2/0

OK, with all of this being said, is there or isn't there going to be a sportsman season on the big lake for sockeye this year? I did'nt take the time to read all of the posts regarding this issue, but , being the narrow minded sort that I am, (shame on me!), I would really like to know if I can fish for these critters this year. Before everyone passes judgement on me as just another meat fisherman, please understand that I get few chances to fish for salmon or steelhead over the course of the traditional seasons, so any opportunity I get to fish for any salomonid, when there is the potential for a sucessful outing, I jump at the chance.Last go 'round, due to ineptitude on my part, we launched the boat without the benefit of having anyone on board or in control,causing an unplannned, and therfore unprepared fisher to have to go wading after a boat that got away. Before you say STUPID!, take into consider that ,yes, what happened WAS stupid, and I am fully prepared to accept that label. My fishing buddy was sure to remind me all the way home about how the wind was up and the boat would have eventually made it back to the beach on it's own. Wading out to beyond my chest to retreive the boat was not part of the plan for the day. So I live and learn. Anyways, I would sure like another chance at those tasty morsels, so back to the original question, WILL THERE BE A SPORT SOCKEYE SEASON ON THE BIG LAKE THIS YEAR???

A season for everyone except you I'm afraid.

Here is my State Rep's reply.

Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me.

I agree with you and support funding for Lake Washington Sockeye Sport
Fishery, as included in the governor's budget. This funding will provide
monitoring and sampling to ensure that fish listed under the Endangered
Species Act are adequately protected. Preliminary forecasts indicate a Lake
Washington Sockeye salmon return of roughly 600,000 fish. In the event that
sufficient sockeye return to Lake Washington, this additional funding will
allow the Department of Fish and Wildlife to open this selective fishery and
create more fishing opportunities in our community.

Please feel free to contact me with any additional comments or concerns. I
value the input I receive and hope that you will continue to share your
thoughts with me.

Best Regards,

Ruth

I think you've at least got Ruth's attention. Before you sent her a message, she I doubt that she had given any consideration to the Lake Washington sockeye season.

Good job.

If you live in the Kent area, or this guy runs for governor, vote for Rep. Geoff Simpson. Here's what he says:

Thank you for your message. As someone who has personally enjoyed the fishery you refer to and who loves salmon fishing in general, you can be assured that I will support the budget proviso. I really appreciate you taking the time to write to me about this subject and hope you will feel free to contact me anytime you have a question or comment. Thanks again.
Sincerely,

Geoff

Just so everyone knows. The 120k for this fishery has survived into the House and Senate budgets. Every Legislator I have spoken with is quite supportive and surprised that the Department has not been proactive with this request by contacting them first. Keep up the good work of contacting your Legislators .

Oh please, it is just a money game. I hate having my fishing affected by politics. They'll get the money and we'll have a season, hopefully more than a 2 day stretch. I have fished opening day since a kid (got to miss a little school) and it is irritating to watch the fishing time reduced every year. Supposd to be a huge run this year and I hope the open days reflect it!

why not sponsor a take a legislator fishing program. get them in your boat, a mile from any land and then express your views to these fine, over payed under worked-educated beyond thier ability to under stand anything, individuals.

How many realize that there were more than enough fish last year to support a two week plus fishery? While at the Sportsman's Show I was talking to a WDFW agent who was telling me about the numbers last year. There were Sockeye running all the way into Dec. So many fish that there was no room for them to spawn in the rivers.. The last fishery that we got a 3day fishery had enough of a run to support a 12 to 14 day fishery... The WDFW agent stated that he was not sure he should talk about this however he had heard someone else mention it....

grandpa has hit the nail on the head.. We have and do pay in More than enough to support the department and enforcement. However they have to pay so much out to the general fund.. It sounds like it may be time for another dedicated fund allocation. Kinda like the warmwater fisheries fund..

Smalma,

I am only restating what was told to me by somebody within the department.

Why do the counts stop at the end of July? The person I had spoken too apparently lives on one of the return rivers and has some first hand information on the subject. He stated to me that there have been allot more fish than what is being reported runs that are lasting into Dec? That is allot of uncounted months?

There are substantial numers of fish netted outside the locks on the saltwater side....Go to lunch at Ray's Boathouse on a nice late June day and see for yourself. Those fish are definitely not counted.

The real issue here is whether the WDFW will have funding to operate the fishery beyond a few days. If at all.

Simple questions, no attacks intended...why do they start counting on June 12th? Smalma, I understand that they want to keep consistency with what dates they are counting every year, makes sense. However, why not start earlier, like May 1? Is it a $$$ thing, not enough funds or do the bulk of the fish really start showing in June? Why June 12th? That seems kind of random to me. Do they take in account fish showing prior to June 12th? Just curious, looking forward to the season, whatever it turns out to be. I'm sure I'll see some of you out there.

Kev

Traditionally counting before June 12th would not gain much data as the run doesn't usually get going until mid June. They are not hiding anything by waiting

Kev- to answer your question, yes they do take into account those fish entering before June 12 and after the end of July. The model they use is just that a model. It is a formula that counts the main portion of the run directly and they then extrapolate those numbers to estimate how many have already entered and how many will enter after they stop formal counts. It does save quite a bit of $$$ because they don't have to have counter on those early and late days where there is only small amounts of fish going through. Hope this clarifies some things!
CM

Thanks Grandpa and CM, I had a feeling that was the case. No conspiracy theory here , was just wondering.
My daughters are looking forward to this season, it's a great opportunity to get the entire family out on the water, during the nice warm and sunny weather.

Kev

Anybody have the inside scoop on when the season might be?

Yo Gang!

A couple of things that I learned at the Pre-season Forecast Meeting in Olympia on Monday...

1 - The $120K that have been tossed about for monitoring would be enough to cover a 30 day season if it came to that...!

2 - They are only expecting about 400 wild chinook to come back to the Cedar this year. That is a threatened run and DFW has to manage all fisheries - including sockeye in the lake - to limit impact on those fish.

3 - Based upon #2, DFW would prefer to run the season as early as possible - before chinook would be expected in the lake - they said it might start as early as July 1st

4 - The City of Renton has asked that they NOT allow fishing on July 4th because of planned fireworks and even more traffic at Coulon Park - don't know if they mean the whole weekend or not.

Get those red hooks now!