NOF 2022

Chris Bellows said:
The loudest voices in the room are anglers fishing out of boats. No surprise that seasons are crafted around those who show up. If you could get a hundred plus shore anglers (who agree on what you want) to show up to every meeting you might be able to craft something along the lines of what you mentioned, but even then it would probably take multiple years and you'd be hard pressed to keep a hundred plus people going year after year to boring meetings often a long drive from home.
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Yea. Tell me about it.
 
My experience has been to be heard one needs to speak up!

The public zoom meetings (Forecast, NOF 1, NOF 2, and Mill Creek) are now completed. I "sat" through all 4 meetings and exactly one person spoke up about PS shore opportunities, and only 3 people spoke about river opportunities (one about Skagit and Stillaguamish coho and 2 about Stillaguamish game fish opportunities). From what I heard at the meetings those folks interested in beach or river opportunities will get exactly what they fought for - the crumbs.

Still time to provide comments by visiting WDFW's NOF site and clicking on public input.

curt
 
Good to see those strong Coho numbers although I'll say we didn't see the same great fishing at Neah last summer that Nick and his Cohort saw down at Westport. But with Neah closed (again) it was a long run from Sekiu and we had a lot of tough marine conditions last year. When we did make the run we had the place largely to ourselves but ran into a lot of small fish (at some point I'd love to see fish size incorporated into these forecasts). But I'll really miss those fish beautiful as they are big and small and in-between.

The lack of fly fishers on the coast has always surprised me. For years I received cross-eyed looks at the docks at snow creek, neah, sekiu,...everywhere, while out fishing many of those guys. If you want to have a blast with a fly rod in the salt and enjoy the best that WA still has to offer get a ~24 ft center console. Fish the San Juans in May for Lings. Then take it out to Neah/Sekiu for June /July Coho and Rockfish (fish outside to swiftsure until mid-July). Then do Westport in August for Coho and Tuna. Then SRC in the canal in fall. Or you can just sell everything and move to Florida like me. :)
 
Skagittarius said:
The lack of fly fishers on the coast has always surprised me. For years I received cross-eyed looks at the docks at snow creek, neah, sekiu,...everywhere, while out fishing many of those guys. If you want to have a blast with a fly rod in the salt and enjoy the best that WA still has to offer get a ~24 ft center console. Fish the San Juans in May for Lings. Then take it out to Neah/Sekiu for June /July Coho and Rockfish (fish outside to swiftsure until mid-July). Then do Westport in August for Coho and Tuna. Then SRC in the canal in fall.
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Always surprised me too, but I understand it a little more now. Might have something to do with needing a boat and the price of access for fly fishing guides (charter licenses, short ass seasons at times, smaller parties) and also the infrastructure in the ports themselves (specific from sekiu to la push) with imo pretty run down lodging options. The inability to day trip to these areas also hurts (or helps depending on your perspective :)). Also, lots of people get seasick and the currents and swells are intimidating early on.

Also, the fly fishing history of saltwater salmon fishing has excluded offshore fishing due to some of the above reasons. This means that almost none of the literature even mentions offshore options, and those that do are really brief. Also, the lack of shore fishing options and lack of experience in these fisheries pushed people into unconventional methods that imo are not active enough for most fly anglers.

The nice thing is unlike a steelhead river, we can speak openly about the fishery without any concern over hot spotting or hoards of fly anglers descending on the areas we are discussing.
 
I'm not that hip on beach fishing only seasons, but again I'm not much for fly fishing only waters either.
I much favor selective fishery regulations where all angler groups can participate, with or without a boat.
SF
 
Bu
Evan B said:
I'd say it's less the bait/two hook thing, and more the handling that's the issue. The bait doesn't get eaten any deeper/worse than artificials. But when you get a coho in the net, it thrashes, loses most its scales, and tires/beats itself up completely until it can't anymore. Then factor in Bubba hauling it up on the deck, letting it beat itself up there, then tossing it overboard. I've seen multiple situations off the Columbia River mouth where I saw a few floaters from that type of treatment.
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Bubba fishes off the beaches too.
I kills me to see how many coho get dragged 15 feet up the beach getting a nice breading of sand then if it's a wild fish it's unceremoniously unhooked and kicked back down the beach to the water thrashing the entire time.
F...king a..holes drive me nuts.😡
 
Got this in an email today.
SF

Several weeks ago, our final legislative update provided details on several priorities that CCA, along with our coalition partners, worked on this session. At the end of last week, Governor Inslee signed the budget into law, but did issue section vetoes of several fishery conservation and reform provisions that the legislature funded in the budget.


