Chehalis Fishing Reports

That time again so I thought I would get the annual " liars report " going. So what I saw today for middle reach above Cosi to Friends Landing. Jacks both Chinook & Coho are around but not as many as a couple of days ago. To be honest there appears to be more Chinook hanging out than Coho but the three that we released were all colored and had been in the river for bit. Some Coho were caught but not in huge numbers. So the rule is hunt them down but if you find a bunch coming with the tide once they get past don't wait for more but get upstream and get in front of them again as the new arrivals are coming in spurts on the incoming tide.

The water temp was 65 to 66.4 with a short spike above that on the tide change to incoming.

Thanks for the report. More and better to come

Thanks Riverguy.

Fuller Bridge area: saw 2 fish roll and saw a couple jacks follow spinners. One of the fish that rolled was a bronzed up king. Can't say for sure if the other was coho or not. It will be a little bit before any numbers of fish get up that high I would guess.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks.

No report....

hung out around Aberdeen today only saw a couple fish hooked by boats.. they must have been kings cause they were never boated and got released..

I did hear of a couple coho but I never saw them..its early in the game yet maybe we will get a good shot of rain and cool the water temp down...

Today: went to tidewater, same result. Saw more seals than fish rolling.

Got lucky one out of two but it was a sea lice chromer hatchery buck. Not much showing but just found this little bunch on the tide and it was pure luck. Water temp was hanging out at 66.7 which is warm.

Dinner was good.....thanks Rivrguy......those chrome bright new fish have the most red meat.

I got seasick on dead flat water. Might have started out that way though.

Haha. You were seasick as soon as your alarm went off.

4th and nope, nada, not a thing unless you count one really big Squaw Fish. Two changes were present seals & a ton of bait fish coming up with the tide and water temp above 66. I was certainly not a threat to anything today.

From my PM:

Bait fish all the way into Central park? Haven’t seen them that high in a while.

Bank report just above the bridge is dismal at best. 1-3 fish sightings and nothing hitting. Boats getting the occasional Chinook but nothing else. Heard of a few being caught up by Lakeside in boats but can’t confirm anything.

Hopefully this rain will have helped enough because the weathers looks to get dry and warm again.

I was at Morrison park for a couple hrs talking to the guys fishing they hadn't touched anything .. only saw a couple jump...

Just the way I like it!

.

One Chinook Jack about 3 lbs scales flying, one Coho kicked my butt in about 20 seconds. Fresh fish ( not many showing ) coming on the tide change. 69.9 at low ebb and 65.9 lowest we had for water temps. Two other Coho caught all straight from the salt that we observed.

9/07/2013......Up river between Monty and Fuller Bridge.......Mud, mud, mud......not from Satsop.

Water flow went up 4' at Porter Guage, Water temperture was 69.

5 boats "in a hog line"......NO FISH!!!!!

River on drop, at Porter.....might get better quickly????

Go Seahawks!!!!!!!!!

Mud was still in full effect yesterday above the tidewater; something about 6" of visibility makes me less than confident. Opted for dropping the toon in at Cosi to fish the high incoming. Water was pretty off-color there, too, but enough visibility to make it worth a go. Fished for about an hour and decided I wasn't going to do much fishing spinners in the heavy tidal current, so headed in. At the ramp, I heard a few stories of moderate success from the herring and flasher crew, but concensus was that it's still pretty "slow" for coho.

Spent the rest of the afternoon harvesting some dandy chanterelles from a local honey hole, which provided a much needed attitude adjustment. Couldn't believe how many were out so early in the season.

Fishing on the river needs a week or two to get going. I'm starting to get concerned, given the extended weather outlook, that we upriver folks may have a season similar to last year, with the commercial net October blackout claiming the lion's share of a banner run. here's hoping for some cool, wet weather before month's end....

In the meantime, I'll look forward to a trip or two in Willapa and Grays Harbor. Thank God for friends with boats!

Monday 9/9/2013

Fished 3 hours....between Monty and Fuller Bridge, water color was better than Saturday and Sunday, 4 other boats in the area, no fish for me......no fish showing, was fishing last of outgoing tide and incoming tide.

Used eggs and spoons.....will try again later today.

Gonna cut you off at the pass.

We all are gonna cut'em off @ the pass.Good luck,
SZ

Change of heart today....

Guess there'll be no report from Team eyeFISH.... again.

67.8 was the water temp and it ranged from muddy to clear. Lot of debris running up and down the river with the tides as well as the stained water. Just have work around it until it clears.

Not much moving but you see some here and there with the tide. With the rain those fish hanging out S. Monte to the 101 bridge moved up a bit so it is more or less wait for some fish to head into the tide water reach.

Tuesday 9/10/2013

Fished 3.5 hours.....no bites on spoons, went to fast water to fish jacks, not a bite.....not many people/boats above Monty. No fish showing, have concerns.

EAST wind blowing and still blowing....my wind chime just about to drive me crazy, East side of house.

I stopped and took a look one guy fishing Morrison park and one guy fishing behind top foods.. saw two boats from 101 bridge up to juvie hall.. id say not much in way of fish down that way...

I never had much luck when the water temp was above 60

Don't you know,"Wind from the East Fishing Least"

Thursday 9/12/2013

Fished my normal place in the Chehalis.....not many adult fish showing.

2 boats fishing "jacks".........was enough to keep 4 people casting and using up eggs. Hate barbless hooks, lost some nice silver jacks......no king jacks that I saw.

Fished for an hour today with my 4 year old daughter. She caught her first salmon, a nice little king jack. Perfect way to get her started. I'll post pics once I sit down to laptop. Can't do it from my phone.

Slow fishing other than that, but it was my best outing by far because I discovered a new fishing partner.

Friday 9/13/2013

Hold over tide...not a fast run out.

2 boats and 3 bankies in one of the places that gets fished for jacks this time of the year.

4 limits of silver jacks, a few of them were "big" but most on the smaller size.

4 other boats, casting spinners and plugs.....no fish.

The most people I've seen this salmon season. Not many adults showing, some ugly kings.

I might have to take my girls jack fishing tomorrow after soccer games.

How do you target specifically Jacks? I catch them sometimes while targeting adults but wouldn't know how to target them soley.

I don't want to "high jack" thread.....pm if you want to know......

9/14 Chinook with seals chasing them moving with the tide. Some Coho adults but more Jacks than Adult Coho. That said all are bright as I turned one Chin loose and got a Coho Jack late yesterday afternoon. Downside is water temp was over 68 degrees at high slack.

Saturday 9/14/2013

Tide in my area, messed up......high water late in the morning, did go out just as tide was starting out.

Fished for about an hour, 3 very small "silver jacks".....released, not worth a punch on my card.

No Chehalis fishing for me today......need to get a few projects done, before the rains hit.

Seen some Chinook with the tide and that was about it other than the yearly Sheriff's visit to make sure I was safe. Lord! Anyhow lots of boats out down toward 101 bridge so someone should have a update but the water temp was above 68 at slack low.

Looks like those temps should finally drop a bit this week. Probably not enough to get things really hopping, but at least enough to get something to stay in the river after the tide retreats... I hope.

Any reports from folks out in the bay yet?

Guess I'll drive to town......see what the 28th Street area looks like.....I'll take a few pic's.

Port of GH, was suppose to make upgrades to 28th launch and area......don't think it happened.

Did drive to town.....and take a "lookie Lou"...

1. Train had road blocked, comming past the Port of GH Office.....must have been for awhile.....only 3 rigs parked on that stretch of the road.

2. Drove around to 28th Street....tow rigs/boat trailers, were parked along both sides of the road and in some kind of parking lot....this was a Monday, weekend would/could be a "real bitch".

