Alright Salmo, Monday morning quarterback time…

What can WDFW do better? I’ll play.

Well let me start by saying somewhat seriously “everything”. Now that I've got that out of the way lets talk some specifics. I understand that conservation groups and the tribe often have the departments hands pretty tied up. With that said, my biggest gripe with the WDFW is solely of their own doing. The WDFW needs to improve on their giant lack of transparency and accountability. This current regulation decisions are a prime example of both.

When WDFW came out with the 4 potential management options for coastal steelhead, I was personally caught somewhat off guard. I was well aware of the struggles happening to the south, and by no means do I have my head in the sand when it comes to wild steelhead trends, but numbers that were adequate for a normal fishery in the Quillayute system appeared to be there. When we met with James Lossee he expressed that although the predicted return was large enough to support our normal fishery, he felt that the added pressure from the Chehalis area warranted increased protection. This is the first management scenario that I have been a part of that didn't involve a goal of meeting the escapement number. So, James was asked repeatedly, what the new goal would be (i.e. what decrease in encounters are we hoping to get to). Neither he, nor anyone else at WDFW has provided an answer.

If WDFW doesn't have a goal, or a plan, then I would argue that they are just making rules for the sake of making rules which I don't support. An April closure should reduce at least a quarter of encounters (based on creel data for the Quillayute system). Why isn't that enough? Again, no answer. At the very core of all of this, that seems to be the most important puzzle piece and its missing.

WDFW could do a much better job at including and actually listening to various stakeholders. When concern was expressed in regards to the no boat fishing rule, James asked for alternative ideas. I heard some that I feel would also reduce angler impacts without excluding a huge number of users. Some of those were:

No fishing from an inflatable device. This discourages Chehalis area guides and anglers that are unfamiliar navigating the Sol Duc and Calawah from migrating to Forks and more importantly, would give low water refuge to the fish in the upper rivers when things got too low to float in a hard boat. Reduces pressure, reduces impacts. Check and check!

A days of the week closure. We could close the rivers 1,2,3,4,? Days a week to reduce impacts to an acceptable level (again, WDFW would have to actually inform us what that acceptable level is). Instead of a full closure in April, this strategy spreads the impacts throughout the entire run. It allows for monitoring throughout the season, and would allow for in-season adjustments (another place WDFW could improve) based on wether the run appears to be coming in above or below the forecast. The tribe manages their fishery this way, halibut seasons follow this approach. Again, it reduces pressure, reduces impacts, doesn't favor any user group or exclude anyone. Seems reasonable to me.

Close the upper rivers for the entire season and leave the lower rivers open. If you think this would condense anglers too much, just wait until we are all fighting for the same few beaches to stand on. Steelhead stack up in larger numbers in the upper river than they do in the lower. The river is smaller the higher you go making fish easier to find. Unfortunately a lot more fish are caught as they attempt to spawn when you get higher in the system as well. In this scenario, every high water event would move significant numbers of fish up river. These pushes of fish would get a free pass to the upper rivers where they would be left alone, achieving our goal of reducing impacts and reducing pressure while once again keeping the fishery accessible to everyone.

Those 3 ideas in particular would substantially decrease angler encounters and would regulate all anglers fairly. Why were none of them considered you might ask? WDFW has again, failed to give any explanation. Theres that pesky transparency issue again eh.

WDFW could use better science. By better science I mean real, unbiased data. I saw the graph you mentioned showing that boat anglers on the Hoh caught what was it, 80? percent of the fish. I look at that graph and all it tells me is that fishing guides with clients lobbing bobbers are 80% more effective at catching steelhead than the average spey angler. Anybody shocked by that? Anybody? Simple creel data cannot say how much the fishing from the boat increased that percentage of catch because both angler skill and chosen technique are huge factors that aren't being accounted for. WDFW had the opportunity to get better data on this when the stretch from Morgans to the park boundary closed to fishing from a boat. They could have made it a point to get creel data from the various user groups that were utilizing this section of river under the new regulation. I would especially be interested to see how the guides who were getting clients out of the boat to fish with conventional gear’s catch numbers would compare to those using the same techniques from the boat. At the end of the day, I certainly feel that fishing from a boat is an advantage, but I guarantee that the guys pounding on the best spots from the bank did some serious catching too. Would you not agree that this is obviously flawed data that WDFW is pushing to justify an unproven rule? I’m back to the lack of accountability.

WDFW could take more time to discuss the ins and outs of regulation changes with people that are consistently on the water. This process unnecessarily moved extremely fast (there aren't any wild steelhead in numbers yet on the coast so why did we have to make this rushed decision?) Had they taken the time to thoroughly vet each option, maybe they would have considered some of the unintended consequences of the no fishing from boats rule. I’m going to take a not so wild guess and say that there will be a huge pressure shift to the upper rivers with this rule. The water is smaller and therefor easier to fish from shore. Fish stack up in certain “glory holes” where anglers can pound away on them vs trying to search them out of the lower river as they travel through. If you are one of those folks that is worried not only about catch and release mortality but also about the possible loss of fitness for spawning fish post catch and release, wouldn't the upper river closure scenario be a better one vs a beat the hell out of the refuge spots in the upper rivers from the bank scenario?

