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#1020156 - 01/15/20 09:32 AM Skagit Steelhead Season
Salmo g. Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 03/08/99
Posts: 13520
If you haven't seen it yet, WDFW issued a news release this morning announcing that the Skagit and Sauk Rivers steelhead CNR season won't be open this Feb. - Apr. The reason is the low preseason runsize forecast of 3,963 steelhead. That is below the 4,000 minimum required for a season under the Resource Management Plan developed by the state and tribal co-managers and approved by NMFS in 2018.

It's sad, but given the extremely low returns of hatchery winter steelhead thus far this season, it's not surprising that wild steelhead runs would be below average this year as well.

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#1020158 - 01/15/20 10:24 AM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
Brent K Offline
Juvenile at Sea

Registered: 08/12/13
Posts: 108
Loc: Arlington, Washington
That's convenient for them. I guess we should all be greatful that we had one last full season on the Skagit. I'm sure they will leave all of the coastal rivers open though.

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#1020160 - 01/15/20 10:44 AM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
cohoangler Offline
Three Time Spawner

Registered: 12/29/99
Posts: 1611
Loc: Vancouver, Washington
Here it is:

https://wdfw.wa.gov/news/catch-and-relea...d-projected-low


My sense is that this won't be the last. The Oly Pen rivers might be next.

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#1020163 - 01/15/20 11:45 AM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
Jason Beezuz Offline
My Waders are Moist

Registered: 11/20/08
Posts: 3440
Loc: PNW
Last two weekends a guy from Chilliwack BC was at my chosen fishing spot on the Nooksack an hour before first light because the fishing is so lousy and crowded up there. If fishermen from Chilliwack choose the Nooksack over the Vedder, and are posting up in their spot way before daylight, we steelhead fishers are surely fukt.
_________________________
Maybe he's born with it.

Maybe it's amphetamines.

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#1020164 - 01/15/20 11:49 AM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
WDFW X 1 = 0 Offline
My Area code makes me cooler than you

Registered: 01/27/15
Posts: 4549
Yup congrats.

Wild fish all the way fern feelers.

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#1020165 - 01/15/20 12:14 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
fshwithnoeyes Offline
Returning Adult

Registered: 08/20/08
Posts: 299
Loc: Lewis Co via Bham
From a population standpoint on the Skagit, there isn't much difference between 3,999 and 4,000. It's schitty.
_________________________
If we ignore the environment it will just go away

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#1020167 - 01/15/20 12:31 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
RUNnGUN Offline
Repeat Spawner

Registered: 12/06/07
Posts: 1382
I assume their will be absolutely zero nets in the river then. Right?
_________________________
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller.
Don't let the old man in!

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#1020173 - 01/15/20 03:17 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
Salmo g. Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 03/08/99
Posts: 13520
I expect that the usual test fishing will occur where biological data on the run is collected. This occurs every year, including the nine years the river was closed to steelhead sport fishing. Worrying about that is worrying about the wrong thing IMO.

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#1020174 - 01/15/20 03:36 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
Carcassman Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 11/21/07
Posts: 7410
Loc: Olema,California,Planet Earth
How about "bycatch" in the Baker sockeye fishery?

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#1020175 - 01/15/20 04:25 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: WDFW X 1 = 0]
Jason Beezuz Offline
My Waders are Moist

Registered: 11/20/08
Posts: 3440
Loc: PNW
Originally Posted By: WDFW X 1 = 0
Yup congrats.

Wild fish all the way fern feelers.


How would more hatchery fish keep the river open in March and April?
_________________________
Maybe he's born with it.

Maybe it's amphetamines.

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#1020178 - 01/15/20 04:34 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Jason Beezuz]
avidangler
Unregistered


37 projected fish? And I thought our fish management in Cali was fked up. Wait ,it is. 37 fish crazy

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#1020183 - 01/15/20 06:40 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Jason Beezuz]
cobble cruiser Offline
~B-F-D~

Registered: 03/27/09
Posts: 2256
Originally Posted By: Jason Beezuz
Last two weekends a guy from Chilliwack BC was at my chosen fishing spot on the Nooksack an hour before first light because the fishing is so lousy and crowded up there. If fishermen from Chilliwack choose the Nooksack over the Vedder, and are posting up in their spot way before daylight, we steelhead fishers are surely fukt.


I used to wade nipple deep in the tailout of the cedar run on the Chili well before light. Course, dozen fish days out of a couple good holes were a reasonable reality back then.. if the fishins good. wink


Edited by cobble cruiser (01/15/20 06:43 PM)

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#1020208 - 01/16/20 11:39 AM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Jason Beezuz]
WDFW X 1 = 0 Offline
My Area code makes me cooler than you

Registered: 01/27/15
Posts: 4549
Originally Posted By: Jason Beezuz
Originally Posted By: WDFW X 1 = 0
Yup congrats.