3. Picture shows, looking West.....toward Hoquiam River....lot's of boats BUT I've seen many more, in the past.

Not from me or to me anyway. Not much showing but at the front of the early morning incoming Chinook showed for a hour or so then faded away. Just not much showing above water in the mid reach S Monte down. Hopefully the 101 bridge guys got some.

Edit: Yup the 28th St bunch got fish.

Thanks for the reports as well as the picture Drifter.

Headin out this weekend. Early wind reports show some wind this weekend, hopefully that changes. Do any of you guys run from 28th st to the south johns river channel? Wondering how far it is and how well the channel is marked. Always launched at johns river but would like to be able to retreat and fish 28th st area if the wind shows up. Runnin a super vee. Thanks.

Opening day for the marine area.... and NO FISH CHECKERS on duty.

Ditto tomorrow.

[Bleeeeep!]!

Region 6.... hello?

Didn't realize that jay eff see is now part of the PP filter.... [Bleeeeep!]!

As this thread is about fishing and not bitching I am not posting the QIN schedule or modeling results here. That said the information is posted with a link to the QIN in the FTC thread.

Nobody runs there, about hour run, and marked well with pilings and logs.

Anyone curious about the planned netting schedule? It boils down to this....

beginning Sunday Sept 30, Q = QIN nets and W = WA State nets

9/30 = Q
10/1 = Q
2 = Q
3
4
5
6 = Q
7 = Q
8 = Q
9 = Q
10
11 = W
12
13 = Q
14 = Q
15 = Q
16 = Q
17 = Q
18
19
20 = Q
21 = Q
22 = Q
23
24 = W
25 = W
26
27
28 = W
29
30
31
11/1
2
3
4 = W
5 = W
6 = W
7
8
9
10 = W
11 = W
12 = W
13 = Q
14 = Q
15 = Q
16 = Q
17 = Q
18 = Q
19 = Q
20 = Q
21 = Q
22 = Q

13 net-free days in all of Oct, and 5 net-free days in Nov thru the 22nd

Time your Chehalis adventures accordingly.

So tell me why I should even buy a license to fish October through November? To fish with an unfair advantage bought with my money? It's flat out scumbag nation doing what they want. Screw the treaty, I say we all invest in some hay and dump it in the River above the nets. Maybe take out the white boys nets in the process.

Sorry about the crude language. It's just unfair. Unethical and all around messed up. Especially for bank fisherman like me.

I feel like when I go to buy gear I find myself thinking about the "risk" reward of it all. I put gear back on the shelves with the thought "yeah, I could buy some more spinners, and what not, but the nets will be in so what's the point"? I spend a boat load of money, and get shafted by nets. Talk about poor management on the states level.

Hope the local economy won't miss my $500-$1000, I would have spent this year. How many other folks will be "taking their money elsewhere"? I'll probably put a hundred in a piggy bank every time I would go fishing but decide not to because of mismanaged fisheries then use that money for an out of state fishing trip to alaska.

Pissed????????????


I suggest calls/emails to the following people....

Phil Anderson.......Has major problems with "sport fishermen", needs to be replaced.

Ron Warren, Region 6, Fish Manager......speaks with "forked tongue", can look you in the eye, and out and out lie to you. Needs to be replaced

Curt Hughes, Region 6 Bio., His job is to "work the model" so that the figures come out the way Region 6 wants them to. His model has been found to have many "flaws", but Region 6 continues to "feel around in the dark" for numbers to justify a commercial fishery for about 20 Gill net fishermen.......while thousands of "in river sport fishermen", get to fish above all the nets.........grrrrrrrrrrrr......Needs to have his "computer taken away from him"

Barb McClellan, Bio........Has gotten way more decision making power, than 4-5 years ago......not a good sign for sports.

Region 6 has major problems, from rivers NOT making spawning numbers to the out and out putting 20 gillnetters, some just parttime, over the thousands of $$$$$$$$$$$$ spending sportspeople. Heads need to roll, change needs to happen........

it's probably well past the time to try and resolve the problem within the problematic system... this is nothing new, everyone reaches their breaking point and I've had enough. I'll send my letters and encourage others to do so.

You would think that if enough sport fishermen indicated they would be spending their money for out of state fishing opportunity - perhaps some change might be set in motion???

Sad.......knowing the department, their data is probably wishful thinking to make it come out the way the individual(s) doing the manipulartion wants it to come out.

Science it is not..........anybody with common sense could see with those netting schedules on a river as narrow as the Chehalis it no more than resource rape...period!

11:45 a.m.---9/17/2013

Went for a drive, 28th Street has more activity than yesterday....because I don't fish the Columbia, the ocean, or other "deep water" areas, I forget how big of boats come to the harbor to fish. Some very big boats, along with some very small boats launched at 28th Street.

Went to the airport for breakfast. Stopped at the end of the airport runway, and watched the boats fishing that area......never saw a net out while I was there.

On the way thru Hoquiam, saw LOT'S of tow rigs and boat trailers, parked all over the place, so I went looking for a boat launch........didn't have to look far.......wet road led me right to a boat launch.....about equal as far as lack of parking, like 28th street but it works.

Hope everyone fishing today, caught/catches fish....the gill net killing fields will be starting soon.........grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Other than all of the misleading, backdooring, playing dumb, and outright lying................

The one thing all four of them are good at is "cooking the books!"

Well here goes. Strong tides and about a two hours of very bad stained water on the incoming. About 1 1/2 hours into the incoming I saw Chinook but only for about an hour then nothing. At 28th St yesterday one of the guys counted 59 rigs and 18 fish. Enforcement visited me and said it was about two fish a boat at Johns River two days ago. Joe fished John yesterday got a couple of Chinook but most did not do that well. Water temp at low slack was 65.7 which is a three degree drop over two days but went up to 66.8 on the incoming.

Thats all folks!

Thanks for the update..........

stopped at 28th launch and fish checker said 40 boats 12 kings 18 coho ..that was at 3:30pm

Fished Johns River yesterday. 2 for 4 on kings. Lost what felt like a very big fish at the boat but never got a look at it. Not many coho showing. We fished the couple hours before high until about 30 minutes after high.

This day was a strange one. Two boats and three of us. H got two very bright Chinook ( that he got to release ) Al got a nice Coho buck and I got a Chinook jack. Several other boats that did not hook anything. Water temp dropped to 65.5 which is nice.

That is the good news and the bad? Almost nothing showed moving other than jacks but sturgeon were airborne every where. Big / little just plain a lot of them.

I went to take a look at the river behind the airport in elma this morning. A LOT of bright coho moving around. So I decided to grab a rod, forgot my spinners at home. Threw on a jig and wham wham wham. Fish after fish, but the fish was off really quickly. After a few times I decided to check to see if my hook was bad. It was worse than I thought...the hook broke off. It was a sickle hook, which I hear are weak. Anyways...lots of fish.

It's not that big of deal. When fish are moving, boats hang out there anyways. I don't give info out to snaggers and people who will be idiots and leave trash. Pretty much most on here are neither. Plus it's a big river, only really good from a boat. It's not like that spot is a secret. It's not some little honey hole on some small river like satsop. Calm down.

59 trailers parked at 28th st at high slack... 3 dough balls pulled out while I was there for lunch break

Did I hear a boat sank at the mouth of the Hoquiam?

Dough balls?

Who leaves an estuary fishery at high slack.... unless of course they've limited the boat.

Or people who have to go to work. Some people just fish in between meetings, e-mails and soccer practice. Me being some people.