Voluntary Non-tribal Columbia River Buyback
We are pleased to announce that a voluntary buyback of non-tribal gillnet licenses has been approved by the Governor. This $14.4 million budget item includes language ensuring that the buyback benefits salmon and steelhead conservation by reducing impacts of the gillnet fishery while supporting selective harvest methods that are better suited to protect wild salmonid populations and non-target species, such as B-run steelhead. This voluntary buyback program is a huge step toward getting the bi-state Columbia River fishery reforms back on track and transitioning non-tribal gillnets out of the mainstem Columbia River and into off-channel areas.

CCA’s focus will now turn to closely monitoring WDFW’s implementation of the buyback and ensuring their fishery policies align with this renewed direction from the Legislature and Governor.


Puget Sound Salmon Harvest Reporting and Transparency
Unfortunately, Governor Inslee vetoed two budget items designed to increase transparency in the broken North of Falcon process.

This first item he vetoed would have simply required WDFW to issue a report to the Legislature documenting the total harvest related mortalities to ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook compared to established fishery conservation objectives over the past 10 years. The Governor cited insufficient funding to prepare the report, although much of this information is already a requirement of the 1985 Puget Sound Salmon Management Plan. WDFW has not produced this information for many years.

The other item vetoed by Governor Inslee is funding to improve salmon population data analysis and WDFW staffing to effectively engage in the North of Falcon process. The Governor’s veto was based on a requirement that any state-generated documents and notes from North of Falcon be made available to the public following the conclusion of the process. The Governor was concerned that a more open and transparent process will make negotiations with tribal entities more difficult.


Using Science to Establish Commercial Fishery Mortality Estimates
Governor Inslee also vetoed a third-party scientific review of WDFW’s fishery mortality estimates for the lower Columbia River non-tribal commercial fishing gears. WDFW has never done a scientific study to determine the release mortality rates from gillnets and rarely subjects the fishery to monitoring. While the Governor claims to support science, it is surprising that he is unwilling to allow a scientific review of commercial mortality estimates.

It is difficult to understand why anyone would oppose transparency and science in the management of a public resource.
 
Its a sport designed to kill for food from the inception of hook and line. I would campaign for first 1 or 2 fish to the boat then your limited and done, native or hatchery doesnt matter. Eliminates all poor handling practices and high grading.
 
FontinalisFin said:
Its a sport designed to kill for food from the inception of hook and line. I would campaign for first 1 or 2 fish to the boat then your limited and done, native or hatchery doesnt matter. Eliminates all poor handling practices and high grading.
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Trailer a boat to the coast, run 15-20 miles offshore, and fish for twenty minutes. Sounds fun.
 
Chris Bellows said:
Trailer a boat to the coast, run 15-20 miles offshore, and fish for twenty minutes. Sounds fun.
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I mean, I do this fishery and very much support this approach after all I've seen out there. My fun is secondary to the resource. And like was proposed above, bottom fish is fun as hell.
 
Evan B said:
I mean, I do this fishery and very much support this approach after all I've seen out there. My fun is secondary to the resource. And like was proposed above, bottom fish is fun as hell.
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I have to ask in all honesty though, is it really impacting the resource as much as everyone feels it is. I remember really short seasons and closures prior to wild release. The season length has dramatically increased and the fishing since the regulation change has been nothing short of wonderful. Hell, we have been told in this very thread that last summer's fishing was the best in fifty years at Westport.

I get that we all see bad fish handling, but we are told of phenomenal fishing with ESA and wild fish constraints built into the regulations. I'm not opposed to regulations that would reduce handling, but I also experienced the last couple seasons before wild release and I'm not sure you would enjoy the results as much as you think. Emulating halibut seasons would be a really negative step.

And anyone that knows me knows this next sentence is coming. Y'all can just f@#$ off with that "go bottom fish" bulls*@& ;). Yes, rockfish eat poppers, but often the best popper fishing is during the tidal phase that pretty much sucks for salmon... and my favorite area for popper fishing (at least at Neah) is closed since it is "seaward of the 20 fathom line". During salmon season I could always use the "I'm fishing for salmon" excuse, but that aint happening with two salmon in the cooler.
 
I pull my bottom fish off the bottom and enjoy doing it. Happens every trip and it's often the highlight for us. But I'm also a gear-fishing dirtbag.
 
