Steelhead rivers closing

[jackelope]

Steelhead fishing will close Feb. 18 in five river systems around Puget Sound

OLYMPIA - Steelhead fishing will close Feb. 18 in five major river systems in the Puget Sound area to protect wild fish, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.

The closure will affect the Puyallup, Nooksack, Stillaguamish, Samish and Snohomish rivers and their tributaries.

Pre-season estimates developed by the department indicate that returns of wild steelhead will fall far short of target levels in all five river systems, said Bob Leland, WDFW steelhead manager.

"This is the fourth straight year that we've seen a downward trend in wild steelhead returns," Leland said.  "These closures are necessary to meet the conservation objectives of our statewide steelhead management plan and comply with provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA)."

Wild steelhead in the Puget Sound region have been listed as "threatened" under the ESA since 2007. Although anglers are required to release any wild fish they catch in those rivers, some of those fish inevitably die from the experience, Leland said.

Rivers closing to steelhead fishing Feb. 18 include:

Puyallup River system

Puyallup River mainstem from the 11th St. Bridge in Tacoma upstream to Electron Power Plant Outlet
Carbon River from the mouth to Hwy.162 Bridge
White (Stuck) River from the mouth to R Street Bridge in Auburn
Nooksack River system

Nooksack River from the mouth to the confluence of the North and South Forks
North Fork Nooksack from the mouth to Nooksack Falls
South Fork Nooksack from the mouth to Skookum Creek
Middle Fork Nooksack from the mouth to headwaters.
Samish River system

Samish River from the mouth to the Hickson Bridge.
Stillaguamish River system

Stillaguamish River from sloughs south of Marine Drive to forks.
North Fork of the Stillaguamish from the mouth to Swede Heaven Bridge. 
South Fork of the Stillaguamish from the mouth to the Mt Loop Hwy. Bridge (above Granite Falls). 
Canyon Creek from the mouth at the South Fork of the Stillaguamish to the forks. 
Snohomish River system

Snohomish River from mouth (Burlington-Northern railroad bridges) to the confluence of the Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers including all channels, sloughs, and interconnected waterways.
Snoqualmie River from the mouth to the boat launch at Plum Landing (~1/4 mile below Tokul Creek).
Skykomish River from the mouth to the forks.
North Fork of the Skykomish from the mouth to Deer Falls (about ¼ mile upstream of Goblin Creek).
South Fork of the Skykomish from the mouth to the Sunset Falls Fishway. 
Pilchuck River from mouth to the Snohomish city diversion dam.
Sultan River from mouth to the diversion dam at river mile 9.7.
Tolt River from mouth to the confluence of the North and South Fork.
Raging River from the mouth to the Highway 18 Bridge.
The Wallace River, Tokul Creek and Snoqualmie River above the boat ramp at Plum Landing will close Feb 28. 

Reopening dates for all of these waters will be noted in the 2010-11 Fishing in Washington fishing rules pamphlet. 

[Alchase]

Amazing how a river like the Puyallup can go from the second most stealhead produced Cowlitz was first in 1996 to almost extinct in 10 years.

[singleshot12]

Closed for steelhead fishing,but I wonder if you can still fish for other species ??

[Snowman]

  ! All I got to say... 

[BigGoonTuna]

Amazing how a river like the Puyallup can go from the second most stealhead produced Cowlitz was first in 1996 to almost extinct in 10 years.

1986 maybe, it was long gone from "the list" by '96...though it would still have been a lot better than it is lately(and open until the end of march, too).

the puyallup, nisqually and the rest of the south sound rivers crash dove in the late 80s, early '90s.  at least i got to fish the nisqually when it was still open.

[banannaclip]

next year they will say too many fish :chuckle:does this mean they pull in all the nets or are they exempt?too bad the chance to salvage the steelhead run has since been lost  and mismanaged,now you can go over to blackmans lake and watch the fish mongers fight for trout what a joke,hehehe :chuckle:30 years ago the plunkers would be in force,reiter was going,you could fish the chuck till april fools day kinda ironic,back then the talk was it aint like it used too be,thanx mr boldt your selfishness prevails what a dumb@##,sad thing is the game department nor the government have gotten anymore smarter.if steelhead even as much as to have a prayer to even attempt a come back  there can never be anymore net fishing along the rivers,or as we know it in the rivers as the tribes do it here,recrational should a priority not a minority BAN ALL TRIBAL FISHING PERMANENTLY, just my 

[BLR 243]

I remember the good old days on the Skagit. 50-75 plunkers in a row @ the railroad bridge hole in Burlington, caught my first steelie there Jan 1st 1975, who would have thought.

[7mm short mag]

Closed for steelhead fishing,but I wonder if you can still fish for other species ??

All game fish! 

[D_morg]

Where did you see that it's closed for all fishing?

[oldschool]

 Why would the WDFW plant fish in those rivers so the Indians can put net's across the mouth and catch all that return?

[Alchase]

Amazing how a river like the Puyallup can go from the second most stealhead produced Cowlitz was first in 1996 to almost extinct in 10 years.

1986 maybe, it was long gone from "the list" by '96...though it would still have been a lot better than it is lately(and open until the end of march, too).

the puyallup, nisqually and the rest of the south sound rivers crash dove in the late 80s, early '90s.  at least i got to fish the nisqually when it was still open.

Oops you are correct it was 84-85 that the Puyallup was second only to the Cowlitz

http://www.steelheadnotebook.net/puyallup.htm