Starting Sunday (Aug. 14), anglers fishing off Westport and Illwaco will again be restricted to one chinook salmon as part of their daily limit of two salmon off the state’s southern coast.

State fisheries managers increased the daily limit to two chinook last week, but a sudden surge in the recreational catch prompted a return to the one-chinook rule in Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) and Marine Area 2 (Westport), said Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW),

“The number of anglers fishing out of Westport this week increased dramatically and their success in catching chinook was better than any week in recent history,” Pattillo said. “While we’re reluctant to go back to one chinook a day, this change is necessary to keep this fishery open for a full season.”

Pattillo noted that the new chinook catch limit will apply only to marine areas 1 and 2.  Anglers fishing off La Push (Marine Area 3) and Neah Bay (Marine Area 4) can continue to catch and keep two chinook as part of their daily limit – which also allows them to keep one additional pink salmon per day in those areas.

Prior to last week’s decision to increase the chinook limit off Westport and Ilwaco, WDFW found that catch rates were lagging well behind last year’s pace, Pattillo said. But that changed abruptly this week, when the number of anglers fishing those areas jumped 30 percent over the same period last year.

“We couldn’t ignore that much of a change in the fishery,” he said.

Ocean salmon fisheries are currently scheduled to continue through Sept. 18 in marine areas 2, 3 and 4, and through Sept. 30 in Marine Area 1.

Fishery managers will continue to monitor the ocean salmon fishery throughout the season, and announce any other changes on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/ . 

Additional information on the ocean fishery, including minimum-size limits and area catch guidelines, is available in WDFW’s Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet, available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations .

CORRECTION: Removes reference to the spring chinook salmon opening on the lower Yakima River. That opening has not yet been set.

Fishing options sprout in May for trout, shrimp, lingcod, halibut

This is the time of year when new fishing opportunities start popping open like daffodils in the afternoon sun. On various dates in May, shrimp and lingcod fisheries open in Puget Sound and halibut seasons get under way there and off the coast.

But none of those fisheries draw bigger crowds than the lowland lakes trout-fishing season, which opens April 30 statewide. With 300,000 anglers predicted to turn out that day alone, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been busy stocking 20 million trout in lakes and ponds from the Olympic Peninsula to the Palouse.

Millions more trout, ranging from eight-inch “catchables” to five-pound jumbos, will be planted during the season, which runs through October, said Jim Uehara, WDFW inland fish manager.

“We stock lakes with trout for the whole season, not just opening day,” Uehara said. “Trout fishing should be most productive in lowland lakes through June, and then again in September. Fishing should be good in the higher-elevation lakes, and those stocked with kokanee, right through the summer.”

For most anglers, a valid 2011-12 fishing license is required to participate in any of these fisheries, now that 2010-11 licenses have expired. The exception is young people under age 15, who fish for free in Washington state.

Licenses and permits are avaiIable online , by phone (1-866-246-9453) and from sporting goods stores and other retail license dealers around the state. A list of license vendors is available online and from local WDFW offices.

Key dates for fisheries opening in May include:

• May 1 – Halibut fishing opens in Marine Area 2 off the south coast (Westport and Ocean Shores) and Puget Sound opens for lingcod.
• May 5 – Halibut fishing opens in Marine Areas 6-10 in Puget Sound, and in Marine Area 1 off the south coast (Ilwaco).
• May 7 – Shrimp fishing opens in areas of Puget Sound.
• May 12 – Halibut fishing opens in marine areas 3 and 4 off the north coast (La Push/Neah Bay).
• May 16 – Fishing opens for hatchery steelhead, sockeye salmon and shad on a section of the lower Columbia River.

Fishing regulations and other information about fisheries scheduled or under way around the state are available in Weekender Regional Reports and in the 2011-12 Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet posted on WDFW’s website.

Meanwhile, anglers should be aware that Catch Record Cards for last year’s fishery are due to WDFW by April 30. Card holders are required to report their catch of salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and halibut, whether they caught fish or not. The completed cards should be mailed to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Program, Catch Record Cards, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia WA 98501-1091.

FISHING RULE CHANGE

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

December 22, 2010

 NOTE: The department issued a news release announcing its decision to make this change on Dec. 7.

 Barbed hooks allowed on Columbia River

Action: Allow the use of barbed hooks for recreational fishing.

Effective dates: Jan. 1, 2011 until further notice.

Species affected: Salmon and steelhead

Location: Columbia River, from the mouth to McNary Dam

Reasons for action: Washington’s sport fishing rules in this area of the Columbia River are not similar to Oregon’s. To avoid confusion for sport anglers, the implementation of the barbless rule will be delayed.

Information Contact: WDFW Region 5 Office, 360-696-6211, TeamVancouver@dfw.wa.gov

COLUMBIA RIVER COMPACT/JOINT STATE ACTION NOTICE 

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife April 20, 2010 

The Columbia River Compact met today and took the following actions:

1. The commercial fisheries in Youngs Bay, Tongue Point, Blind Slough/Knappa Slough and Deep River are closed until further notice.

2. The recreational fisheries in Youngs Bay, Tongue Point, Blind Slough/Knappa Slough and Deep River ar closed until further notice but no later than June 15.