Northwest Sportsman Magazine

02/11/2024

IDFG: “It is likely we will see more than 100,000 steelhead pass Lower Granite Dam in 2024, which would make this year’s (Snake River) return the highest since 2015.”

While the year's since then have been nothing to crow about, "the spike is a welcome sign for anglers, as well as for threatened wild steelhead that are also returning in the largest numbers since 2015."

If you’ve been waiting for some of the best news of the year for anglers, hold on to your fishing rods. Idaho’s annual steelhead returns through the month of October are the highest they’ve been in over seven years…and still counting.

01/11/2024

Crabbing opens daily off Tacoma, Federal Way, Des Moines, Gig Harbor and Vashon Island starting next Monday, November 4, WDFW announces

Here’s some “crab-tastic” news! Recreational crab fishing will be open daily in Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island) from Nov. 4-Dec. 31. WDFW approved the opening based catch record card harvest estimates from the summer season and expected catch during the winter season.
Other locations currently open daily through Dec. 31 are Marine Areas 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-1, 8-2, 9, and a portion of 12 north of Ayock Point only. Setting or pulling traps from a vessel is only allowed from one hour before official sunrise through one hour after official sunset. For details, go to https://wdfw.wa.gov/newsroom/news-release/winter-crabbing-season-open-nov-4-marine-area-11-tacoma-vashon-island

01/11/2024

WDFW's former statewide carnivore manager Stephanie Simek, who was lost to the agency coming out of the commission's controversial spring bear hunt decision, starts her new job as the director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Hired back in late August, she's the second WDFW honcho in recent years who has gone on to head up another state's fish and wildlife bureau, following Jeff Davis at Colorado. Good luck and best wishes from the other side of the country, Stephanie!

New Hampshire Fish and Game is pleased to welcome Stephanie L. Simek, PhD as our new Executive Director.

01/11/2024

Someday I'll have enough chapters for my book, The Woes of Puget Sound Steelheading, but in the meanwhile here's the latest -- more details on just why early winter production at Tokul Creek Hatchery has come to an abrupt halt.

Link to the article in the comments

The amount of hatchery steelhead genes in wild Snoqualmie winter-runs greatly exceeded allowable limits during a four-year monitoring period, and while the sample size was also relatively small, it led directly to this week's news that the Tokul Creek program would be shut down.

31/10/2024

• Preposterous numbers of flashers
• Hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of lead cannonballs
• Swivels and bumpers for days
• Enough stuffer baits and blades to fully restock the shelves of several tackle stores
• Millions of views across multiple social media channels
• Incalculable good karma points for helping clean up our rivers

That's just some of what these divers pulled up from the depths of the Lower Columbia and its tributaries this year.

So who are they and how’d they get into this? We caught up with Vlad Siryk for more. (Link to the article in the comments!!)

Divers are cleaning the Lower Columbia and its tributaries of lost fishing gear, dozens of 360 setups at a time. Who are they, why are they doing it and what the heck do they do with all the still-usable gear?!?

30/10/2024

A fifth-generation Baker City tree farmer and rancher has been named to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.

A fifth-generation Baker City tree farmer and rancher has been named to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.

30/10/2024

Just because it's a nice round number, a rainy day and I confess I'll never be able to NOT obsessively watch the fish counts, this year's coho tally at Willamette Falls topped the 50,000-adult-fish mark on October 27, bettering the record set just last year by over 20,000, which is crazy because high marks are usually nudged upwards, not bulldozed off the face of the Earth. Per FPC, the count thru yesterday is 50,440. The jack count is also among the top five back to 1972 and hopefully, with the help of continued good cool ocean conditions, portends a few more upper Willamette River adult coho end up in kill bags next fall!

30/10/2024

Oregon fish and wildlife troopers are looking for leads in the case of a suspected poacher who has shot "numerous" does this month in the Trask Wildlife Management Unit of Yamhill County.

Oregon fish and wildlife troopers are looking for leads in the case of a suspected poacher who has shot "numerous" does this month in the Trask Wildlife Management Unit of Yamhill County.

29/10/2024

It’s the end of Tokul Creek Hatchery early winter-run production and crossed fingers that federal overseers will eventually approve a new state-tribal broodstock program for the future of consumptive steelheading opportunities on the Snoqualmie River.

It's the end of Tokul Creek Hatchery early winter-run production and crossed fingers that federal overseers will eventually approve a new state-tribal broodstock program for the future of consumptive steelheading opportunities on the Snoqualmie River.

29/10/2024

Green means go for Marine Area 13 and Kennedy Creek chum salmon anglers starting November 1, per a rule change out this afternoon from WDFW.

Green means go for Marine Area 13 and Kennedy Creek chum salmon anglers starting November 1, per a rule change out this afternoon from WDFW.

28/10/2024

More good work by the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council and WDFW to help disabled hunters get afield, this time building and installing an ADA-accessible duck hunting blind by a farmpond on private land outside Clayton, north of Spokane. Kudos to all involved!

WDFW and INWC place the first ADA-accessible waterfowl blind in WDFW’s Eastern Region

28/10/2024

The confirmation of CWD in two deer harvested in Wyoming and brought back to Oregon earlier this month has ODFW reminding hunters about carcass importation rules meant to stop the spread of the always-fatal deer family disease.

The confirmation of CWD in two deer harvested in Wyoming and brought back to Oregon earlier this month has ODFW reminding hunters about carcass importation rules meant to stop the spread of the always-fatal deer family disease.

