Cowlitz

[whackmaster 93]

Anyone been to the cowlitz lately? Any action down there? I'm headed down there in the mornin with the jet sled to see if any steelhead are around.

[wildmanoutdoors]

There may be some old summers. But there will be no early winter run this year. Id bring your Salmon gear...

[Button Nubbs]

There may be some old summers. But there will be no early winter run this year. Id bring your Salmon gear...

Just saw this... Are they going to the march run only?

[wildmanoutdoors]

The early run is no more. The March run wasent much better last year. but ya supposedly. We'll see.

[Bullkllr]

There may be some old summers. But there will be no early winter run this year. Id bring your Salmon gear...

Just saw this... Are they going to the march run only?

Yes. Interesting discussion here http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=433217

[TheHunt]

I just wrote governor Inslee yesterday explaining the resulting concerns of removing that winter fishing run.  It will not do any good but who knows.  I put the email in terms of Washington's economy, jobs, branding for fishing big fish, lost of sport fishing sales of gear, gas, resturants, etc...

[whackmaster 93]

Just remembered I posted this. When I went down there We hooked 2 kings and 5 silvers down from blue creek at the clay banks drifting eggs

[Bullkllr]

I just wrote governor Inslee yesterday explaining the resulting concerns of removing that winter fishing run.  It will not do any good but who knows.  I put the email in terms of Washington's economy, jobs, branding for fishing big fish, lost of sport fishing sales of gear, gas, resturants, etc...

It is a shame, isn't it.

If I remember correctly, punchcards from the winter of 1971-72 showed approx. 22,000 winter runs caught on the Cowlitz, most of them in December.

[BigGoonTuna]

i don't think that's too fair of a comparison, for one thing back in those days the game department collected punch cards and interpreted the data as an average...so everyone who didn't turn them in was automatically assumed to do "as well" as those that handed in their cards.

one thing is certain though, we will never, ever see fishing in this state like it was before the boldt decision, and likely never as good as even 15-20 years ago.  the number of areas we can fish are shrinking while the population grows.  as much as fish numbers have declined, i think that access will be the biggest limiting factor in the future.  we lose private access at an alarming rate, as more and more fishermen are corralled into smaller and smaller areas you'll see land owners lose patience and shut down access.  WDFW doesn't seem terribly interested in securing property or easments either.

the cowlitz is a sad state of affairs, i used to fish it a ton from the time i started fishing until the early-mid 2000s when the steelhead fishing started to suck.  it's an ideal candidate for heavy planting, but unfortunately tacoma power got out of a bunch of mitigation responsibility when they renegotiated their hydro license, and now the state has its hands tied due to federal wild fish management goals(on an essentially dead river) and hatchery reform.

[Bullkllr]

i don't think that's too fair of a comparison, for one thing back in those days the game department collected punch cards and interpreted the data as an average...so everyone who didn't turn them in was automatically assumed to do "as well" as those that handed in their cards.

one thing is certain though, we will never, ever see fishing in this state like it was before the boldt decision, and likely never as good as even 15-20 years ago.  the number of areas we can fish are shrinking while the population grows.  as much as fish numbers have declined, i think that access will be the biggest limiting factor in the future.  we lose private access at an alarming rate, as more and more fishermen are corralled into smaller and smaller areas you'll see land owners lose patience and shut down access.  WDFW doesn't seem terribly interested in securing property or easments either.

the cowlitz is a sad state of affairs, i used to fish it a ton from the time i started fishing until the early-mid 2000s when the steelhead fishing started to suck.  it's an ideal candidate for heavy planting, but unfortunately tacoma power got out of a bunch of mitigation responsibility when they renegotiated their hydro license, and now the state has its hands tied due to federal wild fish management goals(on an essentially dead river) and hatchery reform.

Exactly.

Pretty certain they still use the "multiplier" with the catch record information. I remember walking the river bank up by the Barrier Dam and you had to be careful where to step so you didn't step on all the fish people had laid on the gravel; so yeah, I tend to think those numbers were in the ballpark at least as much as the current ones are.