Well, there is more room on the Chehalis. It is surprising that the netters would fish together as, again, in PS, the Tribes always went first. Normally, though, as I recall they tended to fish in different areas. The Fraser sockeye fishery was where everybody wanted to be.

little update Bingham Hatchery Coho 5950 H 837 W 1650 Jacks H 105 W

Same time 2022 1108 H 54 W combined H&W jacks 559

This for the 19th but the numbers are from last weeks report as it takes several days for the information to be put up so the numbers lag a bit.

HEY LOOK...when it rains early this is what happens! Like I posted earlier the numbers lag but this is a bonus if you have that many hatchery fish still in the river down stream.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oct. 20, 2023



Satsop River anglers may keep an additional adult hatchery coho
Action: Increases daily salmon retention by one (1) additional adult hatchery coho.

Effective dates: Oct. 23 through Dec. 31, 2023.
Species affected: Coho.

Locations, dates, and salmon rules:
Satsop River and East Fork (Grays Harbor County) from mouth to bridge at Schafer State Park:

• Oct. 23 through Nov. 30, 2023: Minimum size is 12 inches. Daily limit is six (6). Up to three (3) adults including no more than two (2) salmon other than hatchery coho may be retained. Release adult Chinook.

• Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, 2023: Minimum size is 12 inches. Daily limit is six (6). Up to two (2) adults including no more than one (1) salmon other than hatchery coho may be retained. Release Chinook.
Satsop River and East Fork (Grays Harbor County) from 400 feet below Bingham Creek Hatchery dam to the dam:

• Oct. 23 through Nov. 30, 2023: Minimum size is 12 inches. Daily limit is six (6). Up to three (3) adults including no more than two (2) salmon other than hatchery coho may be retained. Release adult Chinook.

• Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, 2023: Minimum size is 12 inches. Daily limit is six (6). Up to two (2) adults including no more than one (1) salmon other than hatchery coho may be retained. Release Chinook.

Reason for action: Broodstock collection at the Bingham Creek Hatchery has exceeded needs for production goals. To date, more than 10,000 coho have entered the Bingham Creek Hatchery.

Additional information: All other permanent rules published in the 2023/24 Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet remain in effect. You can receive all in-season rules changes as they are announced by signing up for email notification through WDFW Regulation Updates. Be sure to check for emergency rules on the WDFW website prior to fishing and consider downloading the Fish Washington mobile app.
Information contact: Region 6 Montesano office, 360-249-4628.



________________________________________
Fishers must have a current Washington fishing license, appropriate to the fishery. Check the WDFW "Fishing in Washington" rules pamphlet for details on definitions and regulations. Fishing rules are subject to change. Check the WDFW Fishing hotline for the latest rule information at 360-902-2500, press 2 for recreational rules. For the Shellfish Rule Change hotline call toll free 1-866-880-5431.



Request this information in an alternative format or language at wdfw.wa.gov/accessibility/requests-accommodation, 833-855-1012, TTY (711), or Title6@dfw.wa.gov.

Ok my computer screen is warmmmmm ! Look at it this way if you take the Coho run and graph it by week the curve goes up peaks goes down, with the biggest share of the fish middle two weeks of October. This is based upon years of similiar runsize and harvest by week or days even half days.

It does not take into consideration flows and the fish bloody well doing what fish do to fishers..... screw them over. So it rained very early not once but three times that mattered and take that curve by the weeks and move the peak forward 2 1/2 maybe 3 weeks. The fish shot right upstream and when the QIN went in they were on the backside of the run curve. Really messed with both NT and QIN fishers. Early rain does not benefit bay and tide water but inland it is the gift that keeps giving!

I've benefitted from the rain timing this year, and that's been great, because I got royally screwed by last year's timing. For sure, a lot of fish moved up the Satsop between the end of September and mid-October. They weren't there every day, but when they were moving, it was in good numbers, which made for good fishing. Best I've had in years.

With that said, you'd probably think I would be happy about the increased harvest limit, but I actually think it's a lousy idea. I'm one of those people who believe that "fish are habitat," and I'd like to see the "surplus" left in the river, to spawn and turn into marine-derived nutrients. I get that there is such a thing as a catastrophic overescapement, but I think it's safe to say we've not been anywhere near that biomass in Grays Harbor for many decades (certainly, 10,000 fish to the hatchery is well short of that mark).

I also get the management perspective that more hatchery fish than what is needed for broodstock is considered waste, and it also creates the need for more labor hours to deal with the surplus in various ways. I think that's what's driving this decision (trying to make the hatchery fish stop coming; not enhancing fishing opportunities). The reality is that the majority of the hatchery run is pretty much over at this point. Yes, a few more will trickle in throughout the rest of the season, but it should be mostly wild fish from here on out. That means there will be anglers staying on the water after harvesting two wilds, trying to find that bonus hatchery fish. If fishing is good, they might encounter several more wilds without finding a hatchery fish. I don't think that's how WDFW would want that to play out.

Although there won't actually be many fish around most days the rest of the season, increasing the limit always has the effect of increasing pressure. It would have been ideal to have that bonus fish available around the opener (a couple thousand of those surplus fish could have been caught in the first 2 weeks), but obviously, they weren't aware there would be a surplus at that point, so here we are....

Anyway, I don't agree with the mentality that we need to harvest fish, hatchery or otherwise, down to the last expendable fish in order to be managing a fishery effectively. Indeed, at this point in the game, any number of fish beyond escapement goals, regardless of origin, can only help future broods (not to mention steelhead and every other species of game fish).

