The fish were a little later than usual getting up there, but the last series of rains got things going (as good as they're gonna get going, that is). Last time I was around Oakvilke, we saw fish on the move, but they weren't stopping to bite very well.

If the Chehalis drops back to fishable levels (might be a while), it should be a lot better up there.

Personally, I don't think the runs are a ton better than expected this year, despite the fact that some people have been catching nice coho and assuming that means it's off the hook. Even in the case of the Lake WA coho fiasco, while the run was clearly better than expected, it still fell below the 10-year average. I think we should be glad for two things:

1. The runs are better than expected.
2. The generally cautious (okay, maybe over-cautious) season setting outcomes may have prevented us from overfishing somewhat depressed runs, which is a bad thing that we do far too often, in my opinion.

If the rivers drop back into shape and are full of big, bright coho, that will make three things.

And yes, the Chehalis Tribe fish when they want to, mostly unchecked. I wish they cooperated with the State better, but they get corked off pretty badly (on the river that shares their namesake) by the QIN, just like everbody else in the entire basin. I'm much less pleased with the QIN fishing over an entire drainage, all of which lies outside their reservation, than I am with the Chehalis Tribe fishing on their reservation.