At the North of Falcon meetings I was told that the Grays Harbor Chinook fishery will not happen this year. The numbers were gone over and announced a couple of days ago at another meeting. There is not enough of a return this year.

Not the end of the world in my opinion. I prefer fishing for those big hooknose silvers anyway.........better fight, better eggs and better eating.

I agree eric it's not the end of the world, :p : but it is a fun fisherie.

eric- i could tell by the way you're standing in your avatar that i knew you...think back to your first year of coaching wrestling at miller, i was your undefeated middleweight(actually i stuck even big phil moenoa at practice), we should hook up sometime, i'm off for the next two weeks!!!

Any word on the reason the numbers won't be good enough?? Just curious as to what the cause supposedly is ...

Bob

The reason Grays Harbor is closed to Chinook retention in 2003 is that the projected Chehalis hatchery run is only 1,000 fish....The wild run size is expected to be about 9,000. I suspect that the tribes will have a net season while we sit this season out for Chinook.

On Willapa Bay the run size is expected to be about 17,000..down from 62,000 just one cycle ago. Not to be denied , the gillnetters have a 7 day a week schedule planned to intercept as many of those 17,000 Chinook as possible.

I encourage all concerned to voice your opinion to WDFW if you agree that gill netting at the mouth of Willapa 7 days a week is irresponsible for the resource and unfair to sports anglers who can't navigate through the nets to fish.

Grandpa:

Have fought all those battles in past yrs., white gill netters in Grays Harbor are well organized and a very strong group. I agree that they should not have a net fishery with numbers like that but ??????. I couldn't believe they(WDF) allowed the amount of gill netting this past season, WITH THE PRICE OF FISH so low.....just don't figure.

I agree with others about the silvers. Lot's of fun on 9+ foot rods and light line plus a bonus of great eating....... mmmmm

"Worse day sport fishing, is still better than the best day working"

Are they blaming oceanic conditions, poor spawn, low plants for the hatchery portion, or ???? Interesting that we keep hearing how good ocean condtions are for salmon right now and then the forecasts in many areas are weak ...

I could be wrong but isn't the Naselle hatchery on Willapa and arn't they closing that hatchery down? If they are not taking any broodstock then that could be why they are letting the netters have so many fish. This may also be the reason for so few (not that 17K is a small number) fish returning this year is that production was cut a few years back, just a thought?
Not sure what is going on in Grays Harbor??

NEN

Drifter, at least you won't be putting those smelly Kings in that new boat!!!!

Really sucks for me, especially with record gas prices - now I can't king fish in my back yard, figures . guess I'll harrangue them, not that it does any good. Really need that gillnet ban

That really sucks I wanted to try the johns river fishery this year.

Don't ever think that voicing your opinions and desires concerning fishing quotas , seasons, netting etc. does no good...BALONEY..It is the only thing we can do to make a difference. I spoke with a WDFW employee yesterday at the show and thanked him for the NOF meeting last Thursday at Mill Creek...His advise was to stay engaged and involved. The gill netters and purse seiners had their own meetings with WDFW and believe me they stay engaged in the process all the way along. It does matter what you think and it does sometimes make a big difference. What screws the sports community is our own lack of involvement. When the seasons are decided which is right now if our voice is not constantly heard along with the commercials and the tribes we will get left behind. If you think gill netting 7 days a week in Willapa Bay is crap then let WDFW know via emails or letters or phone calls. ...I honestly believe that commercial and tribal harvests are the big reason the returning stocks are so low in Grays Harbor ....I said so to WDFW and will be emailing my recommendations this week. I know my involvement makes a difference. So don't just write about politics and religion on this board 24/7.....write your elected officials and WDFW and the commission and NOAA and the NMFS and let them know what you would like to see and what you would like changed. If you don't then don't ever complain about how crappy fishing is. Amen

Grays Harbor is a great place you can fish by boat and have a real shot at a 40+ pound king in the fall. I ran into Diana again yesterday of the Willipa Fishing Gang at the Seattle Sportsman show. She said they (non tribal commercials) are planning a 7 day a week netting down there. This will be for a total of 21 days. There might be small breaks in between. The Willipa Fishing Gang came to be strictly because of watching this happen down there. These were recreational fishermen that got fed up seeing this. They started the Gang to try to stop this. They went in North of Falcon Meetings last year and tried to play the game with a cool head. Getting hot headed with WDFW will basically get you blackballed from further info from them. They tried to get a Net Ban Zone. Last year they got it on the table. It was recognized but not accepted. This year a few of them are trying to go to every NOF meeting to keep it current, recognized and upfront. You have to keep this in front on every meeting to have it not get swept away. They make notees on how often this comes up at every meeting. They are asking for our help at the NOF first public meeting on March 20th at the WDFW Natural Resources Bldg Room 172 in Olympia. The phone number is 360-902-2700 for directions. The meeting starts at 9:00 am. The previous meetings were discussions. This meeting is where the rubber hits the road. They know the commercials are in force there. They would like to have some help. You need to stand up at the meeting and tell them you are in favor of banning the nets in this region. The more this comes up by different people, the better the chance it will become enfored. Please attend. We do not need to loose another one of our last coastal fishing frontiers to netting. There just aren't that many left. Willipa/ Grays Harbor was one of the bigger coastal runs. This opportunity is one we cannot loose. As sportsman we need to get involved. Please go to the meeting.

