Seafood fest, end of salmon season, Corvettes top off another busy Westport summer

September 7, 2021 1:30 am
photo by Steve Anderson Just up Westhaven Drive from where the Westport Seafood Festival was heating up, dozens of Corvettes ranging from new to classic were on display Saturday, part of the Corvettes of Grays Harbor 12th annual Corvettes at the Marina show.
photo by Steve Anderson Just up Westhaven Drive from where the Westport Seafood Festival was heating up, dozens of Corvettes ranging from new to classic were on display Saturday, part of the Corvettes of Grays Harbor 12th annual Corvettes at the Marina show.

Westport ended its summer with a bang.

The working seaport had another busy tourist season with the return of several popular summer events, bonus halibut fishing days, and limits of salmon more often than not over the past several weeks at least.

The town was bustling Saturday with the Westport Seafood Festival, Grays Harbor Corvettes at the Marina show, and the last weekend of sport salmon fishing for the season all happening at once.

The Westport Grayland Chamber of Commerce seafood feast started at noon, but there were vendors lined up near the barbecues on the grounds of the Westport Maritime Museum offering a wide variety of art and craft items at 10 a.m. People filed through at a steady pace as numerous community volunteers cooked and served up oysters, salmon and all the trimmings until 5 p.m.

Just up Westhaven Drive, toward the viewing tower, Corvettes ranging from classics to modern models lined both sides of the street. Show organizers had to fight COVID-19 concerns and logistical issues to get the show together after last year’s cancellation, but you’d have to call it a success, with dozens of local entries mixed in with others from up and down the Interstate 5 corridor and beyond.

Word came out last week that the salmon season, which turned hot over the last few weeks with the arrival of limit-filling coho, was coming to an end as that coho quota got close to being met for the season. With the last day of fishing scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 7, full charters were busy throughout the weekend, not only with salmon — again it was two-fish limits for most boats — but also with bottomfish that included some very large lingcod.

At the Westport Charterboat Association derby weigh station, several lingcod over 30 pounds were weighed in, including a 32.25-pounder caught by Jeff Freeman of Tacoma on Saturday — big, but still off the pace by about 7 pounds for the largest lingcod of the season caught by Jason Thompson of Auburn in July. The biggest lingcod of the season earns the derby ticket holder who caught it $1,500.

The largest Chinook salmon taken so far this year was early in the season, a 27.65-pounder taken by Larry Tsunoda of Shoreline. If it holds up, he’ll take home the $10,000 derby prize this year.

An aerial shot gives an idea just how many Corvettes were lining Westhaven Drive in Westport Saturday during the Corvettes at the Marina show. (Steve Anderson photo)
Volunteer grillers prepare oysters, salmon, white fish and sides at the Westport Seafood Festival Saturday. The barbecue grills were hot and hundreds went through the food line and vendor tents set up in front of the Westport Maritime Museum from noon to 5 p.m. (Courtesy Westport Grayland Chamber of Commerce)

Volunteer grillers prepare oysters, salmon, white fish and sides at the Westport Seafood Festival Saturday. The barbecue grills were hot and hundreds went through the food line and vendor tents set up in front of the Westport Maritime Museum from noon to 5 p.m. (Courtesy Westport Grayland Chamber of Commerce)

photo by Steve Anderson Just up Westhaven Drive from where the Westport Seafood Festival was heating up, dozens of Corvettes ranging from new to classic were on display Saturday, part of the Corvettes of Grays Harbor 12th annual Corvettes at the Marina show.

photo by Steve Anderson Just up Westhaven Drive from where the Westport Seafood Festival was heating up, dozens of Corvettes ranging from new to classic were on display Saturday, part of the Corvettes of Grays Harbor 12th annual Corvettes at the Marina show.

An aerial shot gives an idea just how many Corvettes were lining Westhaven Drive in Westport Saturday during the Corvettes at the Marina show. (Steve Anderson photo)

photo by Steve Anderson Just up Westhaven Drive from where the Westport Seafood Festival was heating up, dozens of Corvettes ranging from new to classic were on display Saturday, part of the Corvettes of Grays Harbor 12th annual Corvettes at the Marina show.

Courtesy of Westport Weighmaster Word came out late last week the solid salmon season out of Westport would be coming to an end soon, with the last day of fishing moved up to Sept. 7 because the coho quota was nearly met. John Isaacks from Kent was able to grab a charter spot Sunday and entered this 9.8-pound coho in the Westport Charterboat Association derby.

Courtesy of Westport Weighmaster Word came out late last week the solid salmon season out of Westport would be coming to an end soon, with the last day of fishing moved up to Sept. 7 because the coho quota was nearly met. John Isaacks from Kent was able to grab a charter spot Sunday and entered this 9.8-pound coho in the Westport Charterboat Association derby.