Rip-Lipper

Blue Creek as been this way for probably more years than you are old! With that being said, you must understand how that particular fishery has been managed by the WDFW. Blue Creek is the only entrance to the Cowlitz Tout Hatchery that the fish have. Now what does that tell you?

90% of all the steelhead that have been raised there returns there, if not caught. There is a fish barrier in Blue Cr. to stop all fish from going any further. It is located right above the Blue Creek Trout Hatchery fish ladder.

Some people complain that people are harvesting too many fish at the mouth of Blue Cr. by snagging or "lining" them. That may very well be true, but think about it from there point of view, it might give you a total different prophetic, if you know what is really going on there.

For years, the WDFW Project Biologist staff has been trying to open up that tiny little creek up to harvest (what kind of harvest could you have?). If you ever walked it, you would know just how ridiculous that would be. Talk about a SNAG fishery!

Things are changing, but are they for the better, or are they for the worse? The point is, WDFW wants those fish to be harvested, and if they can make a few bucks on giving out fines while doing so, that's also great and OK with them too! One thing you can count on for the very near future, the games at Blue Creek will continue! Education and this BB will may change a lot of things in the future.

Thanks Bob for letting us air this on your dime!

Cowlitzfisherman

Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook????