Well, I hate to say it but rumors of a poor fish return are starting to look more and more like the truth. They finally opened the trap at the hatchery right below Priest Rapids on thursday(Oct.5). They had exactly TWO fish enter the trap that day. Normally a few hundred fish have ground a half inch off of their noses on the gate by now. Fished most of Saturday, landing one fish, a darker buck in the low 40's. Saw exactly 5 fish landed in 7 hours. The fish just plain are not here, and the dam counts confirm that they aren't coming. Saw a small article last week in the Herald, WDFW says that the run was only going to be half what they originally projected. So, since they didn't figure it out until then, no net fisheries were affected. IMAGINE THAT!! Your best bet for an upriver bright this year was the Columbia Point Marina, at two bucks a pound! Just remember four years from now, when the run really stinks again, it wasn't the dams, it wasn't not enough water in the river, it was WDFW fumbling the ball once again(they do it more than Dave Kreig ever did)!!

You are sooooooooo right!!!!!!lester

I don't really care too much about the returns to the Priest Rapids hatchery, but if the wild fish that spawn naturally in the reach are having a bad year then you're right, looks like WDFW screwed up.
I wonder how WDFW does spawning surveys and jack counts on Hanford reach wild fish with all of the hatchery fish swimming around up there. Must make it tough to get accurate numbers.