“It was truly exciting fishing,” said Nick Kester of All Star Charters, whose Team All Star won the best boat weight and $1,000, at 75.1 pounds of chinook for the two days.

“You know you’re going to be out there against the best in the area, and that it will come down to ounces at weigh-in time. That means you have to have a winning strategy and a game plan you can follow, balancing numbers against weight. There’s a place for derbies and there’s a place for tournaments as well, and I’m glad to see this format coming to Puget Sound.”

Individual winner was Brandon Robichaux, a member of Tom Nelson’s Team Outdoor Line, who weighed a two-day, four-fish total of 57.4 pounds. Second was Rob Byrd, who took home a check for $1,000, at 56.6 pounds, and third was Corey Thrasher, $500, at 54.5 pounds.

Team Outdoor Line, which included Nelson, Robichaux and Walt Hylback, nailed the grand prize of $5,000 and featured a second-day appearance of guest angler Brock Huard, former Husky and pro quarterback, and now a sports commentator for 710 ESPN Radio.

Few people who know T.J. Nelson, big, bluff and loquacious, would accuse him of being overly self-deprecating, but he said of his impressive win, modestly, “Hey, even the blind squirrel finds …”

Nelson has some excellent photos of the tournament on his blog. Check them out at www.theoutdoorline.com/blog.

Crab

The Puget Sound summer recreatonal crab season is progressing fairly well, according to Washingon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Don Velasquez.

“Some areas have been very good, but from some we’ve been hearing complaints that the tribal fishermen hit ’em pretty hard,” Velasquez said.

Areas 7, 9 and 10, and Hood Canal, are producing well — Area 9 particularly in Port Townsend Bay; Hood Canal around Misery Point and the north end; and Area 7 out of Bellingham. Generally, Velasquez said, Areas 8-1, 8-2, 11 and 13 have been hit or miss.

Baker sockeye

Also hit or miss has been the Baker Lake sockeye fishery. Kevin John said the fish are scattered and somewhat fewer in number than last season. You can still find decent fishing, John said, but you’re going to have to work at it and cover a lot of water and different depths. Most successful fishermen have been concentrating at the 40- to 60-foot range, and the north side of the lake’s upper third has been a popular area.

Coho seminar

Cabela’s Tulalip store offers a free seminar, Catching Coho with Captain Chris, Aug. 8, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Chris Long of Jolly Mon Charters will talk different saltwater techniques for successfully fishing coho while still targeting other species. There should be something here for both beginning and experienced anglers. Space is limited, so reserve a slot by calling 360-474-4880.