To me it's not a matter of needing to fish Bonneville, it's just common sense... You can either chase a tide down in the lower Columbia and hope you've got a batch of fish moving through or you can go to where you know the fish are stacked about anytime after April 5th pretty much guarantee a limit for the boat... I'm more into the guaranteed bite if you know what I mean.... I want springers in my freezer, I enjoy eating them and the less money I have to spend chasing a bite the better off I am...

If you ever had the chance to fish Bonneville in the peak it would be hard pressed to ever want to fish the lower C again....

Where else can you go in this state and have 20+ Springer days?

Keith

The thing is, the upriver run size is in question after the missed forecasts the last couple of years.
Until the update in May the focus is on lower river stocks. That's the reason for the restricted opportunity on upriver impacts.

Stlhdr pretty much hit the issue directly on the head with this comment -

"you can go to where you know the fish are stacked about anytime after April 5th pretty much guarantee a limit for the boat..."

With the increased catch rates the he and other experience in that particular fishery any extended fishing in that area dramatically increase catch rates which equal dramatically shorter seasons. It should be clear to all by now that a major priority from both States is proving as much time on the water as possible (equals more man-days of fishing which equals more $$$). Allowing fishing in areas and times with high catch rates must led to less time on the water.

Everyone needs to keep in mind that Columbia River spring Chinook is limited by wild fish impacts; unless the ratio of hatchery to wild can be changed by fishing site selection the more fish handled the shorter the season.

Tight lines
Curt

As much as I like to fish the big wall I would rather have a longer season in the lower end than fish bonny a couple times. Its a blood run goin there and would definetly eat up our quota pretty quickly, good call by the dept IMO.

Bonneville is only good when there are fish present to be taken. Why do you think they are closing it to all Salmon fishing on April 3rd. That's when the fish start to show in decent #'s.

I've had all kinds of guys come up with idea of how they are going to slay the fish at bonneville off the bank. You folks are in for a rude awakening. If the flows stay low like they are now, those famous plunking spots will be dry, kinda like the back channel. In low water years the fish will be in the deeper areas with more protection. High water is what makes the plunking so good. Sure, there will be fish caught before April 3rd, even some decent days, but fare from epic, as the fish will just be starting to show up at the wall.

I would guess they will start spilling water soon at bonny to help the smolts pass over. We caught 6 or 8 smolts yesterday in the lower river, normally they raise the river up in march and screw the fishin up a little bit to safely push those smolts. They had it really flowing last year by the end of march.

Remember 2001? No snow pack and they let very little water out of the wall until May. Why is this year any different?

You can't let out water that you don't have

It's funny how it's a catch 22 though. Ironically, everyone wants our wild fish #'s to increase giving larger percentage of hatchery fish to be taken in future years.

But on another note there's people that want to extend the seasons which in return will make for more wild fish handled... Right?

I understand the logic of revenue but shouldn't we get in and get out with our quotas as quick as possible? Less impact on the wild fish putting them on the spawning beds?

Keith

I agree on the get in and get out idea. But follow the money. By limiting things the way they have it will force many more angler trips. It's a way of squeezing one more $ out of fishermen. Force us to fish more days and look at the revenue they creat. It's never about the fish just the $$$.

Kris

Stlhdr -
No sure why it is so hard for folks to grasp the basic concept of Columbia River Spring Chinook management. It is all about the wild fish ESA impacts. Those allowable imapcts deteremine the quota. It makes no difference whether that quota is caught in 10 days or 50 days it will result in the same number of dead wild fish.

If you want to limit the wild fish impacts then folks need to stop fishing in that mix stock main river fishery and wait until the hatchery and wild fish sort themselves out (at least somewaht). Of course that would mean no lower river fishery at all and terminal fisheries mostly tributaries.

Or the managers could do as often is suggested for the commercial and tribal fisheries and just dip the hatchery fish out of the fish ladders and hand them out to waiting "anglers".

Have wonder how many of the Columbia River spring Chinook fishers would vote for either of those approachs? Could remove more hatchery fish and actual kill fewer wild fish.

Something to ponder!
Curt

That's exactly the point that so many miss.

It ain't just about the meat.

Sure, the meat's a HUGE part of it, some would say the most important part of it.

But without the experience of going out there and catching them of your own volition and effort..... regardless of gear type..... it ain't the same. And no one wants to participate without that interactive element of "chase".

Deep down, we are all fishermen. We love to see that rod bury when a fish commits to the herring, or see that bobber take that fatal plunge when a fresh springer has inhaled that egg/shrimp cocktail.

