Aaahh, the saga of the Nisqually; much too nice a river to ever use that ugly nickname people have been using as of late.

Remember, its been a long time since its been open for an steelhead fishing. My closest recollection; it was closed entirely or closed early for a couple years, then opened for a year. Fishing was pretty good. Now its been closed entirely for the last 9-10 years...?

Despite repeated attempts by myself and others to get a straight answer out of anybody at the WDFW the question remains... why...?
The official answer has always been,"We can't open it because estimates indicate returns lower than allowable for escapement."
There is more to it, and the picture is perhaps more complicted than I will ever know:

FACTORS FOR THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS OUT THERE:
Other than the dam, which is aways up, the river flows through pretty good habitat by Puget Sound standards.

A few years before they first closed it sport pressure, and I'm sure harvest, was way up.

Informal observation leads many to believe that the tribe that fishes that river has a strong history of unregulated and illicite harvest.

In Terry Rudnick's book on fishing in Washington (came out a couple of years ago, can't think of the title) the section on the Nisqually says something like "the once great steelheading on this river has been closed by the state due to illegal tribal netting" (paraphrased).

WDFW enforcement officer for that area told me they can't open even a catch & release season without the agreement with the tribe as far as their reciprocal allowable harvest. He said the state just doesn't want to go there...

Closed steelhead seasons pretty much occurred as hatchery salmon production began at Clear Creek and Kalama Creek hatcheries.

Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission is a well-known and somewhat controvertial Nisqually Tribe leader (lots of political clout there).

I've heard the same "rumors" about plenty of fish being there by "observers" who have gained access during late winter.

I'd like to know more about plans to close the hatchery. I'm looking at the fall 2002 NW Indian Fisheries News that has a pretty glowing report about the salmon hatchery's success. Didn't mention closing...

Question: If there were a season, and fishing was good, what kind of an extreme mob scene would there be? Twenty years ago it was hard to find 5 guys fishing it for chums, and now it looks like Blue Creek... Hate to see it closed, butmaybe its for the best... what is the story and the solution...?