Snohomish closure

[85yota]

So looks like wdfw closed the entire snoho, sky, snoqualmie and tributaries river systems. Last year it was from the king run being weak from 4 years prior. Not sure there reasoning this time. But not sure why they couldn't just switch to a barbless trout only or fly fishing only. Seems like a hasty decision. What you guys think

[Irish_hunter93]

There's a article I had found on it somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up.


I think it's stupid. The hatchery was a maximum production for output, but the tiny run of "wild" fish had gone through a drought year, and they say this is their return year (last year was to)
And that they were concerned with the numbers of returning "wild" fish.....


I don't think there's any "true wild" fish left anymore,  Indians nets don't discriminate from hatchery, wild, steelhead, salmon, or sturgeon....

I think we need to focus more on hatchery output with strong genepools,  just my 2 cents.

[ducks4days]

There's a article I had found on it somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up.


I think it's stupid. The hatchery was a maximum production for output, but the tiny run of "wild" fish had gone through a drought year, and they say this is their return year (last year was to)
And that they were concerned with the numbers of returning "wild" fish.....


I don't think there's any "true wild" fish left anymore,  Indians nets don't discriminate from hatchery, wild, steelhead, salmon, or sturgeon....

I think we need to focus more on hatchery output with strong genepools,  just my 2 cents.

What we should do and what we can do in compliance with ESA restrictions are different things.

As always, I am against blanket bans of most things. There are hundreds of better levers to pull. Id love to see the tribes to voluntarily cut back and toot their own horn on taking less than they are entitled to for the betterment of the fishery. Id also love to see gear restrictions and seasonal restrictions that allow fishing but reduce the chance of killing wild chinook as bycatch.

[CP]

The sealions outside the Snohomish mouth are doing well.  Watched one kill a large salmon this morning.  Big fish, he had to smack it on the surface several times before eating it.  Made the gulls happy.

[7mmfan]

The sealions outside the Snohomish mouth are doing well.  Watched one kill a large salmon this morning.  Big fish, he had to smack it on the surface several times before eating it.  Made the gulls happy.

This is a huge issue with the Snohomish system and why so many runs struggle. Take wild winter/spring steelhead. It's been closed to catch release for 20 years, yet they say those fish are still struggling. They have an intact river system, good spawning habitat, and little to not sport fishing pressure. When other rivers have seen numbers come back, this one continues to struggle. Piles and piles of PITT tags on the bouys in seal and sea lion poop tell the story...

[jason stevens]

So for all the people that buy there fishing license are they offering refunds after the closure. Just a thought. Take the money then shut it down has been the things for a few years now.

[nanum]

Time to sell the sled and buy a bass boat, actually I cant go that low yet, probably a saltwater boat instead.

[Widgeondeke]

My buddy sold his sled last fall and got a Duckworth for fishing Puget Sound. Said he doesn’t regret it, especially after this announcement.

I too wish we could at least fish for trout in the Sky

[TriggerMike]

Hopefully they'll open it back up for coho and steelhead in the Fall/winter after the Chinook run, or lack thereof, is over.

[Stein]

I would probably start holding my breath now... 

[snit]

Such a travesty! For over 30 years I looked forward to the June 1st opener on the Sky for summer steelhead. High water or no snowpack, they'd still return in various quantities. Bank fishing the upper Sky was always great fun; through the early rains and then the dog-days of summer, I felt I could always scratch up at least one of the best freshwater fighting critters in the PNW. They were always great table fare too (alot of my early fish had sea-lice when I caught them above the High Bridge); besting ocean king/coho IMO. The Sky is 90 miles away from me, but with the longer summer days I could get off work and be fishing in less than 2hrs, even globalling into the late night (that was such a BLAST!), and still be home before 1am. Most of the time I didn't need that long to punch a couple of fish though. In all those years, I saw VERY few wild summers landed, definitely less than I can count on 2 hands (except for the S. Fork fish, especially above the Falls). Just a continuation of the downward spiral of WDFW management catering to special interest groups that want to change/stop the opportunity to harvest.

[87Ford]

On a related note, I saw a couple people fishing the Sky yesterday just above the Lewis Street bridge.  I get the frustration, but why don’t people know the rules, it’s closed!