We are approaching the end of an important comment period that will impact our fisheries in Washington for many years to come. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is accepting public input on proposed rule changes for Washington State through THIS Thursday Nov. 30th and need to hear that overly-simplifying fishing regulations could harm fish and …
Science Friday: Who’s who in the Elwha after dam removal
By John McMillan We should not be surprised by steelhead and salmon rushing upstream to pass former dams. That is their nature — to push boundaries, access new habitat. Unbuild it, and they will come. And come they have in Washington’s Elwha River, where in 2014 two old dams were taken down. Not only have we observed hundreds …
Stand up for the Methow
Dear fellow anglers, I am writing to urge you to use the attached link to access a petition letter from our coalition partners “Methow Headwaters”. This letter with signatures will be printed and submitted to the USFS as a part of the comment period for the 20 year mineral withdrawal in the Methow Valley. A proposed copper …
Olympic Peninsula Guide Legislation
Trout Unlimited has been working with guides and anglers to discuss and facilitate limited entry guide legislation for the Olympic Peninsula (OP). As part of this process we collaborated with the Olympic Peninsula Guides Association (OPGA) to draft and pass a budget proviso during the last legislative session. The proviso directs the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (the Department) …
Ya Gotta Believe!!
By Bill Herzog Back in 1969, the New York Mets made baseball history. The “Amazin’ Mets,” as they came to be known, a team that had been dropped in the toilet like a three day old dead goldfish by most baseball experts, came from nowhere to shock the country and win the World Series that year. The Mets …
A stream with two stories — but only because it goes dry in summer
Most people think of the Pacific Northwest as a region of dense coniferous rainforest and myriad gushing rivers that drain mountain ranges influenced by a damp, cool coastal climate. And it is. But like every other part of the American West, this region also features one of the most important components of any watershed: intermittent streams. Intermittent streams are …
2017 – a Bad Year or Part of a Trend?
Ocean conditions are vitally important for wild steelhead runs — probably every steelhead angler knows this. But what does that phrase really mean? The ocean is a massive and incredibly complex system, and there are many factors out in the big blue that can influence steelhead in any given year. That is why it is so difficult to parse out …
The Dry Creek Steelhead Story
By Bill McMillan On moving to the Skagit Basin in the summer of 1998, in order to begin some familiarity with such a large watershed I began to fish its tributary streams, which were open to fishing at that time. It was strictly catch-and-release, knowing most of the encounters would be juvenile steelhead. Finney Creek is near our house with …
Science Friday: Hitch-Hiking Smolts
Last week we talked about the importance of spill for out-migrating kelts and smolts in the Columbia Basin. Increasing spill is only one method employed to enhance downstream survival of smolts. As early as the mid-1950s smolts were loaded onto barges and moved downstream past the dams through the lock system. While fisheries managers experimented with this tactic early on …
Anglers ask NOAA to expedite Skagit decision
Hundreds of anglers, industry representatives and community businesses all signed on to a letter urging the National Oceananic and Atmospheric Adminstration to expedite a review that would re-open the Skagit River for the 2018 winter/spring steelhead season. The following letter was recently submitted: Barry Thom West Coast Administrator Peter Dygert Branch Chief Anadromous Harvest Management National Marine Fisheries Service …