I am tired of people complaining about zipperlips. Any one with an couple minutes can find every zipperlip in the state that has steelhead in it. To save even that short time I am putting the link here.
http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/fish/harvest/harvest.htm
Save the pdf file Complete 1999-2000 steelhead harvest report. Or any other year for that matter. Open it in Adobe, and BAM, every river that has had a steelhead caught in it in WA. Broke down into months and river drainages. This is every open and legal water in WA, so that means if anyone else is fishing a zipperlip that is not listed, they are poaching. If you need to find a water listed, check out your closest WA atlas. If you want fishing all to yourself, hike your butts up into the mountians or take a boat 25 miles off the coast. We ALL pay for these fish, so we ALL should be able to ask about them without worrying about snobs who need to go back to Seattle and cry in their Lattes.

Great post, Big Jim!

I was drafting just such a post when I noticed yours. Also, the one thing I have noticed about many zipperlips is how difficult it is to find a place to park and the Skookumchuck is no exception.

I ain't up for all that hiking anymore so I'll just keep on fishing the Zippernooch and the Zipperhump, and like that.

By the way, I don't think the nitwits that toasted that kid are snobs but I think they want to be. It seems they want to convince themselves that they have something no one else has.

Here's hoping your post stops this nonsense.

Thank you very much. I was looking for that exact information.

my hats off to ya Big Jim

why not just enjoy being out fishing?

Don't blame Seattle. Other boards have the same problems with the topic.

Ya the harvest reports on the wdfw site are exactly how i found out about the skook jim. You can really get a good idea of what a runs like on a given river by looking at the harvest and release reports.
waterboy

I suppose the harvest and plant report data are good means for finding the Skook, but I found it by following the trail of empty beer cans, candy wrappers, bait cups, and all sorts of other trash. Came out of there with a bag full and didn't even make a dent!

This Post confuses me. I don't see what the point was to posting such information. I don't have any zipperlips anymore because of such postings. I am not worrieb about hooking less fish, because I still feel that 10% of the fisherman hook 90% of the fish. Just because you know where the water is, doesn't mean you know how to present something through the run. I feel confident that I can hook fish regardless of how many people are fishing beside me. I was taught as a young boy that if you truly wanted to enjoy something to the fullest, you are going to have to work for it. I don't think the information should just be handed over, it wasn't just handed over to me when I was looking for fish. I had to go out and wade entire stretches of rivers fishing little slots and whatnot to find fish. When I do hook up with a fish, I get alot better feeling from it when I know that I've had to work for it. The information you gave out wasn't really any zipperlip information at all, all you did was post some information the state has already posted, but you did make it a whole lot easier for the lazy man to link to that page. I'm not here to complain, just was curious if that post was really that neccesary? I like fishing just like anyone else does, but I like fishing a whole lot more when there isn't a whole zoo of people littering the banks and crashing down little streams in driftboats. Just my .02

I like your attitude Big Jim! Some of these little squirts act like they own it all,good show and keep up the good work,Fishy

L.Hooker, Welcome to the age of technology. When I was young, You couldn't find this kind of info. You did have to work for it. There was no internet. How smart would I be to ignore these informative sites and just go exploring. I, for one, am glad that folks like Big Jim are willing to help out those of us that need it. Great post Jim. Thank you.

L Hooker, that info has been available free from the state every year since the early 1960s. You could pick it up any day at the old Aberdeen office of the former Department of Game. Now you can get it on the web. Climb outta your cave.

Or, we ALL should be able to ask about them without worrying about some locals who need to go back to Cornhole, and cry in their animal beer...

See Jim, it kinda works both ways...

Good Post Big Jim,
There is a ton of river info on the net if you search for it.I have been surprised at some of the so called zipper info I have found.

I need to crawl out of my cave? I will put every dollar to my name that I am more involved in the fisheries than you could ever imagine being. It's monday morning, gorgeous day out, and I am stuck inside building a fly rod for a guy, so I am going to vent some of my anger. I've been a member of this board since mid 1999. I am not a newcomer, and I've watched this board change right before my very eyes. I know that the WDFW puts out their harvest reports along with their smolt releases every year, is that news to anybody? I am not saying that you can't come fish the same river I am fishing, anyone is more than welcome to fish any body of water on this planet as long as it's legal. It isn't a matter of how smart it is to look at the state's pages, it's the feeling you get when you drive over a bridge and notice a small little pocket up river 100 yds, you go and fish it and by chance you pull a nice hatchery fish for dinner. Catching that fish on a whim is sure a whole hell of a lot more fullfilling than it would be if you read about it on the internet and went to where the biggest number of fish are and managed to pull one out. I've voluntered thousands of hours of my time to bring back fall chinook to the local rivers. You have no idea how hard it is to see a river that used to have a huge run of fall chinook, be depleated and have to bust @$$ year after year just to get a decent run started only to have to WDFW open it up for kings the following year, and then have a slaughter fest. Most rivers in this area are mandatory chinook release, but when the smallest river in the area opens up for chinook, where do you think all these people that read the link you posted above will be fishing for chinook when they are in the area. Are you telling me that you don't have any rivers that you would like to keep to kinda quiet because it's a go-to river that you can go and maybe hook a fish or two, and have a peaceful day out fishing? I know I've got a few that I only fish alone, not because I am greedy, but because it's nice to get out and have a quiet day fishing every now and then. there are 4500 or so people that are members of this board, let alone all the people that just read the posts and never register. That's alot of people that have "easy access" to information that I feel they should have to work for. I don't beleive in things just being handed to you, I feel that you should have to bust @$$ for everything that you have in life. I know for a fact that when you have to work for something in life you appreciate it and respect it alot more than if someone was to just hand it over to you. I began fishing for steelhead with a trout rod and nightcrawlers, I couldn't have boughten a strike from a summer run. Now 5 years later, I feel that I am in the 10% of the fisherman that catch 90% of the fish. But that wasn't handed to me. I didn't have somebody holding my hand and showing me where the fish where located in the state. I went out and explored and had to work to catch my first fish, but when I did, I did it all on my own and that is more rewarding than hooking a dozen fish from a river listed on the WDFW's web page that I read about. I am not here to argue, we're just going to have to agree to disagree on some subjects. All this venting makes me want to get away from this desk and go wet a line. Just my .02