A commercial guy gets the same thrill when his cork-line starts bobbing up and down...... yeah! got 'im!

No self-respecting fisherman wants to be handed a pile of dead flesh just for showing up in line. We all want to be like that osprey, working hard to procure a fishy meal by the sweat of our individual effort..... not like some scavenging eagle grazing on rotting chum.

Scavenging eagle or the honest fishing osprey -- what an analogy Doc!

While Smalma's point that we all - treaty, non-treaty commercial, and recreational - could have our fish carefully handled and sorted at the Bonneville ladder, more than just the point of fishing will be lost. The inherent inefficiency of the sport fishery in a significant cash infusion to local economies. My inept salmon catching ability values each springer at about $500 to $1,000 contributed. Contrast that with having one handed to me at the Bonnie ladder, or even at $5 per pound from treaty fishermen at Cascade Locks. OK, maybe I should sell my boat and gear, but I haven't even installed those new Folbe rod holders yet.

Sg

Salmo g

You are making my point; regardless of the user group it ultimately boils down their individual desires/needs and the all mighty dollar.

Unfortuantely more often than not wild fish concerns are used as a lever to advance a users cause at the expense of a competing user and not to put more fish on the spawning grounds.

None of that should be too surprising; it is after all human nature and is to be expected. I however do find it disingenuous when folks use psuedo biological arguments to advance an economic/social agenda. Again there is nothing wrong with making one's case using an economic argument; just be honest about it.

Tight lines
Curt

Agreed Smalma. Ultimately the LCR fish allocation issues need to be aired as the fight over the remaining scraps of the resource that it really is. Although I'm not opposed to commercial fishing, I've long since decided that the LCR non-treaty gillnet fleet is a social, economic, and biological anachronism. Too few people benefit from the limited public fishery resource, turning fewer dollars, and causing biological harm in the form of steelhead and sturgeon bycatch. Now if the gillnet fleet switches to more selective gear types, then the issue just comes down to social and economic terms of highest and best use for society. And the non-fishing consumer and restaurant trade can still obtain their fish from the treaty fishery, no problem.

The only way the LCR commercial fishery is justified is if society somehow concludes that it is beneficial overall to allow a small select group of "limited entry" permit holders to continue their part time hobby fishing jobs at the direct public expense (in the form of lost recreational fishing opportunity) of the majority. The logic in that entitlement is perverse, at best.

Sg

Eyefish hit it on the head. Most of us are fisherman who enjoy the hunt and the act of fishing. By closing the bonny area we will have more time to enjoy fishing in the lower river. Yes at the right time you could catch 5 times the fish in a day at the dam but I would rather fish 5 times as many days on the lower river. No matter what it will equal out to be close to the same amount of fish I would put in the boat, IMO.

Rufus Woods Lake behind Chief Joseph Dam is as high and full as I've ever seen right now, poised to start dumping water any time.

OK the dumbest post award goes to you. Where do you think these fish come from? Your crayon seams dull because they have to come from some where. Wind? Drano? Just where do you think these non native fish originate?

Has it ever occurred to you that estimates have been wrong since forever? Estimating a run and forecasting a quota before it happens is like shooting yourself in the foot before you can draw.

But hey as long as your on the long straw it's all good right.

STFU

We both like the same drink you just don't like my drinking establishment. Unfortanely my favorite bar is closed this year.

Why does it have to be all or nothing? A selective fishery rule from I-205 to Bonneville would be an easier pill to swallow.

A reduction in the areas you could fish upriver this season would not taste so well, would it?

There is no winning this arguement.

Thanks for the "AWARD"

By the way I don't use a straw I drink right from the bottle.

I'll agree the taste is very bad and has been felt by those up river every year, after year, after year. No worries because Washington and Oregon have a very good record of focking things up. I have no doubt they will continue the trend.

I don't consider these my fish or yours. This resource belongs to everybody. It's taken how many years for the powers to be to figure out that setting quotas based on a estimate just isn't working? The lower river fisherman have had it easy. I've fished it many times from B10 to the headwaters of the snake. I do think that opening a little more river would ease the congestion but it doesn't look like it's going happen for now. No worries if the estimated numbers pan out. You will have a chance to fish your favorite spot "aka staging area" below the dam.

For me Beacon Rock is more about the setting. Not sure how to describe it, but sitting there fishing and watching the sun hit that rock as it rises does something to rejuvenate my soul.
I looked forward to doing it again. Catching is a bonus..

We all have these spots that have a hold on us and when they are taken away for whatever reason right or not, it still sucks..