Melanie and I launched from Cosmop yesterday about 7:30 a.m., I caught a nice bright 12 lb coho, then nothing 'till 1:p.m. when she caught a 11 lb. one, a little darker but still a great fish, strong fight.Fish checker said he saw about 20 fish when we wrapped it up by 3:30. Lots of bites just after tide change, but all drive bys. Neighbor and his wife stuck 3 and released a bright king. Bob R

Fished from John's River yesterday. It was pretty rough for much of the day but the wind did die down and switch direction around the high slack. Late in the afternoon, the fish checker estimated a fish and a half per boat evenly split between kings and coho. It did take awhile to get the boat out because of the crowd, but still had time to drive out to Grayland for quick limits of razor clams to go with our fresh salmon. You gotta love September in the Northwest!

If you are referring to me leaving just after high slack, it is a guy that has to pick up two 10 month olds from daycare.

Nice coho buck this morning at the top of the tidewater. First cast. Save for a couple tentative bites, that was my morning, and it was none too bad at that! The fish are in and the Hawks are looking tough. Life is good in the PNW.

and the rain has started..

Speaking of rain, when it came down near sideways today we called it done, did pick up a jack and an adult coho, released a king about 15lbs. or so, right about when I finally dried off from the bath he gave me releasing him the deluge began!Helped out a father and son, delivered a needed net boatside and they were able to land a beauty! Fished out of Monte. Bob R

Here you are:


September 20, 2013
Contact: Ron Warren, (360) 249-1201
Grays Harbor anglers required to release chinook Sept. 22;
fishery to close for nearly a week Sept. 23
OLYMPIA - To help ensure spawning goals and management objectives are met for wild chinook salmon, anglers will be required to release all chinook beginning Sept. 22 in Grays Harbor Area 2-2 (east of the buoy 13 line) where the fishery will close for nearly a week the following day (Sept. 23).
The salmon fishery will reopen Sept. 29 with a daily limit of three salmon, but anglers will be required to release all chinook.
Ron Warren, regional fish program manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said the changes were necessary to help meet spawning goals for wild chinook salmon returning to the Grays Harbor basin.
"Angler effort and catch have been much higher than we anticipated since the fishery opened Sept. 16," Warren said. "With those increases, it was necessary that we take these steps to ensure enough wild chinook salmon make it back to the spawning grounds."
Warren reminds anglers that Grays Harbor Area 2-2 (west of the buoy 13 line) is already closed to salmon fishing.
For more information, check the emergency rule change at https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/erule.jsp?id=1363 .

So the sporties getting a few more chinook than WDFW "anticipated" warrants a closure so the gillnet fisheries, which they PLANNED to under escape the chinook can proceed on schedule? Seems fair... In the mind of Ron Warren.

Region 6 WDFW at its finest!!!!!!!!! Another example of favoring the NT gillnetters over sportpersons!!!!!!!

The season should have never opened for king retention. I can't remember how many times at NOF when there was a "surplus" of a couple hundred paper fish, that the sport reps would ask for no king retention and RW would find every way to justify it.

Jay Eff See!!!!

Saturday 9/21/13

Quite a few bankies fishing "jacks", I was the only boater......not as many biters as in the recent few days.

I had 5, was looking for 6..........wham......fish hits and takes off "up river"....line screaming off reel, pull anchor, get motor started, have to get line off a branch, fish still there but BUT BUT, my 75 yards of braid is about gone.......can see backing.......fish runs more......line completely gone.....1st time in my life I've been spooled.

Never really had a chance....10.5' rod, rated 4-8 #.......but it was fun!!!!

This!

Sunday 9/22/2013

21 bankies, 1 boat.....lot's of small silver jacks, barbless hooks help return to the river. I fished for about 3 hours, rain drove me out. Did see more guides, don't think they did any good. Rain and river closure below 101 Bridge, has got to help....move more Coho up river.....I'm in a twitching mood.



Silver jacks smoke up very nice, can vaccum seal so they'll last. Caught with the right fishing gear, can be fun.

No high jack of thread but.....

Breakfast......Had onions, mushrooms, smoked Coho jacks, eggs...

Some butter, cut up the onion, in the pan.....cooked for a few minutes, throw in the mushrooms, add some pepper.....throw in 1/2 of a smoked jack.......add 1 egg.....cook until done!!!!

Good eating!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy your day...where ever you are.....just better not be fishing, West of the 101 Bridge in Aberdeen!!!!!!

Yup. They wouldn't be able to justify an unnecessary non-tribal commercial gillnet fishery, though, if they didn't have paper fish for sporties to fish for...so they'll gladly tell us it's all good and don't care that we'll fish right past the paper limit of the paper fish. They'd get even more crucified than they are getting now if they closed it to sport retention and then went ahead and opened up the gillnet fleet.

In a world of overharvested and poorly managed fish runs the Grays Harbor management regime is the worst...and that, my friends, is saying something.

There is no "here's what fish we have, how are we going to catch them?" going on...it's "here's the fisheries we are going to have, how are we going to justify them on paper?".

Fish on...

Todd

" There is no "here's what fish we have, how are we going to catch them?" going on...it's "here's the fisheries we are going to have, how are we going to justify them on paper?". " I think your right on with that one Todd.

Bad visibility in mid reach at times as a tainted water about 2 1/2 miles long is running up and down the river. Water temp is down to 62.2 and that is good. Never seen a fish other than the one the Osprey flew by with and Sturgeon. That said one a hit bent the wire in my #6 at a 90 degree angle and about removed the rod from my hand. Oh almost forgot ( not likely ) it was gone before I could get my lips off the deck.

Little more:

After a little jiggle R6 has the Willapa commercial harvest up. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/commercial/salmon/landings.html 15551 commercial Chinook caught so far and the model showed 13512 total sport & commercial harvest. Now there could be more fish or they were early, or they really had a lot of commercial effort or ............... well you can pick.

Now compare to GH and wella sports bay running ahead / shut it down. Strange how that double standard works.

Crap! This is what I came home to? I planned my summer/fall fishing around fishing Gray's Harbor coho during the last week of September. I know it's before the peak of the coho run, but Oct. has the harbor full of gillnets most days, so I don't fish it in Oct.

I missed B-10 this year because I got that week of good tides in the Dean R draw, but thought I'd make it up with GH coho. So went back to BC last week to fish for steelhead figuring I'll get my salmon fix with GH coho later this week. I got the message Friday about the chinook closure, but no big deal, we'll be fishing for coho anyway. WTF? Closed to all fishing Sept. 23-28? So I get to fish GH Sunday the 29th, only. Thanks WDFW, from those of us who have to schedule our fishing vacation time in advance. Also great timing for us small boat guys who depend on the soft tide days to fish that are happening this week. A perfect fvck up.

Sg

How was steelhead fishing?

Steelhead fishing was fine, but now I'd like to fish for salmon just a bit.

Without giving locations out I can say I received a report that they have been getting Coho between Cosi and Fuller Hill. That is good news and means they have started to show even if they are not hanging out down low.

I believe the run will not be as large as the preseason prediction. Much like the CR it appears.

Edit: IMHO Staff will downsize the coho after the cowboy days.

Really quite out there guys. Anyway back at it today and one coho hen and that was it. I did not see much of anything showing and same with a couple of other guys. Water temp is way down and very clear soooooooooooo ................ no idea where the fish are.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I started out at Porter. There were fish around, but no biters, save for one merciful jack. Moved to the Satsop, thinking the dropping flows after the recent rain might mean good things. Fishing for jacks was excellent, and I did manage to find a couple adult chromers (only one to hand). There were fish moving for sure; must have been the fish Rivrguy reported between Cosi and Fuller on Tues. noticed there wasn't much catching of adults going on....