Oregon and Washington have been publishing this information for years. All you have to do is ask for it. More power to you if you want to get that same information the hard way.

Heres a good reason I agree with LegitimateHooker,


At the cowlitz river the fish and wildlife depo move the boundary sign up to within 100' of the barrier damn. It did not take long for the word to spread and it was shoulder to shoulder every day. People came down there with no consideration for anybody else for example people came down there with side planners and started fishing right in the middle of people tossing eggs or bobber and jigs and they expect for everybody to move for them. The same for plunkers. It didnt take long for the snaggers to show up either. Trash, discarded batteries, and fishing line littered the shore. Now the sign is back where it was originally. Which was a great spot untill the fish and wildlife depo went out there at low water several years ago with a bulldozer and tried to play god.

Tip of the day, when somebody moves in on your drift and keep getting tangled in you line Use "snuffy rig" file the inside of a hook and cut them off.

There is no secret river but there are secret spots and there are good reasons for that.

hoodsport use to be fun for kings and pinks now even that is a zoo

Johns creek by shelton use to be fun too but now its just like hoodsport but worse, the home owners and the golf course will have access shut down soon because of all the trash and people not respecting the people who live there,

There are some small ponds that were great for cutthroat out by tiger lake now its a float tube circus and the fish aint that great anymore because all the meatheads.

It used to be all right to camp right there at the bonnevelle dam on the columbia R. thanks to a bunch of idiots you cant even fish there after 8 now or camp.


It is a fact that with more people come less fish and more closures.

Do yo want that to happen where you fish?

Bottom line is that it's public information and even if it wasn't available, those things (trash, crowds, etc.) would have happened anyway. If there are fish, people will find them, internet or not. The answer is not withholding information, it's educating people. Saddam withholds information. Should we do like him? Knowledge is rarely a bad thing. Ignorance is always a bad thing.

To put it simply - anyone looking for a zip should do their homework and not expect such information to be a free handout.

I was looking through the reports and was suprised to see some of the numbers. On every river I fish, I saw that atleast 2 wild fish were taken from the river. It is illegal to keep wild fish. So my question is, what happens to the people that catch and keep these fish? Does the state track them down and fine them afterwards or just let it go? What's the scoop?

Matt

I have a few secret spots that I don't share with anyone without some kind of blood oath. So I understand why some like to keep their rivers\spots under wraps. But I find more and more the it's not the actual river\creek that I consider 'my spot', but rather the strech of water that I worked hard to find that does not offer easy access or is overlooked by most for some reason. I have a few spots like this on the snoqualmie for steelhead, on the Middle Fork snoqualmie for trout, and even on the Yakima for trout. Some would say that their are no secret spots on those well know and heavily fished waters, but on the days I go, and on the specific stretches of water (very productive I should add) I fish, I rarely see another angler - and see way more wild life than people. I worked hard to find these spots and try to keep them somewhat to myslelf. But I freely share reports from my trips and tell what I was using, what river I was fishing, and maybe a general location (like near fall city).

On the other hand, I know for a fact that many 'locals' like to keep others off 'their' river because they prefer to poach in private.

Anyway, this kind of post really won't help anyone. They still have to pick a river to go to - and there are many to choose from, find access, and find the fish. Most of our zippers are dear to us because we've learned where to fish and when. We have put in the time and are dialed in. If someone else is willing to do that - then they have just as much right to be there as I do. If the get lucky and find my spot (and get there before I do), I'll low hole him and slash his tire - ooops, I mean I always have a back up plan \ spot. If I'm already there and they ask how I did, I'll probably tell them the fishing is pretty slow and recomend they fish 'up by the meat hole'... But to be honest, I never see anyone that close to worry about it in my secret spots (a few guide boats go by with sometimes a little glare because I found one of their secret spots )