https://wdfw.wa.gov/news/jan2819a/

Not too often that you see an e-reg put out OPENING a fishery!

Hooray! To GLU's point, that's the kind of emergency rule I'd like to see more of!

Wow, some good news for a change. Bout damn time. Unlike our CR springer season forecast. Very depressing.

Boat shopping forecast looks good with all the broken spirits.

I'm glad to have the chance. The opening doesn't mean it's a large run forecast, about 500 more than last season. So much better than not fishing. Just got home after 3 days on the river, one fish, just to give some perspective.

Salmo, you should add you were fly fishing.

I bet our "co-managers" are snickering watching us trip all over ourselves while they count the loot from their silver netting last fall. So generous of them to allow us a C&R season.

You say that like it matters. Coulda' been using TNT; can't catch what ain't there. I didn't talk with anyone who was doing any better. The days of "every cast a coconut" are long over. Scratch fishing looks to be the new norm any more.

Large edward posted: " So generous of them to allow us a C&R season."

I don't think that's true Mr. Edward. The Skagit CNR season is the product of a grass roots fishermen effort and hard work by some WDFW biologists, who did have to work with the Skagit tribes to bring this about. But the tribes wanted something too, so they worked with the state as co-managers. IMO the Washington Department of Salmon doesn't give a whit about steelhead, so it's important to me that some of the staff do and are willing to take on the work.

Sg,
No other species bycatch?
SF

SG - I have no doubt that this opener would not have happened if there wasn't a "grass roots fishermen effort" supported by some WDFW biologists, but I'm puzzled by your statement that "the tribes wanted something too, so they worked with the state as co-managers." Could you elaborate on what the tribes wanted out of this? Thanks.

It does matter! If it didnt matter, why do so many fly guys get so worked up watching gear guys catch “their fish”?

Hey, Salmo, 3 days in a row on the river....good for you, I lost that patience on the Skagit years ago. Glad you got a fish. I hit it all day on Sunday for the first time in ? and only saw Mr. Whitey. Not sure I've ever caught a whitefish on the mainstem ever, but he hit the biggest fly in the box. Confident my new spey line/sink tip was getting down. Excited for the extended opportunity. Saw a lot of people. Have a good pic of the whitey with a 6" fly in it's mouth, but can't remember how to post pics here. Thanks for the report,Tom
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So many? Name one.

Lol. So sensitive. Im not trying to troll. Have a nice day. For real.

Mr. Edward,

The Skagit tribes have had their spring Chinook season limited by incidental take of ESA listed steelhead. Most of the steelhead they catch while fishing for springers are kelts, but they still count as ESA take. Under the Resource Management Plan (RMP) approved last April, the allowable take for treaty and non-treaty combined is increased for run forecasts greater than 6,000. So when there is a generous surplus of hatchery spring Chinook, there will be sufficient allowable take of steelhead that their Chinook season won't be curtailed. Plus they get a few days of directed fishing for steelhead, which the Upper Skagit Tribe wanted.

Steelhead conservation remains the focal point of the RMP. Both treaty and non-treaty steelhead fishing is dependent on runsizes being large enough to support the respective fisheries. If another run like the super-low return in 2009 occurs, nobody fishes for steelhead, other than the on-going test fishing.

Sg

Stonefish,

No bycatch. First time I haven't caught bull trout in the middle river in January. There are some around though. I head of 4 caught on Sunday.

Jason,

Looks like it matters to you. I've fished the Skagit since 1972, when fly fishers made up maybe 1 or 2% of the anglers fishing to the present day, when fly guys make up about 80% of the fleet. There was a lot more unoccupied fly water available to me in 1972 than there is today. For the most part, the traditional boondoggers leave me and the water I am fishing alone.

Speyguy,

I've never caught a whitefish on the Skagit. I know they are there. I figured they are generally in deeper water than what I fish.

Sg

Salmo,, it does matter to me. I didn’t say that. I said it matters. I was asked by WW to name butt hurt fly guys on this board. I am not going to do that.