Fishing Rule Change

WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, Washington 98501-1091

Internet Address: [url=HTTP://www.wa.gov/wdfw][url=HTTP://www.wa.gov/wdfw][url=HTTP://www.wa.gov/wdfw]HTTP://www.wa.gov/wdfw[/url][/url][/url]



October 15, 2003



Reiter Ponds section of the Skykomish River

opens to fishing on Saturday, October 18



Action: Re-open to fishing, the area around the Reiter Ponds section of the Skykomish River.



Effective date: 8 a.m. October 18, 2003



Species affected: Steelhead, salmon and all other legal species in the area



Location: Skykomish River, 1,500 feet upstream and 1,000 feet downstream of the Reiter Ponds outlet.



Reason for action: The Reiter Ponds Hatchery has trapped adequate numbers of adult summer-run steelhead to meet egg take requirements.



Other information: Wild steelhead release rules remain in effect. Hatchery steelhead are identified by a missing adipose or ventral fin and a healed scar in the location of the missing fin. See the 2003/2004 Sport Fishing Rules Pamphlet for other applicable permanent rules relating to all species.



Information contact: Chad Jackson, District Fish Biologist, (425) 775-1311, ext. 113 or

Curt Kraemer, Freshwater Fish Program Manager, (425) 775- 311, ext. 101



Fishers must have a current Washington fishing license. Check the WDFW 2003/04 “Fishing in Washington” rules pamphlet or the Fishing section of the WDFW webpage at http:www.wa.gov/wdfw for details on fishing seasons and regulations. Fishing regulations are subject to change. For the Shellfish Rule Change hotline call (866) 880-5431.

Looks like the rumor that CraigO heard was true after all.

8am O holy cow

I was told wrong when I called and talked with Curt Kraemer. He said they weren't but they did. Oh Well
Paul

oh joy to the world .

i love it when reiter opens. that way i know where every one is. and my secret fishing holes feel like there secret agian.

that is lame that they misled you when you called to find out if it was true. i dont fish there much but it doesnt do them any good to keep it a secret or mislead people as to how/when the regulations will change.

on a side not... if it took until now to get their egg stock when last year was even drier and they got the stock way earlier last year, why even open it up at all. it will take extra egg stock to give to the tokul creek hatchery and the others that probably wont even get a return this year.. why make sure that we have the bare minimum runs every year instead of trying to increase the runs. seems like more hatchery mismanagment to me.

lupo, I'm no fish bio, but it may have something to do with the fact that fish came back, but didn't go directly to the hatchery.

The Sunset Falls counts (upstream) rose steadily all summer, while Reiter got nothing. The speculation I have heard is that they went upstream looking for cooler water, since the hatchery outlet stream is heated (by design, but not intent) in the hatchery pools all summer. When it cooled off, they started getting new fish in the hatchery outlet.

So, best case scenario (which is what they may be playing on...I don't know what their philosophy is in that respect) is that they got a normal return to the river, but the hatchery arrivals were late. Probably the best we could hope for.

Those hatchery fish that went upstream will drop down with the high water.

This past summer and winter-runs were the worst in my memory; far poorer than last year. Mis-management is not the issue here, but costs are. It's my understanding that Rieter can spawn and raise eggs from 350-400 adults and that's it. Once they get that many they can't afford to spawn and raise any more. It took until now to get that many fish(which is the latest they've reached their escapement as long as I've been fishing).

As far as misleading people--I'm sure that was unintentional. Kurt Kraemer is no longer the District Fish Manager for the Snohomish, so may have provided outdated info. The new guy is Chad Jackson (??; or something like that). Depending upon weather and flow conditions during the late summer and fall, the hatchery can go from 30 fish to over 200 fish in a manner of days.

Looking at the hatchery counts the sky is about a 1000 fish short for this time of year compared to the last 3 years. Very sad run this year.

I was also told part of the reason for the low return was that the hatchery entrance was not open all of the time this year. So the fish could not get into the pens.
Paul

Ive heard alot of rumors this year. Otter cleaned out trap, trap was shut, water 80 degress in Hogarty creek.... We have been spoiled the last few years by early(june) returns, but this year the fish came later(jul) coupled with very low water and what we got were fish spread below and above the outlet. Summer fish arent ripe like winters and dont neccesarily need to go back to the hatch right away. They can afford to go were ever they feel the safest.

We are now seeing fish from both forks do their "reprinting" back to the hatchery and the fish from below have finally got high water so BAM reiter opens.

I for one can tell you the fish have been there the whole time. Granite, there werent the numbers like 02' but for those that hiked around and put in time did well... THose that scrapped rock doing the high bridge to sultan in Aug will echo that..