Fishing Politics – Page 2 – The Outdoor Line

COVID-19 has all fishing and shellfish gathering shutdown statewide but the beat on crafting future salmon seasons still goes on as are WDFW’s plans for upcoming spring fisheries

March 30, 2020

We are living in a tumultuous moment related to COVID-19 with a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order in place. This has led to an unprecedented temporary closure of all statewide fishing opportunities and created challenges in the ongoing salmon fishing season setting process. In the chronicles of Washington sport fishing history nothing of this magnitude […]

UPDATED: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announces an unprecedented temporary statewide fishing closure to begin at midnight on March 25

March 25, 2020

We are living life in a moment where change seems to happen by the minute and this newly implemented ruling will turn the statewide sport fishing world upside down for the time being. It was just a few weeks ago when many anglers were making spring fishing plans for a last chance winter chinook or […]

UPDATED: “Uncharted territories” is the word about statewide fisheries from Larry Phillips, the WDFW Region 6 Director on the “Stay at Home” announcement made by Governor Jay Inslee

March 24, 2020

After Governor Inslee’s announcement this afternoon about a “Stay at Home” order that will take effect in 48 hours the phone has been ringing off the hook and emails are flooding in with questions on what this all means to our Washington sport fisheries. “We are working with the Governor’s office on at least 20 […]

Early trout plants happening in statewide year-round lakes to give anglers a jump start on spring fishing

March 16, 2020

One way to break away from the March Madness that has many on edge is wetting a line for spring trout fishing opportunities. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will begin planting millions of trout now through late spring although there will be some changes for those looking to get a jump start. […]

Salmon forecasts show some Puget Sound chinook and coho returns are down for 2020 and the road to creating fishing seasons could face hurdles

March 2, 2020

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife unveiled their 2020 salmon forecasts at a public meeting in Olympia this past Friday, and there could be some potential roadblocks in carving out fishing seasons. “For Puget Sound chinook forecasts we are a little lower but general numbers of hatchery returns are about where they have been,” […]

Columbia River fall chinook forecasts come to light and look much better than the 2019 return

February 21, 2020

While the Columbia River coho struggle it appears the preliminary chinook returns will be much improved over the 2019 forecast and actual return. In all, 431,000 fall chinook are expected to return to the Big-C compared to a forecast in 2019 of 340,400 and an actual return of 375,700. The lower river hatchery is about […]

Great signs ahead for coastal razor clam digs as season may be on pace for record turnout with acres of clams

December 9, 2019

By Mark Yuasa We’ve almost reached the halfway mark of the 2019-2020 coastal razor clam digging season and it has been a slam dunk of optimism with the possibility of many brighter times ahead. “The biggest story of this razor clam season is the sheer lack of bad weather and that has really helped,” said […]

Salmon forecasts reveal a robust coho return in 2019 but chinook are still in a rebuilding stage

March 4, 2019

The process on setting sport salmon fishing seasons got underway on Feb. 27 as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) revealed forecasts with the “silver” lining being a relatively strong coho return for Puget Sound and the Columbia River. “For (Puget Sound) coho we seem to be looking at another pretty decent year […]

New age of salmon fishing has anglers rethinking when to hit the water

January 21, 2019

Marine salmon anglers live in a new era where the amount of time on the water is dictated by going out sooner than later. As sport salmon fishery windows of opportunities in the winter and summer are now driven by fish encounters or quotas, I have always been one to sing the song of hitting […]

Preliminary salmon fishing options come to light, and Puget Sound anglers could see more time on the water

March 19, 2018

State fisheries and Pacific Fishery Management Council developed ocean salmon fishing options, and some early work was made for Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca fisheries at meetings that ended last week in Sonoma, California. Chinook and coho returns are still in the recovery phase after several grim years due to poor ocean […]