I had planned to take out at Fuller, but the incoming tide hadn't reached the Satsop yet, so there was to be no rowing up there. Opted to go to the pump houses and have a friend pick me up, thinking there might be fresh fish coming with the tide. I saw what Rivrguy saw... Not much. The fleet below Fuller all said it had been tough. Mostly jacks, and not tons of those. I was ready to get off the river, so I didn't fish hard, but the casts I did throw produced only one jack bite. About 200 yards below the mouth of the Satsop, I hit the tidewater. The rest of the "float" was a long, hard row to the takeout. Didn't see much in the way of fish rolling, etc. along the way. It does beg the question of where the fish went, but I guess it just works that way sometimes.

Looks like we're in for a blowout this weekend, so I'm glad I got out yesterday. Between the jacks and the few big ones I did find, it was a fun day of fishing. Hopefully, the rain will send enough wood down the rivers to keep the nets out for a few days and get a bunch of fish upriver before the gang rape begins... I suppose that's asking too much....

I don't normally like to "talk rain" but for the next few months....some brown water with lot's of trees, logs, sticks would be OK.

Tides all wrong for me......but guess I'll do the "jack" bit again.....wish they would raise the limit and have no punching.

Back when netting was a 3 day a week thing. I hated October rain. I could count on at least steady fishing every day as long as I could get on the river.

Now, with the every-day netting for us upriver guys we have to get lots of rain if we want to catch anything in October. Last year October was turrible until we got that blowout at the end of the 3rd week.

Nice report FF02.

RR,
Looks like you are going to get the rain this weekend, three weeks earlier then last year. Friday thru Sunday look a bit wet.
I hope some fish get upstream so we can have some good October fishing.
SF

http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/weather/10_day.cgi

SF,

Yes, I am urgently trying to button up my office right now so I can get some more fish by the time it starts to rise. Hopefully we got mud and whole trees working in our favor next week. If the predictilator is right, that just might happen.

Amen!

There can be too much of a good thing - the Skagit at Concrete is forecasted to reach flood stage by the end of the weekend.

Not a good thing for the Chinook and humpy eggs in the gravel.

Curt

Thursday 9/26/2013

Tide was good for jack fishing, took some time but got'um. Bankies were there again, only 7 and they caught fish, 1 other boat, parked, and fishing adults. Weather was perfect.

Stopped at Monty boat launch, on way home. Parking lot was full, can't give a report on fish caught, cause of the boats going home...no fish!!!

http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/weather/10_day.cgi


.....to throwing a wrench in the netting

.....to some much needed wetting a line this weekend

Crap.

Lower river produced Coho adults today. Not everywhere but if you found them you could actually catch one. New concept! How far up they are going that is in the fish's corner but they have to show up someplace upstream.

Isn't Area 2.2 open till Nov. 30th for Coho only?

Went out of Monte yesterday, fished all day, two monster takedowns but no hookup, 3 smaller drivebys that scratched up bait, caught two jacks, one a king that was 19 inches or so, fought like a 10 lb.er.Other was a 2 lb. coho. Not many fish seen, a couple of boats with 2 or 3 jacks each, didn't see anything big.Lots of effort by lots of folks with not much return.Thanks to those in larger boats that didn't blast by us at full throttle 10 or 15 yrds away, usually we get a couple of jokers with too much power and not enough brains to head to other side of river. Out of town for a wedding, don't sound like we are missing much with upcoming weather. Good luck to all braving storms this weekend.bob r

Emphatically NOT.... hence all the concern and disgruntled commentary on this thread.

Re-opens ths Sunday for 3 coho... unless superseded by the next emergency rule.

Just in time for the massive rainstorm and the impending onslaught of gill nets....

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post857749

Thanks for the splainin there Doc.
No love for me & the dog today around S. Monte -Friends, tried herring and spinners on the incoming and out going tides. Did not see a single net fly from 8-11.
Did I mention that this weather change should have turned the fish on, now they will be dodging crap after the rain blows out the rivers!!!
Fudge Knuckles!!!!!!!!!!

Had Fleaflicker02 and a buddy out today, we tried a lot of spots out of Fuller, and connected in a couple of them. The fish were scattered to be sure, and the rising water pretty much shut them off by lunchtime, so we headed to the bar.

Today, the fish really liked shallow flats with moderate current. At least that is where they were the most aggressive.

Only fished the morning yesterday and got one Jack. Those rolling and showing at that time were primarily Chinook but the big difference was they were colored. The fish caught have very bright everywhere so far and the color simply means those holding down low & the bay are moving. Got two reports that late in the afternoon some caught Coho moving on the tide. My guess is it is the barometer drop thing with hold over tides and they have started up slowly but irregardless they are moving.


The October long range forecast. Accu is not the most reliable but gives you an idea of what it looks like. Best October weather forecast for fishing I have seen in a long time following this storm coming through now.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/aberdeen-wa/98520/october-weather/336359?monyr=10/1/2013

wow it looks way to dry...that's going to suck

Gave it a go upriver today (I guess that's downriver if you're not a bay guy).

Five chances and whiffed 'em all.

Gave up when the monsoon winds and 40 MPH gusts kicked up.

Pizza, cocktails, peaches and cream for my crew this afternoon... no fish for supper

Great fishing near the 101 bridge in Aberdeen. 5 casts two fish. one a nice coho hen and one a chinook had to go back

Best part about the current storm is that a LOT of the early fish should escape upriver before the nets go in. The in-river guys could be in for a real treat next week.

Sunday morning live GH report....

f4b is already 8 for 12.... with one fork... on tater tots.

Enjoying the bay re-opener from the comfort of my dining room.... Sunday brunch of bear bratwurst (courtesy of DogFish via CanyonMan) eggs over easy, crisp tater tots, and HOT coffee.

Maybe just pull the boat out of the garage and allow Mother Nature to give her a good shower.

Man did I fail to mention we got screwed out of the prime week of the season?

Yeah, we did.

GDITMMM!

Pretty much mimicking your morning here. Actually going to go into work for a few hrs after the Seahawks game when I SHOULD be finding my first spinner coho of the season.

Damn weather!

Thought long and hard about towing the boat to the Harbor this morning. The forecasted winds made me think the better of it. I'll fish another day.

Sg

I only saw one boat off of T4 all morning.. its nasty out there.

About ready to bag the Seahawks and go outside and work on the daughters car . Getting restless around here. Hope the fish are around next weekend.

heading for the klickatat hope the Chehalis is back in when I get home

Satsop water & debris has made it to Central Park. Getting ugly fast.

Built a few hundred lures while watching the Seahawk game...poor weather came just in time for me to spend the week filling a few more orders and getting ready to leave for the Kispiox on Saturday afternoon

Fish on...

Todd

Now we are solid muddy water............... big time.

May be a week or more before the lower Chehalis fishes again, but when it comes down, oh, baby....

Probably no nets going in tomorrow... Every cloud has a silver lining.

Went for a drive after the Seahawk win, just to check on water color.......Wynoochee, brown....Satsop, brown..........Chehalis, at Porter, brown......with all the new rain, should be lot's of "firewood" heading for the ocean.

No worries. Just gonna declare a make up day.

Kinda late report from last weekend but better late than never. We took 4 fish Friday, 2 on Saturday and 3 Sunday in the Columbia.. here's how it looked in pitures..

Sunrise over GH. Pic taken with a new Nokia prototype phone pushing 16mp and compressed.



Lots of this waiting for a bite last weekend:


Carnage scene after 3 bites in 20 minutes...


Catching kings in the rain, welcome to fall chinook GH style:


Friday's lineup of 3 Chinook and a Coho. We felt lucky to be on top of a bunch when they finally decided to bite at the start of the ebb:


Nice conditions surprised us Saturday afternoon:




We ended up with two Chinook Saturday that we completely lucked into. What happened to this fishery this year? Conditions were prime yet the bay seemed absent of any fish.. reports from the fleet were dismal.


