Originally Posted By: eyeFISH
"Fishing suffered from depleted runs. From 1976 to 1988, the Coho salmon catch dropped from 1.38 million to 74,000."


I ran into this excerpt from a historical account of Grays Harbor (Chehalis) County. Really puts things into perspective when present-day managers talk about "banner" runs by modern-day standards. I mean every one is oohing and ahhing over (bemoaning?) the bumper crop of 72,000 silvers the gillnetters took out of Willapa this year.

Funny how we all tend to look at salmon abundance in terms of such a small timescape.... ie the past 10-20 yrs.... and consider that "historical" abundance.

Don't get me wrong here.... I fully appreciate the opportunities presented by 2009's bumper crop of coho, but man oh man, what would it have been like to fish the salmon superhighway that WAS the Chehalis back in the day?




Another trip to the top...

As coho populations have plummeted the past 2 seasons, we're all struggling to wrap our minds around the pending prospect of the most dismal opportunities for salmon fishing in Western WA since I moved here 22 years ago.

It's really hard to believe that only 7 years ago ( about two coho generations) we were ALL enjoying a bumper crop of coho regionally. Or at least what most of us believed to be an EPIC coho run.

But 'epic' by what standard?

DAM we've come a long way in a very short time... and most certainly NOT in a good way.
_________________________
"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!