glowball

Sorry for "jumping" on you about your reply, but I have personally spent over 10 years working on the recovery efforts of the Upper Cowlitz rivers system. Not only are "wild coho" being caught and harvested in Riffe, but also our stocks of chinook and steelhead. The WDFW has known for many years that people have been harvesting stocks of Cowlitz fish that were supposed to be part of a "recovery program". But as usual, WDFW mangers (not the field people) couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag even if it was torn!

When the recovery program was first started, WDFW held public meeting at Morton. Fish farmers, the guides association, and, a senator, mayors, and RV park owners were also there. Besides about 200 other locals, one of WDFW project biologist who originally developed the "land locked" fishery was also there to support the people who wanted to kill the up river recovery program. This was about 8 years ago. After WDFW saw how well organized the opposing groups were, they had to cover their butts and come up with a "new" recovery program that would still allow the locals to fish for coho in Riffe Lake. Lets not forget, that two large powers companies (Tacoma and Lewis County PUD (LCPUD) ) were also there to defend their investments.

The LCPUD was trying to maintain the coho fishery in Riffe Lake so that they would not be required to spend 10's of millions of dollars more on the fish collection facilities that the BPA had built in conjunction with a Settlement Agreement with the FOC that required them (the BPA) to install fish collection and screenings facilities at the new project.

Tacoma also knew that their old operating license was about to expire, and that once the people who had been coming there for the past 25 years had found out that they would no longer be able to continue to camp & fish at Tacoma's fancy campgrounds like they have done in the past, and catch all of those thousands of catchable size coho (8-14 inches), that the local businesses, people, and all the other user groups would become outraged.

People, who are outraged, are bad news for power companies who are seeking a new operating license! Huge bucks were spent by Tacoma and the PUD to make sure that this "land locked" coho fishery would continue until well after Tacoma had received their new operating license. Tacoma is spending big bucks right now so that they will not be force into installing new massive fish screens and collections facilities at the Mossyrock (Riffe) Reservoir.

Under the ESA, Tacoma will be forced to catch the majority of the fish that are currently being washed and passed down into Riffe Lake. You got to ask yourself; other then the big bucks and all the back door politics that have been going on between WDFW and Tacoma for 20 + years now, why does WDFW now have the "double standards" between Riffe Lake and the Cowlitz Falls Reservoir?

People want me to give them facts! Ok, here's one that begs the debate! Fact: WDFW knows for a fact that 10's of thousand of unmarked fry and smolts that are being naturally raised for the "Recovery Program" of the upper Cowlitz are currently ending up in Riffe Lake! The WDFW have restricted the fishery in the Cowlitz Falls Reservoir (Lake Scanewa) to "protect the smolts " that are being nailed by the lake fishery (lots of smolts have been killed). They have even posted a "special" regulation for Lake Scanewa (Cowlitz Falls Reservoir) that says; "The daily limit is six salmon, but no more than 2 adults. All wild chinook and wild coho must be released. The salmon minimum size is eight inches. Anglers are reminded that Lake Scanewa remains closed for the taking of trout and other game fish until June 1. Beginning June 1, anglers should consult the 2003/2004 Fishing in Washington Rules pamphlet for the permanent rules on Lake Scanewa". The reason for having this special clouser from June 1-Feb.29, was to protect all of the wild natural produced smolts that are in the reservoir at that time.

WDFG used to use the "Merwin" (sp) type traps in Riffe when they first started running the Mossyrock reservoir, and caught hundreds of thousands of native smolts in them each year. Grant it, it was not the millions that the hatcheries now produce, but it was a significant amount. Now, those same fish that are being protected in Lake Scanewa are now being allowed to be caught and killed in the Riffe Lake fishery. You got to ask your self why? If they are good enough to protect in Lake Scanewa, then they are good enough to protect in Riffe!

Have I made my point yet?

For those of you that do not understand or known, fish do pass through Riffe Lake. They do go though the turbines and they do pass over the dams during spill evens! Why do you think that there is such a wonderful fishery at the face of the Mossyrock dam?

Many of the same fish that people are currently catching at Riffe Lake are the same exact fish that were being protected at Lake Scanewa. I hope I have explained this better then what I had did last night. I get up every morning at 4:00 am and I go to bed by 8:00 pm. When I stay up late, like last night, I can get really irritated easily. So again, I am sorry for jumping on you like I did, but I just want people to understand the difference between fact and hearsay!

Now does anyone have any more questions about the coho, chinook, or trout stocks that are being harvested in Riffe Lake?

Personally, I would much ratter be catching the adults that should have been produced from their natural production rather then the babies that were produced from their production.

Cowlitzfisherman