Staying in Westport has it's advantages. Thanks to Mark Coleman for letting us clean our catch down on float 14 and cocktails afterwards.



& a Double rainbow at the mouth of the Cowlitz after landing a double on Hatchery Chinook to basically end the day on the Columbia Sunday. No fish pics, all of them your normal 6-10# clones.


First time we had fished this area where "they never troll herring this time of year"...well, we didnt listen and hooked 13 landed 6 and kept three to round off the weekend.

This was one of the nicest grade of salmon I have ever cut personally, super firm, red fish from the harbor. What a killer fishery, too bad it's the model of mismanagement in Washington state salmon fisheries.

When they bit...they bit. Too bad they didn't bite too often, though. I felt very fortunate for the amount of fish we did get...I've never seen so many long faces trolling around on Grays Harbor in the third week of September.

I'm also pretty glad that "it's too hard to troll there" and "they don't bite herring there" fishery on the Columbia...where we trolled with herring ...gave us by far our most consistent fishery of the weekend. It was a good move for us to think outside the box and run to new grounds on Sunday.

Fish on...

Todd

Nice pictures Sky-Guy.

I think (hope?) the early rain affected the fishery a lot. We stayed in the river and had probably one of the best Septembers (for coho) in 4 or 5 years. Pretty solid action since the first week.

Last October was a snoozer, but I am guessing that this rain will make this coming one much more fun. At least until the nets start taking good effect.

Beautiful fillets, Sky Guy !

Everything all the way to Tacoma was puking mud this afternoon.
Drove through a miniature tornado around Vader.
Wild ride home.

Way to get after it Sky Guy!
Looks like I should hit the S Channel tow Saturday's back instead of Hoquiam!

fished johns river sunday 9\29,, had family in from KC so we gave it a shot. got a late start fished and had the whole place to are selves . was like glass out there with a rain shop.. went 2 for 3 2 kings and a drive by.. seals in tow the whole time called it around 1:00 ish to wet.. tried again today after the down pours and lightning stop , hit 101 bridge and saw the white caps and headed for home.. satsop 2ft from parking lot 20 slabs at fuller.. run fish run

Upper river water & debris made Central Park this morning and lord what a mess! Looks like a trail right up the middle of the river. Mostly chunks & small stuff so far.

The chunks were out in full force in Aberdeen around the 101 bridge, including a few whole trees.

Didn't stop the nets

Very nice Ryley and crew!

But it was nice seeing them having to spend a fair amount of time picking debris out of teh nets, instead of fishing them hard.

today out behind top foods..
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k316/jeswade/DSC00553.jpg

that net was loaded with stuff..

OK now are we road hunting Elk?

I just got home.....took a few pic's of the 2 guys trying to pull the chit out of the net........they be better off selling "fire wood".

Your pic was a good one......

Incoming tide at the minute but still slowly flowing out. To the point the water color is the slate gray that it gets in the tidal areas as the water starts to clear. Lots more water to come down on the Chehalis side but things are moving toward fishable be it a slow walk.

Well the river is clearing fast those hardy souls out hunting are not finding many fish moving up in the lower reach. All I observed was one hard working seal who did not do all that well.

Did I say clearing fast? Not where I was but managed a small Coho and Jack. Guy next to us got a Chinook so all & all hard fishing but doable with nice weather.

Not exactly a "soft" tide, but incoming all morning and beautiful weather. Unfortunately there was an east wind until about 1, made for a wicked chop on the harbor for the first couple hours. That was brutal; then it settled down for good trolling conditions. Saw over a dozen silvers jump, once just aft of the stern, where my herring was spinning perfectly. Never saw a net fly all day. Finally on the final troll path on the way in, got the one and only takedown. Nice, bright, super-strong, chinook. Managed to keep it away from a nearby seal before sending it back to meet a gillnet tomorrow night or Monday. That was it.

Where are the silvers?

Sg

There's piles of them in the tribs. Piles of fisherman too.

I drove the loop on the Satsop, this morning.......Hiway launch, not as many as Friday, same at the West Fork launch, "S" corners had lot's of cars parked along the road......Decker Ck. had lot's of rigs there.....Cook Ck., I've seen alot more here.

I can tell you.......lot's of jacks......heard they killed about 200 of them at Satsop Springs.....would be nice to increase limit and have them go to a good use.

Net's of death start again Sunday 12:00....10/6 - 10/9, then cowboys get 12 hours on 10/10

Might be slim pickings.........

Saw one of the high-liner QIN gillnet boats in the bay today. He made one set, picked a couple fish, then got the hell outta dodge.

We didn't fare much better.

Like Salmo g said.... "Where are all the coho?"

Really strange nobody's catching coho in the bay.... What fish I did see on a trib yesterday were on the move, in a big way. Only one stopped to play, and he won. On the plus side, I did find a nice place to escape the hordes that descended on the Satsop over the weekend. The number of anglers on the Satsop was about twice what I've usually seen this time of year. They weren't here in September. Probably not a coincidence that it opened for hatchery kings last week....

Heard highly conflicting reports from the Satsop; one said nobody was catching and the other said everyone was catching. Hmmmm....

I fished 3 hours on Friday and 3 hours yesterday at the boat show Satsop.

Got grabs on spinners, jigs and eggs. Solid action.

Loads of people in the beautiful weather. The fishing got slower as the fish got pounded more and more in the dropping water. Fish were on the move both days, as far as I could tell.

Highlight was hooking a big purple backed king in a riffle yesterday. We were going downriver, he was going up. He circled the boat twice then burned the skin off my thumb while my partner tried to get the boat going. I was down to about 10% of my backing on a 5000 sized reel. We chased him on plane with me standing on the bow reeling like crazy, then he broke my leader while trying to weave him out of a log. Fun stuff.

Another highlight was laying on the bow of my boat drinking a Rain-dog in the sunshine yesterday watching my buddy fish a side channel. I was laughing while my buddy crackered off fish after fish because he had broken off the end of his hook and didn't know. He was blaming his wife, his dog, me, and whatever else he could.

Another highlight was Fri afternoon in the sunshine in castingpearls boat, we raked jacks and adult coho for about an hour and a half straight in one small run.

With the very early Sept rain the tide water cleared of Chinook as they mostly Summers headed for the Satsop & upper Chehalis. Everything caught was very bright and not much holding. With the big rain recently everything moved up again and they are catching bright Coho above Rochester. With all being almost a month from spawning they are not going all the way to the spawning creeks ( most anyway ) so the tribs & upper Chehalis should have fish to catch now in far greater numbers than usual.

That is the good news but the next two weeks are peak Coho timing and for a runsize they are predicting something does not compute. Those who know a area real well are getting fish but the average guy not so much. Lots of Jacks but those are next years adults and add to it a huge number of 3 to 5 lb Coho, many below 20 inches, it just does not compute. We used to clear the pond of over a 1000 fish and would come up with two or three of those guys.

For me in the tide water I have seen numbers of Chinook, lots of Jacks both species, modest numbers of Coho and they are SMALLER than normal and many into the strange 3 to 5 lb guys. I have trouble buying that smolt at 18 fish per pound at out migration are six months later coming back at that weight. That is a strange thing.

I can concur with this. We have landed a few fish the last two weeks that we couldn't tell if they were a big jack or just a small adult. I know one that was really small, marked as a hatchery jack and then when it got cleaned had eggs...

Double post but I think the GH portion is relevant.

