cowlitz is 4x above 5 year average escapement per week on coho. Rivers are flooded with fish across the board. when will we be able to kill em all. AHFMD right?

When dogs have wings.

Personally, I'd love to see the daily limit on Coho jacks increased to 12.

There is no reason to keep the current 6 Coho limit, other than to "surplus these fine sport, eating or smoking" for a small profit as they go for cat/dog food".



WHO makes the call to increase the jack limit????? At what WDFW level, Olympia level or Region level????? Is this a NOF issue?????

In WB, the choice is WDFW's alone. Outside, it has to be a shared decision because the fish are part of sharing. There is no reason why, today, a decision can't be jointly made to do so. There is no reason why a more or less permanent increase can't be defined and made.

But, any fishery has bycatch. There may be a lot of jacks, they may be available, but their fellow-travelers have to have surplus, too, to absorb C&R impacts. Unless you can produce, by gear restrictions, a fishery that encounters only jacks.

Way back when, a local WDF bio would probably be looking at ways to have such an increase, may even have talked it over with Tribal bios, and if it made sense run it up the flagpole. It's what folks used to do; find solutions to problems.

Cascassman:

Thanks......I'm not aware that "jacks are a targeted fish in WB", yes I'm sure there are many caught while fishing for adults.

Chehalis Basin has a "very active jack fishery".... Most of that fishery is between Montesano and Fuller Bridge.....the active fishing area have "tide affected, and regular water flows that have been heavily fished for the 50 years I've lived here.

I'm sure that any areas that have hatchery Coho releases, will have "Coho jacks", just that available access is reduced on many rivers, unless you have a boat.

Again, thanks for your input.........

I'm all for rolling with current regulations through the season, and letting WDFW leverage extra Wild Salmon that hit the spawning grounds for future season settings since those are usually the constraint for future fisheries... that is, as long as they and the comanagers play by the same rules. I don't see the value of pushing the Maximum Sustainable Yield model.

It's starting to turn into a joke,
"Hey fishing sucks and catches are low... WDFW will probably up the limit"

Or...

"Fishing is great so the season closed early"

Explain this logic to anyone not from here and brain dead from our current management and they think we are dumb as cavemen.

Well Willapa just got increased to a 3 fish limit AND even opened the North River, which had been closed for this year, to a 1 fish limit.

yall want a report? left olympia to fish the naselle at 430am got there before light to see 15 other rigs at highway 4. Not one fish caught except for the guy flossing them in 1 ft of water. off to the willapa... with a pit stop at the Nemah. well those didn't produce so downgraded to our 1 fish limit at the grays harbor system(this should be easy). 10 guys standing at cemetery hole, 15 at decker. no fish caught for them. ok chehalis it is. blanked there as well. 5 systems 0 fish caught. lots of fish at every river with lots of anglers. none on the bank for any one them. weirdest day fishing I've ever witnessed.

People, people, people......Grays Harbor Marine area, 2-2, boats everywhere, Cosie boat launch, boats and more boats, South Montesano, parking lot full, Wynoochee has many boats, Satsop River Highway launch, many drift boats, Fuller Hill launch has been a zoo for many days. Fish caught, yes but not even close for the amount of boats, people, guides........

Sunday morning, 10/04/2000.......Just got home from "lookie lou".....ditto the above paragraph.

I'm not fishing, Seahawks play in 10'.....GO HAWKS !!!!!!!

Oh, just remembered...Saturday afternoon saw some "ugly fish being cleaned".....

Agreed, Hawks rather than crowds.

Verles has no boats to sell. All the people at home are buy fishing gear and getting in my way..........

I was in Cabelas the other day. Almost no fishing reels left. This is the new normal. Might be time to move to Costa Rica.

I definitely have to be creative in my fishing plans.