Wild fish all the way fern feelers.


How would more hatchery fish keep the river open in March and April?



Fill the rivers with fish and then fish on them.
or scientifically support the excuses not to.

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#1020212 - 01/16/20 12:26 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: WDFW X 1 = 0]
The Moderator Offline
The Chosen One

Registered: 02/09/00
Posts: 14486
Loc: Tuleville
Originally Posted By: WDFW X 1 = 0
Fill the rivers with fish and then fish on them.


Maybe you missed the memo.

We DID fill the fivers with fish. They left as babies, went out to sea, and never came back as 2-salt fish.

Some 3-salt and 4-salt fish are coming back...but 2-salts seem to be gone.

Downside: Fewer fish to be caught
Upside: If you do get one, it will be probably be a good quality large fish.

The other memo coming out seems to indicate the wild component is having returning issues as well.

This has nothing to do with wild/hatchery steelhead and management practices. Has everything to do with climate change (natural or human made) and how it's effecting our oceans and the critters in it.
_________________________
Tule King Paker

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#1020230 - 01/16/20 02:49 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
WDFW X 1 = 0 Offline
My Area code makes me cooler than you

Registered: 01/27/15
Posts: 4549
Got the memo.
Change Tee Pees.

Plant more white-man.

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#1020233 - 01/16/20 03:29 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
NickD90 Offline
Shooting Instructor for hire

Registered: 10/26/10
Posts: 7260
Loc: Snohomish, WA
Anyone want to buy some nice fishing rods?

Why does golf have to suck so badly and be so boring?

I could always take up bird watching.

OH JOY!
_________________________
“If the military were fighting for our freedom, they would be storming Capitol Hill”. – FleaFlickr02

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#1020234 - 01/16/20 03:30 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
eddie Offline
Carcass

Registered: 03/08/99
Posts: 2432
Loc: Valencia, Negros Oriental, Phi...
I am no fisheries biologist but I can read and understand data. And make a fairly well thought out analysis of coincidence and causation. Parker is absolutely right, the more fish we have put out into the ecosystem, the less that returned. Partially this is because of generalized ocean conditions (which are likely not going to get better in the short term), partially it is because salmon and steelhead are one of the top predators in the ocean but they must depend on growing rapidly in order to attain that status. More fish, same amount of feed = smaller salmon & steelhead. Smaller salmon and steelhead = more predation on them. We want the easy solution, make more fish. It's a fool's paradise....
_________________________
"You're not a g*dda*n looney Martini, you're a fisherman"

R.P. McMurphy - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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#1020237 - 01/16/20 03:53 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
Carcassman Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 11/21/07
Posts: 7410
Loc: Olema,California,Planet Earth
Natural resource management has been strongly siloed across the board for a long time. Development doesn't hurt fish. Making lakes multi-species is fine. Harvesting everything at MSY doesn't affect anything else.

I believe, based on information my colleagues share, that the whole damn Pacific ecosystem (terrestrial and aquatic) is setting up to collapse. The information has been there for decades; it seems that we have reached some sort of tipping point that is being pushed by climate change. But, without CC we would still be facing issues.

For too long, for example, the ocean was a "Back Box". Poor returns-bad conditions. Good returns-good conditions. But never seemed to actually try to determine what those conditions were. Same with food chains. We kept harvesting all levels, and mutual declines kept it all in some sort of balance.

Then, we protected some apex predators, they increased, and (oh my gawd) they ate more.

While it was pretty well established that the declines in adult salmon size were (30s-90s) fishery related there were a couple of exceptions. It was rather well recognized that the bigger the pink run (at least Fraser) the smaller the individual fish. Even then, we had the information that food out there wasn't limitless.

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#1020238 - 01/16/20 03:55 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: Salmo g.]
WDFW X 1 = 0 Offline
My Area code makes me cooler than you

Registered: 01/27/15
Posts: 4549
BS

Plant fish white man.

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#1020240 - 01/16/20 05:00 PM Re: Skagit Steelhead Season [Re: WDFW X 1 = 0]
Salmo g. Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 03/08/99
Posts: 13520
Originally Posted By: WDFW X 1 = 0
BS

Plant fish white man.


If only the fisheries scientists knew what you know. We could plant more fish, but those hatchery steelhead smolts cost a bit over $1.00 each to raise. When ocean survival was as high as 10%, a release of 100,000 smolts generated 10,000 adult steelhead. Not too bad at $10 per adult steelhead generated. With this year's smolt to adult return rate that appears to be around 0.01%, you're looking at $10,000 to generate one adult steelhead. Please send a cashier's check for $10 million, and you'll get your fish.

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