My friend who is mostly blind but is a long time fisherman has asked to take him somewhere to bang some fish. He has the disabled permit and he lives in Olympia. I was thinking cowlitz at the hatchery intake I think he is allowed to fish right there. Any tips advice places to go. Cowlitz report would be nice. Thanks.

Sumnerguy,

There appears to be a lot of misunderstanding about the Blue Creek disabled fishing access area, if the number of people fishing it illegally is any indication. Lots of people have a disabled parking permit, but that doesn't cut it for the special privilege area at Blue Creek. In order to legally fish the crack pipe and limited section of streambank immediately downstream of it, the disabled person must be "permanently confined to a wheelchair." Last weekend a man with a disabled parking permit and a son who he said is disabled were illegally fishing there, and when I told him, actually read the regulation right off the sign posted there, he told me to, "mind my own f'n business," altho he packed up and left shortly thereafter. Then the other day a guy on crutches was illegally fishing there; don't know if the uses of crutches was real or part of a ruse, but you get the idea. Your mostly blind friend doesn't qualify. Neither does my 89 year old mother who is mostly blind, half deaf, crippled with arthritis, and diabetic even though she gets wheeled around airports in a wheelchair because she is not "permanently confined to a wheelchair."

As for legally fishing the Cowlitz, there are fish being caught from the mouth all the way up to the barrier dam. The river is getting a huge coho return this year, and the catch limit is 6 coho.

Sg