2025 Season Update
Everything is lining up for the 2025 season. Paperwork and licenses in hand. Long term weather looks like I’ll have a chance to start fishing early June. La Nina has fallen apart and snowpack forecast shows a late May/ early June for snow being out of the mountains. Why does the snowpack matter so much? The magical water temperature when the “bite turns on” in ~58 F. With snow melt in the rivers it is hard to get the water temperatures to rise above that. The sooner the snow pack melts and the sooner the water levels drop the earlier I can fish.
Still tentative on running the Colombia fishery this year. It is a good fishery but may not be that viable due to location.
Pre-orders will be opening first week of May for my repeat customers and end of May for everyone else. Thanks to everyone who is coming back for another boil this year.
Key Highlights:
- Repeat customers will have access to pre-order calendar first week of May
- General access to pre-order calendar opens last week of May
- Current weather predictions and data show an early June date for putting gear in the water
- If you have a boil or event planned get on the pre-order calendar as soon as possible. Pre-orders have priority and everything else is first come first serve on a weekly basis
July 2024 Update
July is well under way +80 orders filled and over 1000lbs caught and sold. So far no cancellations on our part. We have two fisheries open which can average over 100lbs/day. I don’t push our fisheries very hard I prefer stable yields for 4 months straight instead of large “viral” catches. With that we can hit our 400lb week that you find on the order calendar.
Lots of issues all boat related. Added additional boat to the Columbia and a couple days in the lower was destroyed. After fixing that engine stuck at a low rpm not accelerating (still investigating). That was followed with a trailer hub blowing out.
The workhorse of the business “The Dirty Hummingbird” had its own set of problems. Mostly jet pump related. Broken reverse bucket bolt. Tiller handle snapped clean off. Fell off the trailer (not the first time surprisingly and sorta freak accident) which broke the reverse bucket. Without any knowledge of how other people use outboard jets with tillers I’d say we are probably some of the biggest users of all the reverse. We typically actuate the reverse lever over 400 times a trip for +1600 times a week. Things are naturally going to fatigue and break…
As they say boat stands for “Bring Out Another Thousand” in our case it’s “Bring Out Another Couple Thousand”.
Even with all that excitement we are still keeping to our production goals to keep orders on track.
I’m adding the pre-order calendar back to the website as it seems there are a lot people that are wanting to plan their boils instead of waiting the week of.
Lots of repeat customer thank you so very much for your business and keeping this whole thing going.
Key Highlights:
- Lots of mechanical issues but still keeping on top of orders
- Hitting the 400lb/week target
- Running two fisheries at the same time each with dedicated boat and operator (a first for the WCC)
Thanks again for everyone who has supported us in previous years looking forward to putting the crawfish in your boil this year.
2024 Season First Update
The 2024 season is quickly approaching. Commercial fishery for the Columbia River is open and May 1st opener for the all other fisheries will be here soon. License is in hand and most things are lined up to start fishing. I am working with two other fishermen this year to try and keep a steady supply in the PNW. Order process has changed details will be available in the next update, website order page and socials. Repeat customers this year will receive an email with early bird access to the order calendar as well as discounted pre-order prices. This year is looking like a good year for crawfishing in the PNW.
Key Highlights:
- Commercial license and permits in hand
- Order process changing all orders will go through website
- All pre-orders will need to be paid up front to minimize no call no show order and help streamline planning and logistics
- Long-term and NOAA forecast predicting a warmer than average spring which will lead to an earlier start date for Western Washington fisheries
- Low snowpack has led to drought conditions already in Western Washington more info here. The sooner the snowmelt moves through river systems the sooner fishing can begin.
- Pasco Crawfest is on the books this year for September. Details can be found here.
Thanks for everyone who has supported us in previous years looking forward to putting the crawfish in your boil this year.
August 2023 Update
After a busy season with several 1000lbs pulled into the boat it’s finally time for a break. After working a day job and being on the water everyday I am starting to run out steam. I will keep fishing for the existing backlog thats running ~1000lbs until October and anything extra will be first come first serve. Another commercial fisherman is working to setup a fishery in Whatcom County which could greatly help remedy supply issue. Lots to update on and if theres time I’ll shoot a quite video.
Key Highlights:
- Largest singular trap theft created need to quickly react to keep up yields. WFWD Investigating.
- Ran a fairly spread out fishery which worked well
- Equipment and gear performing flawlessly which greatly helps offset all the other unplanned things that happen
- Will be working to move around large amounts of gear to accomodate the recreational salmon fishing opening in September
Great to see all the repeat customers some on their 3rd and 4th year boils with us. Thanks for all the support to keep this thing going!
2023 Season First Update
Getting ready to start another season. I plan to have traps in the water early to mid June. All of this is contingent on the water conditions falling in my fisheries falling in line. For this to happen I need most to all of the snow-melt in the mountains to clear out of the rivers. The big start to this season is providing for Pasco Boil. Check it out on the Pasco Chamber of Commerce website. If your planning a boil this year and know your dates go ahead and fill out the pre-order form to lock with the pre-order price and get your order on our calendar.
Key Highlights:
- Start fishing in June
- Crawfish available for July
- Pasco Boil July 15th
- Pre-order now before window closes
Thanks to all our repeat customers for coming back this year to have another boil!
August 2022 Update
August started off well but then several events happened that slowed down commercial crawfishing operations. Mechanical problems troubled both eastern and western fisheries. Political issues troubled the eastern fishery culminating in the closure of Lake Roosevelt as a commercial fishery. Contingency plans are in place for both fisheries but will take time to enact. Order intake is being throttled down to ensure what is already on the books will be delivered.
Key Highlights:
Here are a few challenges we are facing in August
- Eastern fishery closed on Lake Roosevelt by the NPS on behalf of Dept. of Interior. Citing Federal Law prohibiting commercial fishing in a NRA despite the ok of WFWD and Spokane Tribe
- Boat out East has mechanical issues with lower
- Boat operating in West had powerhead failure
Eastern fishery is moving to Long Lake with mechanical issues being resolved this week 8/23. Western fishery using backup boat and rebuilding powerhead this week.
May & June 2022 Updates
First off, I would just like to thank everyone for their ongoing support and flexibility – especially with the unforeseen weather causing not the most ideal river conditions at this time. Even though we are seeing a delay in crawfish yield at this time, I am hopeful that our summer conditions will continue to improve as the weather starts to warm up and river conditions improve. I will continue to keep everyone updated through our newsletter and on our website.
Key Highlights:
Here are a few things that are delaying orders we had for May and June:
- Weather not warming up on either side of the state West or East
- Was expected that Western half of the state would be wet did not expect poor conditions in the East
- Possibility of “Triple-Dip” La Nina Year expected to further reduce crawfish yields
All orders for June are tentative. We will be in touch earlier in the week to re-schedule if necessary and will be offering discounted rates to make up for the inconvenience.