OK numbers are up on the WDF&W website for Commercials so far Willapa & GH. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/commercial/salmon/landings.html Early in the morning so the calculator might have missed a number but I do not think so here is what I got. Willapa Coho harvest total this time last year 14,583 / this year 5189. Same time last year GH QIN Coho total 5060 & this year 1688. For the QIN numbers they were impacted by the flood and word is on the incoming yesterday they got fish but we will have to wait and see what the total is when they post next week.

Now this is scary as in the Willapa floods did not effect NT Nets catch that is around 35% of last years. Now the QIN is 33% ( give or take a fish ) and if GH follows the Willapa pattern at all the fish are in deep crap with the combined tribal & commercial catch.

So much for Kirt Hughes sworn statement on Willapa submitted to the court that he could do a in season adjustment if he thought a problem developed. I guess the question becomes just what does he call a problem? When the escapement number reaches zero?

You may want to add another 0 on that total you heard about up the Satsop. If you enjoy reading hatchery escapement reports... This week will be an interesting one.

Sorry rivrguy, not trying to hijack thread or get off topic. Just thought I'd comment on all the jacks.

Oh hell BF hi-jack away as it is the purpose of this thread! On fish I have been off the river for three days but in this area water has cleaned up, temp is down, and fish are moving. Now how many as we are in the prime two weeks I am clueless. We will all know the answer when the QIN numbers for this week are posted.

Little Edit: Neighbor stopped by the tribal fisher near our homes and yesterday he had two nets out and got 40 fish. We are in Central Park so the lower tribal fishers do much better but 40 is a very poor number.

QIN must've got a makeup day... 3 drifters by the bluff as I drove by.

When do I get my makeup week in the bay?

Friggin' flaming cork soakers!

I do believe it is the NT Nets today.

yes cowboys in today... and they were doing what looked to be ok

Well if the schedule above is correct, it was supposed to be an off-day. Not sure it was the tribes. Driving into town this morning it looked like most of the fleet was tied up at their fish house. If it was the non-tribal netters, why were they in on a scheduled off-day?

if you look at wdfw schedule it shows that the cowboys were to be in today

If we're looking at Doc's schedule a couple posts above, I see Oct 10, today, as a net free day. November 10 is a non-tribal net day.

Maybe the schedule above was just a draft then??

Today was the great tangle net experiment day. Late in the day I only saw three boats participating. All the rest of the days will be gill net starting Oct 24.

Drove over the bridge around 5:30 this evening. Seen 2 gill net boats below and 3 above.

Well, it's obvious now that region 6 used more of their fuzzy math to tweak the model to create more paper kings so the gillnetters could access a bumper crop of coho that are obvious no shows. Quarter million my ass. Wonder if they will use in season management to restrict gill net days? Or fire Ron Warren?

OK my bad... but not entirely. I inadvertently referenced the original gillnet schedule that was published PRIOR to the "new and improved" NT schedule that was approved by emergency rule (CR103) by PA last month.... the one with 8 days on the Chehalis (2A/2D) and 4 days on the Hump (2C) that trumped the original 7 days of tangle nets on the Chehalis. Must have had a mental block from being so disgusted with it....

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post856617

My apologies for any perceived denigrating remarks about the QIN.

Regardless, I still want my week back in the bay.... squandered opportunity, never to be regained.

GDITMMM!!!!

Where I fish......water still colored, Chehalis at Porter guage shows the Chehalis is down 7 feet from 10/04 but still lot's of flow. Boat traffic is way down for this time of the year.......did see more boats yesterday than Sunday - Wednesday.

Thinking most people are either home, on the Satsop, on the Humptulips, or have gone North to do a walk-in in the Queets area.

Up and down the river bright Coho were caught today. Fish are moving but not huge numbers. If you find them or your spot / method lets them find you odds are getting one are a bit better until Monday as the nets go in Sunday.

went by the keys road boat ramp this morning, was really foggy. There were a lot of boats I'd say half of them guide boats and made the decision to not launch their due to the pressure.
Went down to friends to hunt the sloughs.

Well the Satsop is now skinny water. The CR looks colored up but is low as well. Took a brief look after work. Decided to go home and fire up the wood stove.

This season looks to be in deep trouble. The WDFW has posted catch data that looks like the disaster some of the posters have noted here.

The non tribal catch for Oct 6-12 was 820 Coho or 24% of the modeled catch of 3,457 fish. This was the first ever day of tangle net use so it could just be a gear test failure.

Tribal data is posted for week 40, the week prior to the above data. In 2C they caught 604 Coho or 23% of the modeled 2,664 fish. In 2A/2D they caught 820 Coho or 24% of the modeled 3,457 fish. This was the first week after the storm which probably reduced the catch.

Sports harvest so far based on creel checks at 28th St., Cosmopolis, and Montesano have been at 20-30% of the fish/angler rate of last year and with a larger run forecast should have been higher than last year.

Does anyone see a trend developing? If you run the model backward to predict run size the Coho run would be about 24% of the forcasted 211,419 total Chehalis Coho.

The Chinook harvest is in about the same condition indicating that the run size is less than the escapement goal again.

We can hope the early season conditions were abnormal or that the run is just late but right now this looks like one of the least accurate run size forecasts ever. If the next weeks data is the same as what has been posted so far one would have to be thinking that the rest of the season should be shut down for everyone at least if conservation and escapement goals were important.

This past weekend put a glimmer of hope in my abysmal bay/mainstem Chehalis season.... finally found some biters.

But as SoftBite said, my own experience on the water tells me the coho forecast is WAY off. The more than 1/4 million projected for the entire basin should have made rods bend virtually NON-stop through the trolling day all week...well at least enough to keep almost any chinook from latching onto the gear. That is certainly NOT the case. That bumper crop of coho is a resounding NO SHOW!

Compared to that last banner coho year of 2009.... total bites per day WAY down, proportion of coho WAY down. Really makes a guy yearn for days gone by.

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post556076

Well, most indications are that the reality will prove much less abundance than the forecast, but a friend took my daughter and I out yesterday, and we found a little action, despite the doom and gloom reports I'm hearing from most of the basin.

Early on, Dad found a smallish hen resting in an inside bend that looked fishy. I tried to hand the rod off to Autumn, but her hands were "too cold." She was easily convinced to pose with the prize, however.


Later on, we anchored up at the bottom of a riffle and fished the "happy" water where it gradually settled into a deep flat. Bob hit a nice, fat hen, and Autumn hooked up with this handsome jack:


We lost a couple more nice fish along the way. All told, it was a fun day with fall in full glory.

I sure hope the numbers improve in a hurry so we can do some more of this before winter takes hold.

A little envious of your fishing partner this year FF (BTW she sure is growing up!)

LMWS has yet to bring a GH salmon to hand all season.

Of course she might have to actually go fishing for that to happen.

Time for me to bring down the Parker Kids. Lord help the crew (and Dad's) of the boat with Alex, Avery and the CanyonMan twins!

I feel your pain, eyeFISH. She's the only one of mine who likes to fish, and I'm trying hard to keep her interested. There's still time for good things to happen this year. I can't imagine someone with as much fish mojo as LMWS missing an entire season.

Look us up if LMWS is in town and some like-minded company might convince her to wet a line.

The co-managers have historically resisted in-season mgt here. Maybe it's time to try.

If the run forecast really is this far off and the net schedule (brutal) remains as is, it sure does speak volumes to the true intentions of those making the call.

Awesome stuff FF02. So cool that you got your daughter to float that with you.

Had larryb out there this morning. Lots of contact made, not quite as much contact with a bat to a fish's head as I would have liked. I lost my current favorite spinner, and castingpearls lost his pliers on the same fish,,,, that we did not land.

It has been a really weird year for sure regarding the Chehalis. Lets hope that this week things change. In my neck of the woods I would say we are shy of normal for right now, but September in the river was pretty darn good.

