Northwest Fishing Reports

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/northfalcon/ ... _sound.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like we are in a fishing recession.....

Ugg...

"Marine areas 8-1 and 8-2: Both areas will open to fishing for hatchery chinook in November. However, anglers in Marine Area 8-2 can fish from the shore for hatchery coho Aug. 1 through Sept. 4."

Ok, I can deal with fishing from shore for Coho, BUT, Coho typically don't show up in 8-2 until September, August 1 through Sept 4 it's mainly just Pinks during that time. They act like they are throwing us a bone, but there is virtually no opportunity for Coho during that time it's going to be open, mind you from SHORE only.

I feel like an idiot for buying my saltwater license this year. 8-1 and 8-2 is what I fish.

The devil is always in the details. I assume the Cascade will still be open for Chinook, since that is a terminal fishery with no impact on wild fish, and same for the Samish. I am afraid the Nooksack won't be open for pinks until the bulk of the run has passed, as they are already warning about having to protect Nooksack spring/summer chinook, which means anglers can't fish because the tribes can't net. It really shouldn't be that hard for them to come up with a pink harvest method that selects out chinook, given the huge size difference, but that would mean changing from their standard gill netting, so I don't know what the odds are of that happening.

I expect that the sockeye opening, and possibly the upper river opening for springers at the Cascade mouth, will be the only salmon opening that the Skagit gets this year. What a sad decline for this great river. Comparing the forecast for coho and pinks between the Skagit and Nooksack (a much smaller river) really shows how bad it has gotten. Hopefully we avoid major flooding events this fall and winter so this year's spawning pinks will have a good out-migration of fry.

I think us north-sound anglers will need to either look across the border or to the Snohomish for the best shot at pinks and coho this fall. The Fraser system is expecting a decent return of pinks, but those come in later than the Nooksack, Skagit and Snohomish pinks. There are smaller rivers up north with earlier run timing, but I don't think they will be worth traveling to this year. The Fraser may be open to chinook this summer, but those openings have been happening later and have been more restricted in the years when sockeye returns are low, and this year's Fraser sockeye return is expected to be low again.

This might be a good year to plan a high-mountain lake trip, or some mountain stream trout fishing, as we won't be missing much in the way of salmon fishing, and the high mountain fishing should be on a normal schedule (not early) since we have good snow pack this year. I've been thinking about backpacking to the upper Chilliwack river (on the Washington side) in North Cascades National Park to fish for trout and dollies.

Im annoyed they only published bits and pieces and we have to wait until June to find out whats up everywhere else. This sucks.

Larry3215 wrote:Im annoyed they only published bits and pieces and we have to wait until June to find out whats up everywhere else. This sucks.

Seriously! Half the state is sitting on the edge of their seat trying to figure out if the money they spent on licensing is even going to be worth it. Which makes it even weirder after the campaign they launched via the weekender to try to talk people into purchasing their licenses EARLY! Why would people shell out their hard earned money if they are going to possibly be faced with news like this??? UGH!

Only reason I bought my combo is for lingcod fishing otherwise I would have save my money also but those lings are so tasty it was hard to pass them up.

riverhunter wrote:Only reason I bought my combo is for lingcod fishing otherwise I would have save my money also but those lings are so tasty it was hard to pass them up.

Lingcod and rockbass are DELICIOUS! I wish I had a boat capable of going out in big water to catch them. I remember when I was in my late teens my dad and uncles purchased a charter boat trip for all of us and we went out from Westport and caught our limits of rockfish, and a handful of lings. They were SOOOO good!

I so cannot wait to see how many don't buy a fishing license this year... No one even fishes for the kings on the nooksack besides the natives.... The river is closed for the entire run and we get bits and pieces after the run is over... F the state and the tribes...... Skagit closed for coho but will be open for 1 week for sockeyes if that at all... F this state

dj2loud wrote:I so cannot wait to see how many don't buy a fishing license this year... No one even fishes for the kings on the nooksack besides the natives.... The river is closed for the entire run and we get bits and pieces after the run is over... F the state and the tribes...... Skagit closed for coho but will be open for 1 week for sockeyes if that at all... F this state

Skagit is open for one month for sockeye as usual - June 16 to July 15.

