Saw the same thing FnB. Up river at the middle fork. Two days in a row (last week). A couple hundred fish (at least) two days in a row blowing right up river. Somehow the pros keep missing them? Looking in the wrong place? There are….more than enough coho in that river to justify it still being open.

Thanks Riverguy. I really appreciate your opinion and (often times) facts (even in the face of what WDFW is spewing).

So if I got this right (living in east GH and not willing or able to burn the gas to look) the tribe AND the state commercial fisheries in the chehalis went on as scheduled? Am I getting that right? If so…that would explain most of the low chinook numbers getting up the tribs. Combine being thrown back (probably multiple times by different net boats) with the water temps and conditions, that would explain the pile of dead chinook below the satsop. The fish might make it out of monte down to the bridge after getting in the nets a couple times, but then they have to wait at the mouth of the tribs.

I’ve fished the fuller section more than a couple times…hardly a dead coho on the bottom. 99% chinook. Hmmm…only salmon species that has to be thrown back in October by nets…funny how that works isn’t it.

On the other hand, I’ve seen very few chinook hooked on the fuller section lately. Probably has something to do with people targeting coho with types of water and gear (spinners and jigs). Very few people where throwing much bait on the chehalis now that a jacks aren’t really the main target by the majority of fisherman this time of year.

So tell me…how is this decision about conservation again? How is this not discriminatory policy towards mostly bank bound anglers? The group the least likely to actually impact the fish? It’s 2022…people can just live in fantasy land and delusion I guess?

We’ve already lost our steelhead seasons for the foreseeable future, now hardly a coho season. Management by closure is the lazy cop out strategy (except nets, that’s a MUST). The smallest factor in fish mortality is also tue easiest for the state to control. Us.

Again…if this wasn’t bad management…the chehalis would have been closed and the state would have worked with their masters errr “co” manager to keep their nets out. Instead, just keep the bank anglers off the rivers because the game wardens are to lazy to find snaggers (which will catch just as many fish at 1500cfs as they do at 150).