Today the WDFW web site was updated for sport catch. The Coho run is still pretty much the same dismal story as reported in my earlier post.

The tribal data for week 40 was increased marginally since this morning. It also tells the same story.

Captain Obvious says what I've seen and heard, the run number's for coho appears to be waaaay over estimated. The DFW might get lucky and meet Chinook escapement, if the nets don't eat them up fishing for all those coho.

Can't complain too much though, have been hooking fish, I'm just not catching as much I would like with a 280k run size estimate.

Tuesday 10/15/2013...

7:00 a.m.------11:30......mile below Twidwells, 2 boats, 4 fishermen....3 bites.....1 fish in the boat, not my boat. Fog, East wind, and it was cold.....before we left the river, I ran to see how many were "on the line, at Twidwell's"............zero, 0, not a boat, 1st time at this period of October that I can ever remember no boats.

DWFW, in my opinion, way over estimated Coho returns.....to give the NT netters fishing time. The model sucks!!!!!! Because WDFW won't backoff the NT days.....means sport fishing in the Chehalis and all the trib's will suck.

Thanks for sharing your 2009 thread doc. Pretty cool to see past pictures, especially of banki when he was chunky and had hair.

The link is to WDF&W website for commercial. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/commercial/salmon/landings.html Now as I am NEVER shy about kicking the cra- out District 17 staff I must put this out also. When you get to the website scroll to GH Non Indian and look for the Weekly Observer Summary and hit the WK 41 link ( it is a link ) and it is the encounter ratio Onboard Observer report for Chinook, Coho & Chum. Now I can tell you they did not do this without prodding. That said it was requested and without any fanfare Mr. Warren, Kirt Hughes and staff got it done.

So on this issue I sincerely thank R-6 D-17 staff for the change and effort.

why so many shad?

When asked if in-season management could be used as a proactive measure, their position has always been "and who's going to pay for that"?

They didn't hesitate the last week of September, funny how that works. We'll see if Ron has the balls to tell the gillnetters no. I'm not holding my breath.

WTF? Holy aborted highjack.... wha'happened to your porky pic, banki? Discretion can be a biotch, eh?

Well, since you've always been one of the fishiest all-stars in my boat, I'll save ya some face, dude.... because what's even more impressive than the transformation of a once-great fishery into crap-tastic one.... is the metamorphosis that happened between 2010 and 2011.

WHOA! This one's for AuntyM, wherever she may be...

Looks like a P-90-X commercial.

Uhhhhh.


What the hell is going on around here?

Just a little ManLove...

Fish on...

Todd

Jesuus F n Christ Doc whatthehell makes you think its OK to post those last two pics . The Gaydar alarm went off so loud it gave me a headache

All in the eye of the beholder.

OK back on topic, you homophobes.

Chehalis... check

Fishing.... check

Report... check

Got this one the last sunny day out on the river... way to go, banki!



Better?

10/17/2013

Rivrguy joined me for a 5 hour Chehalis fishing experience. 2 guys, 2 rods, prime water....fishing spoons.

1 fish in my boat, 2 other "takes" that never stuck.

Guide boats were in a world of hurt, no fish.........but around 12, 1 of the guide boat caught a Chinook, his only bite of the day.

QIN done at 12 today....no nets until Sunday at 12.....MAYBE some fish might get up river and give sports a chance to catch fish??????

We sat in prime water until tide turned and incoming tide started....my concern, no fish rolling, no Chum showing. I'm thinking the bonus run of Coho.....just a bunch of Region 6 paper fish, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/

October 17, 2013
Contact: Ron Warren, (360) 249-1201

Public meetings scheduled to discuss
Grays Harbor salmon management

OLYMPIA - The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has scheduled eight public meetings this fall and winter to discuss and develop a new draft policy for managing salmon fisheries in Grays Harbor.

The public meetings are part of a nearly five-month process to develop the new draft policy specifically for Grays Harbor salmon management. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, a citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for WDFW, is scheduled to consider adopting the draft policy in mid-February.

Salmon fisheries in Grays Harbor are currently managed under a framework that was initially developed in 2007, in conjunction with the commission's North of Falcon policy, said Ron Warren, regional fish program manager for WDFW.

"We would like to further refine the management of Grays Harbor salmon fisheries to help ensure we can meet spawning goals for wild salmon returning to the basin, as well as give anglers and commercial fishers a clearer picture of what fishing opportunities they can expect each year," Warren said.

The public meetings include three workshops and five Grays Harbor Advisory Committee meetings. The advisory committee discussions are open to the public, and those in attendance will have an opportunity to comment at the end of each meeting.

The public meetings are scheduled for:

Oct. 21 - Grays Harbor Advisory Committee, from 6-8 p.m.; public input from 8-9 p.m.; WDFW's Montesano office, 48 Devonshire Road.
Oct. 28 - Grays Harbor Advisory Committee, from 6-8 p.m.; public input from 8-9 p.m.; WDFW's Montesano office, 48 Devonshire Road.
Nov. 1 - WDFW fishery managers will host a public workshop from 6-8 p.m.; Montesano City Hall, 112 North Main Street, Montesano.
Nov. 13 - Grays Harbor Advisory Committee, from 6-8 p.m.; public input from 8-9 p.m.; WDFW's Montesano office, 48 Devonshire Road.
Nov. 18 - Grays Harbor Advisory Committee, from 6-8 p.m.; public input from 8-9 p.m.; WDFW's Montesano office, 48 Devonshire Road.
Nov. 26 - WDFW fishery managers will host a public workshop from 6-8 p.m.; Montesano City Hall, 112 North Main Street, Montesano.
Jan. 13 - Grays Harbor Advisory Committee, from 6-8 p.m.; public input from 8-9 p.m.; WDFW's Montesano office, 48 Devonshire Road.
Jan. 15 - WDFW fishery managers will host a public workshop from 6-8 p.m.; Montesano City Hall, 112 North Main Street, Montesano.
WDFW fishery managers are scheduled to brief the Fish and Wildlife Commission on the development of the draft policy during the commission's November meeting in Olympia.

Warren said WDFW will develop a range of policy options that will be discussed during the December commission meeting in Olympia. The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the draft policy options during its January meeting in Olympia.

The commission is scheduled to make a final decision at its February meeting in Olympia.

Throughout the process, WDFW will periodically update its website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/grays_harbor_salmon/ with more information on the development of the draft policy.

****************

Fish on...

Todd

Much.

Seriously?

This tee-ball has been sitting there for days, and nobody has sent it over the grandstands yet?

This kind of crap would never happen on the dark side.

Poor Jaek--you'll get over it.

Well there are fish in the river.

no fish there. heard the hump was really good

.

i fished the chehalis. didnt catch a thing. shrug. just sayin. My buddy guides the hump. limiting everyday. Post every spot? how you figure? no signs in my photos. just tress and happy people with fish.

Just finished my Team eyeFISH stats for the season.

Exceedingly disappointing GH trolling season for the amount of days and rod hours expended. Probably my WORST EVER if distilled down to CPUE.

Thank God for Buoy 10 this year.

Merg I thought that was you in one of the guides photo's. If it is the same guide that also is a fly fishing guide;).

Im on his website pictures...not sure what you mean?

eyefish should get ban hammered for posting that pic! that pic is total cryfish worthy.

i'm totally disgusted and appalled that he even considered such a effeminate photo on this board.

if there's any Mod here, please take it down.

it was sunny today

Jay Eff See!

Thanks f4b for resurrecting this thread. I read it beginning to end. Depressing and entertaining... all in one. Definitely some lessons to be learned here.

BTW... a quarter million Chehalis coho is a MIGHTY big number in the 21st century.

Real time report from downtown Aberdonia...