Wanative said:
Bu

Bubba fishes off the beaches too.
I kills me to see how many coho get dragged 15 feet up the beach getting a nice breading of sand then if it's a wild fish it's unceremoniously unhooked and kicked back down the beach to the water thrashing the entire time.
F...king a..holes drive me nuts.😡
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That shit has been going on forever
It’s ridiculous and infuriating
 
Stonedfish said:
Got this in an email today.
SF

Several weeks ago, our final legislative update provided details on several priorities that CCA, along with our coalition partners, worked on this session. At the end of last week, Governor Inslee signed the budget into law, but did issue section vetoes of several fishery conservation and reform provisions that the legislature funded in the budget.


Voluntary Non-tribal Columbia River Buyback
We are pleased to announce that a voluntary buyback of non-tribal gillnet licenses has been approved by the Governor. This $14.4 million budget item includes language ensuring that the buyback benefits salmon and steelhead conservation by reducing impacts of the gillnet fishery while supporting selective harvest methods that are better suited to protect wild salmonid populations and non-target species, such as B-run steelhead. This voluntary buyback program is a huge step toward getting the bi-state Columbia River fishery reforms back on track and transitioning non-tribal gillnets out of the mainstem Columbia River and into off-channel areas.

CCA’s focus will now turn to closely monitoring WDFW’s implementation of the buyback and ensuring their fishery policies align with this renewed direction from the Legislature and Governor.


Puget Sound Salmon Harvest Reporting and Transparency
Unfortunately, Governor Inslee vetoed two budget items designed to increase transparency in the broken North of Falcon process.

This first item he vetoed would have simply required WDFW to issue a report to the Legislature documenting the total harvest related mortalities to ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook compared to established fishery conservation objectives over the past 10 years. The Governor cited insufficient funding to prepare the report, although much of this information is already a requirement of the 1985 Puget Sound Salmon Management Plan. WDFW has not produced this information for many years.

The other item vetoed by Governor Inslee is funding to improve salmon population data analysis and WDFW staffing to effectively engage in the North of Falcon process. The Governor’s veto was based on a requirement that any state-generated documents and notes from North of Falcon be made available to the public following the conclusion of the process. The Governor was concerned that a more open and transparent process will make negotiations with tribal entities more difficult.


Using Science to Establish Commercial Fishery Mortality Estimates
Governor Inslee also vetoed a third-party scientific review of WDFW’s fishery mortality estimates for the lower Columbia River non-tribal commercial fishing gears. WDFW has never done a scientific study to determine the release mortality rates from gillnets and rarely subjects the fishery to monitoring. While the Governor claims to support science, it is surprising that he is unwilling to allow a scientific review of commercial mortality estimates.

It is difficult to understand why anyone would oppose transparency and science in the management of a public resource.
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Tells a lot about the governors leadership
 
I prefer the solution that gets me more opportunity to be out there because in the end that is really what I want.

Be it selective fisheries, be it beach only, be it selective fishery and hand lining only while riding a unicycle nude on a barnacle encrusted rocks. Something new to learn! I want to wake up in the summer, head to a beach or out on my boat, watch the sunrise and give myself a shot at something that pulls back hard, preferably without having to drive 6 hours to find it.
 
jasmillo said:
I prefer the solution that gets me more opportunity to be out there because in the end that is really what I want.

Be it selective fisheries, be it beach only, be it selective fishery and hand lining only while riding a unicycle nude on a barnacle encrusted rocks. Something new to learn! I want to wake up in the summer, head to a beach or out on my boat, watch the sunrise and give myself a shot at something that pulls back hard, preferably without having to drive 6 hours to find it.
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Winter fisherman here, I’ll take the above year round thanks.
 
Evan B said:
I pull my bottom fish off the bottom and enjoy doing it. Happens every trip and it's often the highlight for us. But I'm also a gear-fishing dirtbag.
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I doubt you'd fit my definition of dirt bag. Certainly not for gear fishing. I don't enjoy it as much but have done a ton of it.

I just figure there's space between a perceived resource issue regarding c&r of saltwater coho and being forced to retain fish I might not otherwise harvest. We've discussed and disagreed on rule changes that would help in this thread. I would rather see moves like they do with bottom fish, which regs now require a descending device on board instead of shorter seasons or more area closures (for rockfish).

One question for those pushing a keep your first two salmon regulation, are you currently doing this with your fishing? Can't retain wild coho, but are you keeping your first two legal fish regardless of size? Keeping coho instead of chinook? If not, why not?
 
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