25/10/2024

Washington shellfish managers OKed the next set of razor clam digs on the coast.

Washington shellfish managers OKed the next set of razor clam digs on the coast.

25/10/2024

Just as you'd expect and hope, this year's record run of sockeye at Bonneville is setting records up in BC, where many of the fish originated. Here's a good local story on how the reintroduction of the salmon into the Okanagan/Okanogan River started, and how it's going.

"It's safe to say that we are just overwhelmed with fish this year, which is great news to hear."–Okanagan Nation Alliance hatchery biologist Tyson Marsel

Record sockeye run numbers through Okanagan Valley, with salmon returning further north

24/10/2024

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will get a good look at WDFW’s science and potential hunting frameworks for future black bear and cougar seasons when it convenes Friday in Ellensburg.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will get a good look at WDFW's science and potential hunting frameworks for future black bear and cougar seasons when it convenes Friday in Ellensburg.

23/10/2024

A petition in Washington sportsmen's favor means there is no longer a limit on yellow perch on Fish Lake near Lake Wenatchee. Was submitted by Tyler Hicks of YouTube fame. Formerly, the daily limit was 25.

Attention Chelan County anglers: beginning Saturday, Oct. 26, there will be no daily limit on yellow perch at Fish Lake. The previous limit of 25 perch has been removed as part of recent WDFW fishing rule change. Learn more about this change at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/adopted/2024/recreational-fishing-eastern-washington-lakes.

Yellow perch is one of several panfish species in Washington. Yellow perch is popular across the state because they are easy to catch, a great family fishing activity, and outstanding eating quality.

Make sure to check the Fish Washington app or online pamphlet for the most up-to-date info before heading out, as printed pamphlets may have outdated rules.

23/10/2024

A Snohomish County man drove his side-by-side through a wild Chinook redd on a stretch of the Skykomish River that has been closed to all fishing this season due to critically low numbers of the salmon species.

A Snohomish County man drove his side-by-side through a wild Chinook redd on a stretch of the Skykomish River that has been closed to all fishing this season due to critically low numbers of the salmon species.

22/10/2024

Washington wildlife biologists took samples from just over 100 deer for chronic wasting disease testing at 10 check stations during the second weekend of modern fi****ms season in Region 1, a bit more than were collected at both game checks and in the field at this same time last year.

Washington wildlife biologists took samples from just over 100 deer for chronic wasting disease testing at 10 check stations during the second weekend of modern fi****ms season in Region 1, a bit more than were collected at both game checks and in the field at this same time last year.

22/10/2024

Mid-October 2024 Chinook, coho and steelhead catch stats for the Lower Columbia, select Southwest Washington tributaries and the Hanford Reach.

Mid-October 2024 Chinook, coho and steelhead catch stats for the Lower Columbia, select Southwest Washington tributaries and the Hanford Reach.

21/10/2024

Washington Coast winter steelhead forecasts are out ahead of this week’s town hall with anglers to begin shaping 2024-25 season proposals, and for a change the Chehalis prediction looks decent.

Washington Coast winter steelhead forecasts are out ahead of this week's town hall with anglers to begin shaping 2024-25 season proposals, and for a change the Chehalis prediction looks decent.

21/10/2024

Idaho fishery managers continue to sound the alarm about walleye moving up the Snake and Salmon Rivers and say the nonnative fish “now occupy critical rearing and migratory areas of juvenile salmon and steelhead.”

Idaho fishery managers continue to sound the alarm about walleye moving up the Snake and Salmon Rivers and say the nonnative fish "now occupy critical rearing and migratory areas of juvenile salmon and steelhead."

17/10/2024

The first salmon seen in Oregon's Klamath Basin since 1912 was spotted in a trib earlier this week by state biologists following the removal of four downstream dams lower down in the watershed, a sighting that was hailed as "an exciting and historic development" by ODFW and one that is "overwhelming for our tribe" by the Klamath Tribes.

The first salmon seen in Oregon's Klamath Basin since 1912 was spotted in a trib earlier this week by state biologists following the removal of four downstream dams lower down in the watershed, and was hailed as "an exciting and historic development" by ODFW and one that is "overwhelming for our tri...

17/10/2024

A public boat launch on the lower Snoqualmie River that’s provided access to the upper Snohomish and its popular coho and pink salmon fisheries for decades may be acquired by the Tulalip Tribes in the near future, a move that will leave anglers anxious about continued use of the site.

A public boat launch on the lower Snoqualmie River that's provided access to the upper Snohomish and its popular coho and pink salmon fisheries for decades may be acquired by the Tulalip Tribes in the near future, a move that will leave anglers anxious about continued use of the site.

17/10/2024

In a 5-4 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that a Fish and Wildlife Commission member couldn't hold another appointive position at the same time, a victory for a national sportsmen's organization which had sued over the matter.

In a 5-4 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that a Fish and Wildlife Commission member couldn't hold another appointive position at the same time, a victory for a national sportsmen's organization which had sued over the matter.

15/10/2024

ODFW and RMEF teamed up to add another 1,073 acres to Northeast Oregon's Minam Wildlife Area, which now covers just over 26 square miles of high-quality landscape.

ODFW and RMEF teamed up to add another 1,073 acres to Northeast Oregon's Minam Wildlife Area, which now covers just over 26 square miles of high-quality landscape.