Chalk this up as a MAJOR victory for sports in GH!

A full season in the bay for wild and hatchery coho beginning Sept 16, no chinook retention for conservation concerns.

A full season on the Humptulips for hatchery coho beginning Sept 16, with chinook retention!

A full season on the Chehalis for hatchery and wild coho beginning Sept 16, but no chinook retention for conservation concerns.

Non-treaty gillnets limited to 2-C (Humptulips) for LIMITED early season dates in Sept... 2 days per week for 3 weeks.

AND

No non-treaty gillnets in 2A/2D (Chehalis).

Cement not quite set in stone on the commercial package (in fact the commies gang-banged Brian Blake immediately after the meeting to lobby for some legislative intervention to get ANY Chehalis time, even a measly day or two), but the sport package is pretty much signed sealed and delivered.

Thank you Firefish, FNP, joe and others not mentioned for your time. You are paying the price with your time and effort for the future of our fisheries. I appreciate the effort but hope my boys will reap the rewards of your work 10 years from now.

thank you

A definite big thanks to all involved.....somebody must be listening for once!

steve

Maximum time.

Maximum area.

Maximum harvest opportunity.

No herd mentality. Pick your venue. Pick your area. And spread the effort out.

The concurrent openers basin-wide will mean that all of the effort WON'T be concentrated in a limited fishing zone within a narrow window of time. It'll force folks to pick and choose cause they can't be at all places at all times. This accommodates the maximum number of participants to extract the maximum harvestable fish from the basin without excessive pressure on any single venue.

Have a quality experience catching quality fish, folks, secure in the knowledge that conservation was met first and foremost.

BTW I would encourage everyone to write a letter/e-mail of thanks to Interim Director Anderson for his pivotal role in getting this winning package put together after things reached an impasse last Thursday!

-- -- -- --

The Department stood their ground. Not everyone walked away happy, but this time it wasn't us!

According to the cowboys they contribute to the economy just as much as the sporties do :cough: :cough:

My hat is off to Phil Anderson, Pat Patillo, Kirt Huges, Barb McClellan and all the other folks that stood there ground and are doing what is best for the fish first and the economy second. Also I want to thank my fellow committee members for the hard work and dealing with me and my [censored] when they piss me off. So many times I wanted to walk away but new if I did what kind of message would that have sent. We have all hung in there and now we can start to see the fruits of our labor. Thanks to everyone else who showed up and especially to the old salt who gave the speech from hell about what the harbor use to be!!! He inspired us all and got a great ovation.

Thanks for letting me serve !!!
Fly

the commies sure did a lot of whining last night.. hope that they do get shut out in 2A/2D .. i think they did enough damage last year when there wasnt that many fish to go around..

You are right s.s, but I see them getting a bone thrown there way and I bet they end up with one day which will not kill us.

Peace
Fly

As I see it the WDFW had no choice in that with the last 2 years in a row without meeting Chinook escapment on the Chehalis, if it went the same in 2009 the Feds more than likely would have stepped in & declared an ESA situation.

My hat is off to Phil Anderson in that now with him as acting Director, there has been a complete turn around in how things were handled last night. It appears he drew the line in the sand & his staff would not back off because they knew he was backing them in the sake of conservation.

I have sat on this Ad Hoc committee since it's inseption. We sportsmen have repeatedley pushed for conservation but have been slapped in the face. I was so pissed with the way things have went that my ulcer has returned becaus eof the stress. However I decided that this was one that I was going to stay with, if nothing else to be a thorn in their side. Boy am I glad I did. I usually am the silent type because I come up with the response 2 days later. Last night I was prepared, but the way it went down, Francis, Joe & Duaine said it for all of us.

For once the fish have beneifitted.

Thanks for being there Leroy,
Good to see you !!!!

Joe

When you send the thank you notes/letters to Anderson, Pattillo, Hughes and the rest of the staff that were working behind the scenes, make sure you cc the Commission AND your legislators.

This is how a Commission run agency is supposed to work and is a great example of why we don't need SB 5127 to pass.

im sorry i still dont trust Phil Anderson. hes fighting for the job and he'll do anything to keep it.. just my 2cents

and your right joe if the cowboys get one day it wont kill us.. with them getting 6 days on the hump side and the tribe in the other days the hump is going to get ganged raped by the nets...

Congratulations to everyone who acted on behalf of sport fishers. I think you guys did a tremendous job, and finally got something to go our way. A season actually set up for sports anglers and not the other way around. Who would have thunk it? That is really impressive, and great, great news regarding next year.

Thank you!

Ryan

We'll never know about the "wdfw pre-meeting" but my impression was, that the "line in the sand was re-drawn" and IT WAS DEEPER. For 1 who sat "up river" last year, after the cowboys and other had picked off lot's of the hatchery fish, maybe this year will be much better for us.

Still have real concerns for wild salmon on the Wynoochee......10 of 12 years, ecapement has not been met.......I don't see any real chance for a build up......unless "selective fishery methods" are employed. Can't have the historial amount of gill netting and yes even sport fishing, and allow the incidental taking of wild coho by gill netting, and expect the run to build to levels that allow a sport fishery.

I agree Bill, but this year won't have the historical amount of gill netting. If we can continue down this road in the future, I for one am hopeful that the Wynoochee runs will rebuild, along with the Satsop.

Thanks to everyone involved!!!

Waiting for the QIN net schedule before I say anything.

nevermind