This is puzzling but also consistent with other watersheds.

It’s puzzling since the preseason forecast was quite good. The ocean indicators were positive, the blob of warm water in the North Pacific was dissipating, the copepod counts were good, and the juvenile coho indices were high. All indications were that the coho returns would be reasonably good.

As such, bag limits were increased in many tribs. For example, the limit is four adults per day on the North Fork Lewis and three adults on the Kalama. The limit on the Naselle is (was) two adult coho per day, but that can include both hatchery and wild coho.

But the Kalama and the NFL are both a complete bust, and WB is now closed. Many other tribs are also showing very low adult coho. I expect more closures in the near future although it’s probably a moot point. Nobody is catching any coho anyway since they aren’t there. Closing the fishery likely won’t help meet escapement much, if at all.

And, to make matters worse, ultimately we might never know why the forecast was so good but the run was so poor.