Thats not all… WDFW was overly concerned that closures to the south would shift all of the pressure to the Forks rivers. Why aren't they just as concerned that by taking away fishing from a boat, a huge chunk the fishing pressure is going to shift from the Sol Duc (the healthiest of all of the coastal streams) to the Hoh and Bogie (not in nearly as good of shape as the Duc) because, as the people who regularly fish these rivers know, the Sol Duc is damn near impossible to wade in most places and those other rivers just so happen to accommodate it quite well. And once again, why can't I get WDFW to give a reasonable explanation for this?

WDFW could do a better job of accounting for both the social and economic impacts of its decisions. Let me be clear, I care about wild steelhead a whole damn lot and absolutely believe that when needed, conservation should always take priority over economic impact. With that said, I look at the costs to small businesses (not just my guide business) and the Forks community as a whole and I can't help but feel some anger. Why? Because the small details matter. I obviously don't agree with these new regulations as they pertain to the wild steelhead fishery (I’m speaking strictly Quillayute system here) as a whole but I even more adamantly disagree with WDFW implementing these new rules on the 14th of December. In the few days since the rules went into effect, the bogie hatchery parking lot went from 20+ trailers a day to 1 on the 14th (and yes, conditions were fantastic on the 14th). I saw 2 the next day and 2 the day after that. During the peak of the hatchery return, with good conditions and fish available. I want to puke. WDFW’s creel data shows that from 2015-2019, on average 9.4 wild steelhead are caught and released in the Bogie from when the hatchery fish start to come in in November all the way to the 15th of January. With a 10% mortality rate thats still less than a 1 fish savings that we get in return for seriously damaging the Bogie hatchery steelhead fishery. Thats not fair to anglers who’s taxes funded those returns, thats not fair to anglers who planned trips to Forks to harvest some steelhead, its a huge hit to an already struggling rural community, and most of all it accomplishes absolutely 0 conservation objectives. The fact that there is no accountability for something so far from what any informed person could consider good management is why I have finally lost all faith in the WDFW.

The social aspect, which again, shouldn't trump important conservation measures, should absolutely still be considered. How many of you caught your first steelhead in the vicinity of a hatchery? The bogie brat fishery is a far cry from what it once was, but it is still one of the biggest producers of November and December timed steelhead in this state. Its still a popular fishery and the one where I see the most beginner anglers participating. We need those new faces to stick around now more than ever to keep this whole fishing thing going. How many anglers will feel so discriminated against from the no boat fishing rule that they will hang up steelheading all together? I know of several personally. I love having the river to myself as much as anyone but I truly feel now more than ever that we are losing the passion for steelhead fishing. If we can't keep people interested, my opinion is that steelhead are far worse off in the long run than they would be in the net of a boat angler. How many of you would have the passion that you have for steelhead if this is the climate that you started your journey in?

Now, to be clear, I do think that moving forward, we need to encourage WDFW to come up with creative regulations that keep rivers open. I am in no way saying that I would rather close the river to everyone if I can’t fish how I want to. I am saying that WDFW could do so much better. THEY NEED TO DO SO MUCH BETTER! There are ideas that achieve the goals we want (Wait, I still don't know what the goal is) that don't exclude large portions of our user group. Its pretty clear that the regs are set in stone for this winter but WDFW is making it clear that until the entire Chehalis Basin recovers, they will continue to impose strong restrictions blanketed over the entire coast regardless of what returns those other rivers experience. I personally hope that those of you that demand that WDFW does a better job, will continue to remind them of such. They aren't holding themselves accountable so we have to. If you don't fish the coast, and you think these no fishing from boat regs aren't heading your way in a hurry, think again. If you only bank fish and you think this will benefit you, I think you will be very unpleasantly surprised as the season gets started. If we can't rally together now in support of each other and in support of better management, I wouldn't expect much fishing opportunity in the future. Uhhhhh ****

As a side note, I only care about disabled fisherman and am now booking trips. If you sit on wheels, I got deals. Really though, as hard as it is to believe, I do care that a lot of folks will be hurt by this rule. I had to cancel the days I had scheduled to take my dad fishing because he can't safely get in and out of the boat. I wish he was younger and in better shape but he's not. This will be the first winter steelhead season we don't get to fish together since he was carrying me around in a backpack. I think that sucks. I have some long time clients that fall into (or should I say out of) the same boat. There are plenty of able bodied people ready to go wade fishing so it has no affect on my bottom dollar but I still care. So should you. And when you get old and crippled, I hope some younger folks advocate for you too. Like it or not, we are in this in some way or another together. By my simple minded logic, when the fish are gone we all lose. I understand that many fishing guides leave a whole lot to be desired (myself included), but I would encourage some of you to keep in mind the blood, sweat, tears and lost sleep that some fishing guides, many of whom I’m lucky to know, have sacrificed in an effort to give back to the resource and the angling community as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I support limited entry on guides even if that leaves me out and I believe that taking advantage of a public resource should come with a lot of giving back. By no means am I sticking up for those just in it for themselves. I’m often embarrassed of many of my peers, but I also know we have all benefited in a lot of ways from some of the fishing guides out there (broodstock programs, helping our hatchery workers when they need it, testifying on behalf of sport fisherman at commission meetings, fighting for many of our shared interests in advisory groups, supporting enforcement, even the techniques that they developed and we learned directly or indirectly that have made days on the water more enjoyable). I do think that those guys have earned the right to not be lumped in with the takers. Even if that goes without saying, some people might not realize that.

Anyway, my arm is tired, someone bench me