I haven't been able to decipher if 8-1 and 8-2 will be even open for pinks.

I will lose my mind of the runs are much larger again this year than forecasted and they don't open up the salt again like last year.

JoshH wrote:I haven't been able to decipher if 8-1 and 8-2 will be even open for pinks.

I will lose my mind of the runs are much larger again this year than forecasted and they don't open up the salt again like last year.

Edit - I can't read a map this morning!
Do all the Skagit fish come through MA 7? Do Stilly fish come through 8-2 and 8-1?

Forecasted salmon runs are more inaccurate than predicting the weather. The ocean is big and it is only a guess to the numbers of returning salmon. WDFW needs to set an in season opener if the run are much larger than predicted.

If they do give us a lame season and give it away to the tribes again then to be fair they should be refund our license Ha! yeah right

Jakefish wrote:

JoshH wrote:I haven't been able to decipher if 8-1 and 8-2 will be even open for pinks.

I will lose my mind of the runs are much larger again this year than forecasted and they don't open up the salt again like last year.

Edit - I can't read a map this morning!
Do all the Skagit fish come through MA 7? Do Stilly fish come through 8-2 and 8-1?

8-1 is mostly skagit fish, with a few stilly fish mixed in. 8-2 nothern part is mostly still with a few skagit, 8-2 south is mostly Snohomish fish, some stilly, and i believe a couple of skagit fish. MA 7 i thought was mainly nooksak fish with some samish and skagit. I could be completely wrong though on area 7.

i wouldnt be surprised if the pinks ran strong this year compared to what they estimate...

Is MA 9 (Possession, Pilot Pt, Browns Bay etc) open for Coho? Looks like MA 8 is closed for Coho which has been the rumor. I usually moor my boat at Everett in the summer and Sept/Oct but hard to tell from this news whats going on. Giving us bits and pieces of info tells me that the deal still isnt done with the Tribes. They are trying to pretend everything is peachy keen... but it isn't.

I'm beginning to think 9, 10 and 11 are also toast for Coho, maybe Pinks too, they just don't want to admit it...yet. My bet is the Mucks are being difficult, again.

If they are not going to publish the openings until, June, how do we know whats happening?

I have not bought my license yet and probably wont now.

Looks like we are playing the information game again. Olsons website has a spread sheet that shows seasons for Chinook and Coho in Puget Sound. I don't know if this is official or what? It seems to show that MA 8 and 9 will be closed for Coho. 10 will be open on a "selective" basis. Click on the spread sheets and they will get bigger so you can read them.

https://www.facebook.com/MasonsOlsonRes ... page_panel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BARCHASER wrote:Is MA 9 (Possession, Pilot Pt, Browns Bay etc) open for Coho? Looks like MA 8 is closed for Coho which has been the rumor. I usually moor my boat at Everett in the summer and Sept/Oct but hard to tell from this news whats going on. Giving us bits and pieces of info tells me that the deal still isnt done with the Tribes. They are trying to pretend everything is peachy keen... but it isn't.

I'm beginning to think 9, 10 and 11 are also toast for Coho, maybe Pinks too, they just don't want to admit it...yet. My bet is the Mucks are being difficult, again.

That's a good point. I haven't seen anything that says a harvest plan has been sent to the feds for approval.

Larry3215 wrote:If they are not going to publish the openings until, June, how do we know whats happening?

I have not bought my license yet and probably wont now.

By the looks of it, OP's link notes the changes, and one would assume if no changes are noted, seasons would be the same as last year.

On the coast, things are looking up -

http://www.thenewstribune.com/outdoors/ ... 38059.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

onmygame