Some of us have been exchanging thoughts on fishing or lack of it this past winter. It is a shame as other than an event in November the Chehalis was rarely not fishable. Oh few small events but very few brown outs of any duration. The river was the best one could hope for most of the winter and spring if one likes to fish winter Steelhead. It would be nice if WDFW and the QIN could get past this thing were Rec fishers’ ability to do C&R is not recognized because the QIN net fishery is not selective. Frankly with the current Commission and Director I do not see change coming anytime soon. I could be wrong and I hope I am but I doubt it.

As to the natural things around the river it was different this year. Always before during the out-migration window for salmon juveniles always birds preying on them for a meal. This year not so much in fact the Cormorants were almost never around same with Merganser ducks. No idea if this was good or a bad thing but most certainly different.

So as the summer goes on the weather forecast is well below average temperatures into August and a bit wet. This good for fish but sort of sucks for humble humans.

A La Niña Watch is in place for the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean by the 2024 summer months. La Niña is when sea surface temperatures dip below average. It’s the cooler waters that help bring increased moisture and decrease temperatures for the Pacific Northwest during the winter months. The National Weather Service is 55% confident in El Niño transitions to La Niña by June through August 2024. If that prediction comes true, then the Pacific Northwest could be in for a potentially wet and cooler than average 2024-2025 winter season.

So it looks like the El Nino dry drought conditions are history for 2024. That is good so we don’t have another phony shut down in the fall river fishery for low flows. Adult salmon are seldom affected by dry fall conditions in the Chehalis Basin as they simply wait for rain and slowly move upstream. Makes for good fishing depending on where you fish inland. What I always worry about is the juvenile rearing areas in dry years as those guys are very vulnerable. So wet summer fall great for fish not so much for us.