Hood Canal sport shrimpers took it to the limit pretty easily May 1, the first of a certain four-day season. Photo by Patrick J. Sullivan The Herb Beck Marina at Quilcene is a popular place during Hood Canal shrimp season, but harbor entrance is in serious need of dredging. The minus-two tide on opening day May 1 meant boaters had to hustle to get into the harbor before 1 p.m., or wait until the tide came back in.

The recreational shrimping season in Hood Canal continues from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, May 5, May 8 and May 12. A fifth day may be added depending on harvest quota.

The Discovery Bay Shrimp District and Port Townsend Bay are open at least one more day, May 5, and maybe more depending on harvest quotas, reported the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Shrimpers launching out of Quilcene May 1 generally felt there were fewer boats in nearby waters than in some years, perhaps because Discovery Bay reopened to shrimping this year, and also because the halibut season opened May 1.

The morning weather was decent, and it seemed most shrimpers were having plenty of success. The best shrimp bait: cat food, of course.

"We limited out and got out before the low tide, which makes the world wonderful," said Ted Dedman of Camas, who came to the Olympic Peninsula to go shrimping with his buddy Gary Wheeler of Diamond Point. They will go out every day of the season, and a fair share of the shrimp they catch become delicacies to share around their Arizona RV park this coming winter.

Mike Shurts of Silverdale was part of a large group, with everyone pulling their daily limit of 80 shrimp in just a few pulls. His group was well aware of the low tide - a minus two at 1:30 p.m. - and Shurts was among those with pickups lined up to haul boats up the marina's steep ramp.

"This ramp, even with the low tide today, is the best ramp on Hood Canal," Shurts said, joking with friends to use his Ford F-250 truck in case their Chevrolets could not handle the ramp.

Winter storms blow hard off the bay at the marina's mouth, piling up the sand. The Port of Port Townsend intends to dredge the marina's mouth this summer - an overdue job, boaters said.

At about 12:30 p.m., there was only six inches of water at the marina's entrance. Boaters who couldn't make it back in had to wait outside the marina for the tide to rise. "We saw [the bottom] on the depth sounder going out, and could actually see it coming in," said Mark Page of Port Orchard.

Still, shrimpers did a good job navigating the steep boat ramp without mishap said Jim Speer, marina operator.

"Last year we had two trucks sink," Speer said, and in his 13 shrimp seasons he's seen pickups tip over after backing off the concrete ramp into the mud. "Everything's pretty smooth this year."