North of Falcon--- Grays Harbor fisheries discussion,Wednesday March 4, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Montesano City Hall, 112 N. Main St., Montesano

I'm sure that not everyone will be able to attend, maybe not even myself but I decided it would be nice if those that will attend could have some input from others that like to fish Grays Harbor.

..Put your wishes down.....who knows maybe "it will come to pass"....Thanks

Mine:

1. September opening Porter to Bridge going to South Aberdeen----There are "thousands of jacks" and lot's of hatchery silvers in the river at that time. Great fishery for bank fishermen, small boat fishermen, and super fun time for kids.

2. No "cowboy" gill netting in Chehalis at all..........but if so, then only every other day or better yet....every 3rd day.

Now let's hear it.....

That covers it for me, I'll second the motion. No cowboy netting at all, can't support two separate gillnet fisheries. The market gets enough from the tribe.

I agree 100% with F4B.

Let us fish jacks while it is still sunny out.

Maybe see you at the meeting Wednesday?

I found that it taked 3 or 4 years for a good idea to go from the first presentation to implimatation.

Jerry:

Tks for moving this to a top spot......I didn't remember how to it!!!!!

I also would like to see the Chehalis opened so we could fish for Jacks again. But, I think the snaggers pretty much made it their snagging grounds for the few Kings that made it up early. So, it's closed now. Open it, catch a snagger and suspend their fishing license for 10 years or so or throw their ass in the iron bar hotel for a week or two.

White gillnetters gone would be a blessing. I do not see how they could possibly make enough cash to make it worthwhile. But, they hit it right in 2008. I'm guessing here, but, they all are mostly part timers and have a real job other than gillnetting????

Make the cut off line back out to bouy 13 at 2-2 area? Where it was before the closer in 2008. And, release all Kings would be good too! I have a real problem with that new boundry line and won't discuss it anymore.

fp

The official forecast numbers have yet to be released, but rumor has it there could be expanded opportunities in 2009 compared to 2008 for several things on this collective wish list.

The O'Leahry Creek line was the brainchild of WDFW... a one-time measure for additional chinook conservation. It did NOT work. Staff has been made aware of the ill-will this caused in the recreational fleet and the lack of any meaningful reduction in chinook exploitation beyond what "no chinook retention" already provided.

Restoring the ENTIRE fishing area is definitely on the wish list.

All good idea's so far.I'll add one "NO BAIT" Sept 1st thru 30th.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

That would pretty much rule out the jack season that DrifterWA was asking for. IMHO if you want to go "no bait" make it from Oct 1 to the end of the season. I see your point though, regarding protection of the kings in the river with the jacks. The jacks don't take hardware nearly as readily as they take eggs.

I would take ANY season in September over nothing though. By mid Sep there are plenty of silvers riding the tides, and a lot of them are hatchery fish. They don't bite as well as the later fish, but at least they are something to cast at.

I have the meeting on my home calendar, I should be there.

Could that scenaio be presented as a compromise? Open it up to Porter in September but no bait beginning Oct 1?

I am all for that.

That quick? I'm not even that optimistic.

I don't see a September jack opener happening because of:

1) what fp said....snaggers messing with early kings.

2) The state doesn't want the chronically under-escaping upriver kings messed with.

Until the Chehalis routinely over-escapes kings, (how soon do you think that will happen?)I just don't see them warranting a September fishery on jacks and silvers.

Eliminate the non-tribal gillnet fleet? Won't happen. The dept. is MANDATED by state law to provide for commercial as well as recreational fisheries. WDFW plays this card EVERY time this issue comes up in allocation meetings EVERY year. You want the "cowboys" gone? write your local representative and tell them to change state law that directs WDFW to give them opportunity. Based on past performance, do you really think the dept is going to eliminate non-tribal gillnetting "because the sportfishing population told us to"? It's almost laughable. They won't do squat.

I want them gone as much as anyone else though.

I plan on attending. A few things I want to mention have already been covered in this thread. Some not mentioned include resuming at least 1 wild coho retention in the tribs if numbers warrant it. If it means a reduction in the harbor....so be it. The upriver guys have been getting the shaft the last few years.

If the September jack opening doesn't happen upriver, at least it should be opened from South Aberdeen bridge to Lakeside like last year. Those two weeks were more productive than the rest of the season for quite a few people.

Folks are gonna have to to come up with some creative ways to get more wild coho into the chronically under-escaped tribs, namely Satsop and Wynoochee.

Certainly for chinook, managers have historically favored the mixed stock fisheries targeting fish lower in the basin.... the bay and the mainstem Chehalis. Very little trib harvest has occurred in recent times.

That's not as much the case with coho. Harvest opportunities in the tribs are generally the rule, not the exception, especially when there are plentiful hatchery fish present.

Where those hatchery fish are absent, the opportunity to put a coho in the box may be limited... as was the case in 2008 for wild coho in the Wynoochee which has repeatedly had trouble meeting escapement.

id like for them to tell the truth for a change... thats my wish..

Snaggers on early Kings.......sounds like an enforcement problem.....I've been fishing that area for 35+ years......never seen a "snagging problem" with kings.........but for sure I have with silvers.

Its a shame they hide behind "the snagging bit"....thousands of silver jacks, many chinook jacks(ugh, ugh, ugh) and lot's and lot's of hatchery silvers. September is a great time to get my grandkids out, catch a few jacks before the weather turns to heck.

Wasn't that long ago, could legally fish...August and September.

Issue isn't so much chinook "snaggers" as much as it is guys using big gobs of eggs to target kings..... and gut- and gill-hooking some big ones along the way.

That's the rationale we've heard at the committee level.

Those chinook impacts could be expended in that fashion, but it would necessarily mean fewer kings available for potential retention later in October.

Doc:

You want creative????? Let's require Tangle nets on any commerical gillnetting in the Humptulips/Chehalis Basins.....matter of fact let's turn that into a 25 - 50 year study of the effects of said tangle nets as a way to increase wild returns to all the water sheds...let's have close monitoring until the study is complete.

For sure, with the present gillnetting method...not only are wild fish killed, but also hundreds, heck thousands of "incidentially caught", non-targeted species of salmon killed and sold...........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Eric:

Nothing written down that the cowboys have to have a commerical season in the Chehalis/Humptulips Basins........give them more days on the Willapa.

What's the date? I didn't see it in the original post.