"Excess" fish are free habitat enhancement (or at least a lot cheaper than building all these fish passage bridges on creeks that have severely depressed or non-existent salmon runs, anyway). On that note, maybe they should start transporting excess hatchery spawners to some of those places, to let them seed the recovered habitat. Who cares if they aren't as successful as wild pairs might be... some progeny would survive, and they would adapt to be more successful in those habitats. Has a much better chance of getting a return on the investment in those projects than harvesting down to the same escapement goals we had before the habitat was restored and expecting more fish to magically appear....

Nothing to disagree with FF but it is always the natural return that governs harvest. I think two weeks ago they knew they had eggtake covered times many for Coho and were well aware many more were coming. A substantial amount of Coho were up above the cut off line before Oct. 1st they just don't go all the way to Bingham. What they would not know is the wild return and I guess they got comfortable enough to expand oportunity. Keeping in mind that the nets missed most of their harvest of Coho and these are the fish utilized for the expanded rec harvest.

They still running the trap on Bingham? It seems that with all the years of return data to the hatchery and the years at Bingham passing fish upstream that they shut should be able to develop and in-season evaluation of timing, run size, and composition. Since they have flow records, too, they could add that in. Even rainfall.

Should at least get some sort of "heads-up". Or would that "heads pulled out"?

I think the trap is still operating but it is seperate from the harvest division or used to be. Then you have the agreed to seasons with the tribal managers and the dust up of both missing the commercial NT and tribal fishing the 18th. So no idea is my thought as the early rains made mess out of the planned fisheries. One thing for sure at the moment is a lot of Chum are coming up river.

10/22/2023

If you are a chum fisher, then Chehalis and Satsop Rivers are where you need to be.

In past few days, around the "pump houses", big wakes of fish heading up river, 3 boats, 5 fishers, fish total was 2 Coho and 2 Chum, chum were released. I've not caught a Chum in probably 10 years, because I use "spoons". Why that big male decided to hit my spoon, who knows????? Now I remember, why I don't fish them....fight, fight, fight and then more battle, that was enough for me.

Back when I was involved in Harvest we actually used the hatchery data to manage fisheries. But that was then.

Friend of mine who was an active fly fisher for all things salmonid used to say that if you tied a 20 pound steelhead and 20 pound chum tail to tail that the chime would drag the steelhead all over the river. Only really big chum I ever hooked on a fly had absolutely no idea he was hooked. He just swam away.

I hope lots of chum salmon make it up river. I've seen WDFW sacrifice the chum run in the past to the net fishery in order to eek out every last available (on paper) coho that might be headed up the Chehalis. When it comes to salmon, I've concluded that WDFW doesn't manage fish, it manages fishing, particularly commercial fishing, at any cost to fish populations.

Fishermen vote. Commercial fishermen support (donate to) politicians. If WDFW was really serious about recovering wild salmonids, especially those with extended freshwater rearing, they would SIGNIFICANTLY reduce chum harvest and put this fish on the grounds. No way they'll do that.

Last Thursday I watched a QIN fisher for an hour until he pulled his nets. A school of Chum had moved in with sea lions all over. Those guys worked their asses off nonstop pulling fish from the nets. As they pulled at noon I fished the area a bit then nothing no fur bags nothing. So I idled up stream and just above Preachers found them and my sonar screen was literally full of fish and the fish went bank to bank. Did the zig zag upstream to the corner where the tracks meet the river and turned around for home. I took a picture of my screen and sent it to DW. The QIN at Aberdeen pulled the ninetieth a head of time so the fisher I watched had no nets in front of him so hello meet the Chum. To the point judging by the area my Lowrance covered and counting fish that school was in the thousands not hundreds. Biggest damn bunch of Chum I have ever seen. I think every fur bag in the area was right with them and it was a circus! At first when the Chum showed it was daytime incoming then they just started incoming period. This morning at the end of incoming I could hear sea lions bellowing all over the river around the house and several times got a bird’s eye view with the dock light of them chasing fish all over the channel. Looks like Allan was right that the early Chum performance means a good run. So far he has it right.

Battled nothing but chum today. Should have known better. Sorry, don't like chum. I'm like Drifter, Done until they are gone.

ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE SWEET KIND GENTLE CHUM ARE KICKING YOUR ASS?

Since most of my salmon fishing is sport oriented I really like chum. Just C&R 'em. But, since they were the fish I did my MSc on and then were the driver that showed me the MDN effect I really like them just for their existence.

Floated hump on Saturday and it was miles of chum... Like a never ending flow of them, never seen so many in there before.

It's satisfying to hear about lots of chum salmon. Imagine what it would be like if they had no commercial value.

Then we'd just take all the water because a huge ecological value is rated at close to zero.

East Fork Satsop Hatchery returns as of October 26 posting. Remember numbers are always about a week behind


BINGHAM CR HATCHERY Satsop River- H - 8,950 J-1,950 Surplus 10,299 -
BINGHAM CR HATCHERY Satsop River- W - 1,137 J-122 Released 1228

SATSOP SPRINGS PONDS Satsop River- H - 1,000 J-300 Surplused 335

These NT impact numbers for Chum are about 75% of forecast Coho 6.5% and Chinook well 86 was modeled so this number was out in the weeds. One more time it rained early and this is what happens with Coho and Chinook. When and if we get the QIN numbers we will see Chum take a dramatic turn around.

Oct 18 WK 42 0 Chinook 93 Coho 270 Chum