Oh by the way, the "not the end of the world" comment about liking silvers better anyway? What is this? Do you have to wait until the exact fish at the place you fish is gone before you will do something? After Kings are gone, what do you think is next? We are trying to save a resource for our kids and grandkids. This is the kind of attitude that lets these commercials keep on devastating the fisheries. Its always up to someone else to do the work. Believe me, losing where you fish and the kind you fish you fish for is not that far away if you don't make a difference. Don't wait until its too late. This is the biggest problem among sportmen. Not sticking together and not trying to unify. When you hear the word commercial fishermen, it is all commercials combined. When you hear recreational it is always steelheaders vs. river bank fishermen vs. driftboat fishermen vs jetsledders or bass fishermen, walleye fishermen, etc. We are NOT united and bicker among ourselves instead of united working for our own causes. This is wwhy we never get what we want because we cannot agree on anything among ourselves let alone go against the commercials. Commercials work as a team, this is how they get what they want.

Fishin nut,

Probably a poor play of words on my part. I most definitely am not "indifferent" to what goes on regarding our seasons and I have fought the good fight in years past to get what we deserve.

I more accurately attribute my comment to the fact that natural conditions in the environment are always in a state of flux.........some years, it will result in a closed fishery and I accept that. I did not figure gillnets into the equation when I first responded.

Now, if we are looking at a closure due to overfishing in the past, that "IS THE END OF THE WORLD" and is total B.S. A look back at the flood history for the chehalis basin 4-5 years ago might help shed some light on the factors involved in the closure.

And, finally, I agree that the sporties are too fragmented to have any real effect on change.........at least right now. Someday we'll learn.

Philpac33........Yes Phil I remember you. Got your e-mail awhile back (I responded) which brought everything into focus.

I fish Grays Harbor and as for regulations in the Grays Habor and Willipa Bay area I think we should wait for April until the North of Falcon meeting (April 7-11) makes there final conclusion on the West Port and Coastal fisheries.
Diana please read the following I see that the numbers are higher than last year and I do believe they are talking about a opener a few weeks earlier then last year.

NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091

March 14, 2003
Contact: Pat Pattillo, (360) 902-2705;
Or: Doug Williams, (360) 902-2256


Summer ocean-fishing options reflect strength
of Columbia River chinook, coho salmon stocks

OLYMPIA - Fishing options adopted today by a federal fishery panel for this year's Washington ocean chinook and coho salmon seasons point to the relative abundance of stocks returning to the Columbia River and other state waters.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) has set low, medium and high fishing options for public review. The panel will adopt one option for chinook and coho salmon coastal fisheries at its April 7-11 meeting.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will now meet with the public and treaty Indian fishery co-managers to discuss the options and develop fisheries plans for state waters that are consistent with PFMC's ocean season options. The recreational fishing options are:

Option 1 - 59,600 chinook and 225,000 coho;
Option 2 - 56,000 chinook and187,500 coho; and
Option 3 - 47,500 chinook and 150,000 coho.
By comparison, the 2002 recreational ocean fishing quotas were 60,252 chinook and 109,630 coho.

Phil Anderson, WDFW Special Assistant to the Director and the state's representative on the PFMC, said the earliest start date for any coastal chinook fishery in areas such as Westport, LaPush and Neah Bay would be June 22. For Columbia River-based fisheries, the earliest starting date would be June 29.

Actual starting dates, regional allocations and other details will be developed before the conclusion of the April PFMC meeting.

"The proposed quotas for 2003 should translate into healthy coastal and recreational fisheries this summer," Anderson said.

All recreational ocean coho fisheries proposed for 2003 would be under selective fisheries rules where anglers would be allowed to retain only hatchery fish, identified by a clipped adipose fin.

Anderson said the options also include a proposal to increase the minimum size required for chinook salmon retention from the current 24-inch minimum length to 26 inches. Daily recreational bag limits are two fish, no more than one of which can be a chinook salmon. One proposal under discussion adds one pink salmon to the daily bag limit in Marine Areas 3 and 4 (LaPush to Neah Bay) for a total of three fish per day.

State and tribal fisheries managers have scheduled two all-day public meetings to develop a comprehensive fishing package for nearshore and freshwater salmon-fishing areas.

The first meeting is set for March 20 in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E. in Olympia. The second meeting is set for April 2 at the SeaTac Holiday Inn, 17338 International Airport Blvd., in SeaTac. Both meetings begin at 9 a.m.

Fisheries managers expect to complete the fishing package at the conclusion of PFMC's final preseason meeting, April 7-11, in Vancouver, Wash.

WDFW maintains a website highlighting the preseason salmon-planning process on the Internet

Instead of wait for the end of NOF, come on down and help support the closure of the net zone! As all of you are aware politics run the WDFW more so than science. This is why you should help out and go down and also write your legislatures. This what they are for. Tell your senators you want them to start using the best available science to be the factor in determining closures and season setting. BC's fishery has rebounded tremendously when shutting the nets down on the non tribal-commercials. They also try to use science as there edge. Something we only talk about. There are people in the WDFW that are still heavily into commecial netting and will not give up. Will Roehl for one. There was a WDFW commision set up for the recreational and guess who is running it. You guessed it Will Roehl. Van Gytenbeek was a commissioner we thought would be on our side, but has now turned and Kelly White is fed up with it . He wants to give up his seat because it is not working and is going to sway in favor of the commercials. The other newer ones follow the leader. Tell your senators you want a recreational fisherman on the seat and we have a person in mind right now, depending on what White does. Why is all of the power in WDFW all end up being excommercials?