Puking BROWN mud and whole trees into Grays Harbor.... dropping into low tide.

I saw the mouth of the Wishkah pouring a dirt road
into the Chehalis today.

fp

12/27/2020

Bored yesterday so did my "lookie lou bit".....Wynoochee, Satsop and Chehalis.

Chehalis at Fuller Bridge....1 rig in parking lot, no sign of boat and 1 pickup on ramp, shoveling dug off the ramp, into his pickup.

Satsop at highway, 1 rig still on trailer, just looking.

Wynoochee, no plunkers in lower river, couple at Black Ck. and some under the bridge......

Crying shame, all 3 of these rivers would have legal Coho to catch and of course some hatchery steelhead.

Be safe !!!!!!!

[quote=DrifterWA]12/27/2020


Wynoochee, no plunkers in lower river, couple at Black Ck. and some under the bridge......



Wow baitless plunking! I have only plunked a handful of times with near zero success. I felt that bait was my only hope in the game. I know it can be done without but I would be pretty discouraged after the first 15 minutes of No action. Even though 90% my river fishing is baitless.

Guess it could have its own thread on techniques for baitles plunking.

Baitless Spin'N'Glo has accounted for many a dead hatchery (and wild) steelhead over the decades.

1968 - 1974....My fishing was plunking....spin and glows, Apple Knockers, Wobble Glo's, and other lures long gone. For some reason I drove to "Crooked Bridge" on the lower Humptulips. Some weekends there would be as many as 20 fishermen, on a long gravel bar. Oh the memories of fish caught, stories told, of older guys that remembered the glory days of "working in the woods, with the BIG TIMBER".

These years were all before the Bolt decision, so many BIG fish, lots of wild steelhead. Memories, memories and more memories......

Glory days for sure, would’ve loved that. I would think since Washington doesn’t fish Steelhead commercially the tribes wouldn’t either, why do they? Did they before the Boldt decision?

Back when Steelhead was not commercially viable and tribal folks supplied towns with fish. Along came canneries and salmon harvest became an industrial money maker and tribal fishers were displaced. So I think the answer to your question depends on your point in time from the 1860's forward.

What’s your point in time from the 1860’s foreward?

No idea really. When my Dad was a kid in the 30's he went out on the log booms with a pike pole when the tide was going out and the salmon hit the effluent from the mill and bellied up to get fish to sell or trade. Tribal fishers were all up the coast and locals traded salmon for Steelhead. In the late 20's until the war things got a bit strange with the depression. At the time of the treaty tribal folks hunted and fished whatever was available. All a Steelhead was to both the settlers and tribal folks was a fish, nothing more and nothing less.

We have lost a lot. Unfortunately, we don't seem to want to recover what is lost but just to have "something".

Each new crop of fish managers falls prey to the shifting baseline of depletion. The level of depletion they inherit is viewed as the "new normal" and becomes the metric or benchmark against which their tenure as manager is judged. Past failures to stem the perpetual depletion are not seen as "their problem"... and so the historic enormity of the problem is lost in the present context.

In the 80s, when I was in management, I also worked on Fraser Management and we (there) were used to runs in the millions. Plus, when I started out on the research project, we had a couple thousand chums in a mile or so of stream. So, I was used to high density.

But, one year we had a great pink run. Lots more than we had seen in years. So, I set up a flight in one of WDF's Beavers and took the staff out to actually see what lots of fish in a river looked like.

You're right about shifting baselines but we all do it. "Fishing/hunting was great in the (fill in the years when you were at your peak) and has gone to s**t now."

I started hunting deer down in Goldendale about a dozen years ago and thought I had died and going to heaven. Deer everywhere. Generally out of bow range but there. Numbers are way down now, probably due to all the new 5-acre ranchettes.

Look at how many people now drool over a 20-pound Chinook. That's barely "bait" to what Chinook should be. Same with coho; they seem to be shrinking........

I don’t think they are shrinking, take the Snohomish for example: as soon as the Chums were wiped out I noticed the size of Coho got smaller. What are the chances the Chum fishery hit the big Coho/Kings also?

The Chinook have been shrining for a century. Initially, it was fishery related and is now food related too.

The chum fishery had nothing to do with Chinook, as the timing of fisheries are way different. There is some overlap with coho and chum but in my experience, we protected coho in chum fisheries by using larger mesh nets. Caught no coho. When mesh size was then dropped for steelhead lots of coho showed.

In the mid 1970's I volunteered to help spawn chinook at the Lower Kalama hatchery on my days off. I learned some things. In those days the largest, healthiest specimens were selected for taking eggs, and sperm. It made sense to me because those would be generally replacing the fish that had been caught in the sport and commercial fisheries, both by troll and gillnet. Then, some years later I learned that the hatchery administration wanted a broader spectrum of fish sizes spawned, not just the largest. Do you think that is still the directive?

They take eggs through the full run early, mid, and late. They are not supposed to just mate big fish to big fish but rather take fish representative of the run. That was the protocols as of 10 years ago and I doubt they have changed much. I know of one hatchery that is not state that mates big fish a priority.

It probably still is. Consider that in the wild, all the fish that make it back spawn. Some more successfully than others but they all spawn and let nature take its course. That was how the runs evolved. What survived the gauntlet of predators and poor habitat is what spawned; survival of the fittest.

Hatcheries, and intensive mixed stock fisheries changed this. As you noted, fish were selected in the hatchery for artificial reasons; size, color, and maybe even passivity as a passive fish was easier to catch and spawn.

Timing of returns was constrained for convenience, the hook and line fisheries removed the most aggressive feeders, and so on.

Fish were paired for artificial reasons and not natural selection. We now know that jacks and sneaker males contribute; but not in hatcheries.

We need to admit that hatchery fish are radically different from wild. Not better, not worse, but different. We know wild fish do poorly in hatcheries and hatchery fish do poorly in the wild. Well, duh.

Triage in the form of writing off some wild production and some hatchery production is likely the only way to simultaneously retain hatchery and wild fish.

12/30/2020



How do we know that???? Someone would have to be watching to see this being done.

I've mentioned many times, that Oregon doesn't want jacks in the rivers at all, sportsmen don't have to punch them, limit 5 a day.

Crying shame, that WDFW allows /protects jacks to be in a spawning area.... should allow sportsmen to take double the limit or more AND not have to punch them. Jacks should go to those that would use them, rather than "surplus", I hate that word......

For salmon a certain % of jacks are added to the spawning. Bit more than in the stream as I have watched spawning and the jacks sneak right in while the big guys duke it out or if they are the only male. What we never understood is the hatchery % as way more jacks in hatchery adults than wild in fact you seldom see jacks get to sneak in the wild. They try like all get out but in adult fish fights size does matter!

We put some jacks on eggs at the Dungeness Hatchery

12/30/2020

I'm sure that some educated, scientific, individual wrote a paper on the benefits of using "jacks" in spawning, but "Mother Nature" did a wonderful job for 10's of thousands of years........returns of BIG salmon were plentiful until man got involved.

Jacks should be "surplused" BEFORE they get to the hatchery..... IMO, smoked jacks are a welcome eatery in my neighborhood......mmmmmmmm

Vacuum sealed jacks, they are good for making dips and just plain eating !!!!!!!!

I wonder if Alaska uses jacks in a hatchery program......I know Oregon doesn't...is there something they know ??????

Jacks are part of the whole tapestry of the run. One thing they provide is genes from "other" broods. Take coho, which are primarily a 3 year fish. Without jacks there would be very little genetic interchange between brood years.

The way they learned about jacks and sneaker males being successful in spawning was by genetic examination of the resultant fry, fingerlings, and smolts.

We had big salmon returning to spawn when we didn't kill them as juveniles in the ocean.