I'm thinking about bank fishing either the Sol Duc, Calawah, Hoh, Kalama, or Lewis for summer runs after the fourth of July. I checked out smolt plantings and it seems like the Olympic Peninsula doesn't get very many plants. Does anybody know why the Olympic Peninsula rivers only get 30,000 or less plants of summer smolts? It seems like they plant alot of fish in the Kalama, Lewis, Cowlitz, Skykomish. I'm not into combat fishing so I avoid the Cowlitz and Skykomish. Any suggestions? I think the peak runs are in July.

I've kind of wondered that myself. My guess is that the streams don't maintain enough flow during the dry summer months to carry much holding water. Is that right?

I would classify the Skykomish as combat fishing only at Reiter, which won't open til August 1st. And after about mid-August, the Reiter fish spread out and the crowds diminish because of the low water and spooky fish.

SteelheadMan and obsessed:

Lack of plants are not due to low water conditions(nice theory though!) I've been told by reliable sources that certain coastal rivers do get limited plants of summer fish IN ADDITION to what the WDFW web site states. These may be federal or tribal plants, though I'm guessing on that one.

Some of the penninsula rivers also get quite a few stray hatchery fish from other systems. How and why this happens is not known.

Another reason for low s-run plant numbers is WDFW doesn't want these fish competing with wild fish in the same systems as directed by the Wild Salmonid Policy. That one was told to me face to face in a chat with a biologist out of the Montesano office.

And we mustn't forget the abundant funds our generous legislature appropriates to the hatchery division for meaningful recreational opportunity that we pay for (tongue-in-cheek and sarcasm intended!)

It's a crappy situation because when plants were higher in years past, there was some excellent fishing to be had. That's not to say it still doesn't happen but it's alot harder now to find meaningful numbers of fish to target. It's like they hooked us with a quality fishery in years past and now are pulling the rug out from under us and saying "just kidding!"

I guess something is better than nothing. Sorry to ramble but it's a topic dear to my heart.

So you want to go "catching" for plants in a crowded area or go fishing where there aren't many people you {in the year 2000}cant have both. The wild salmonid policy just might be the reason for dropping the number of skamania plants in the west end rivers. The small number of indigenous wild summer runs is failing and really doesn't need to have the skamania stock around to intice more anglers to put more pressure on the few that are left.

Native Son - Thanks for your input. I agree with the fact that more hats (called brats in WA?) means more pressure on declining native steelhead. I'm trying to learn more about Wash. rivers because I am a salmon & steelhead tech writer from Ore. and most of my fishing in WA is in the SW section. I know Native American netting on rivers of the Oly. Pen is controversial to sportfishers, but the following Q to you is not meant to stir things up. Q - What affect if any has N.A. netting had on the failing runs of wild summers on the Westside rivers on the Pen? What affect has sportfishing had (are C&R regs for nates in place)? How about the status of these issues for winter steelhead? Even though I don't fish there (I plan to on rare occassions someday) I would sure like to see the take of native steelhead minimized as much as possible by both sportsmen & N.A. netting. I would greatly appreciate some feedback from someone that's directly involved. And if you are Native American I am particularly interested in your take these issues. Thanks much and take care.- Steve Hanson

Steelheadman,

It's about $money$. Hatchery summer steelhead smolt plants in the Puget Sound and coastal rivers are funded with our license and general state tax revenue. Plants on the lower Columbia River tribs are funded in very large measure by mitigation (thanks Pacificorp and Tacoma) and Mitchell Act funds for the federal dams on the Columbia. That's why the dinky little E.F. Lewis R. and Washougal R. used to get hatchery plants in the 70,000 to 100,000 neighborhood. So you can see it had/has nothing to do with the amount of summer stream flow. I recall that in 1979 on the Kalama there was a summer-run behind every single rock! I take that back; there weren't enough rocks for all the fish to have one to hold by. The big fish were kicking the smaller ones out of the best lie spots; it was so rediculous.

Cutbacks have occurred for 3 reasons that I can think of: Wild Salmonid Policy, ESA, and higher costs of raising hatchery fish.

As for results, you might consider that coastal rivers usually have higher smolt to adult survival rates than the Columbia, so they're still worth a shot.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

I'm just looking for information. I know that some of you, including myself, have learned not to provide information, provide misinformation, ignore it, or plead ignorance. I'm well aware of the issue of wild versus hatchery fish. Too bad we couldn't go back a hundred years ago and remanage the fishery with our knowledge now or just pilot test the new management methods on a few select rivers. Time to stick to my zipperlip. Reel Truth - I really enjoy your board and your posts.