Washington closes all coastal rivers to Steelhead fishing on March 1

This morning, Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife announced that they are closing ALL coastal River to steelhead sportfishing, effective March 1st. Returns were as low as 30% of predicted returns on some rivers, and were historical lowest returns on several others. DFW return predictions were already at their lowest numbers on the OP, and returns this year are running at only 30% or predicted numbers. WOW!

We were all set to make our annual run up there for a week on this coming Sunday. Flights, hotels and guides all cancelled. BUMMER!

I know there is past history and historical agreements made that cover many issues, but I do find it somewhat ironic that tribes had no reduction in their netting quotas on these rivers. This emergency ruling was a drastic measure that I am sure was thoroughly vetted, but guides have only 5 days notice to close up shop and completely rebuild their 2022 business models if they relied on coastal steelhead fishing as a primary source of income. This is a sad byproduct of these conditions.

This is another example of the dire state that our fisheries are experiencing for most of the west coast. Will it ever rebound? This could be a very sad image of what normal will be.

Bad year for winter steelhead. No rain and a closure in Washington. I fished a little in Oregon at the end of January and did not touch a fish. I hope for a rebound but even with one my winter steelhead days might be done.

Maybe these International Commercial Fishing fleets have been able to find out where these fish are out in the oceans?

Between large predators and native Americans they might become totally extinct?



I had thoughts years ago that completely closing the Steelhead fisheries on our coast would be a possible fix.



As long as there are International Fishing Fleets, poachers, Great White Sharks, Killer Whales, Sealions and Native Americans, Steelhead

could go away for ever?


Wild Silver (Cohos) Salmon have not been able to be saved on the Northwest rivers.



They have had very little success on the northeast coast of America trying to bring back the Atlantic Salmon as well.


We need to work a deal with the Native Americans for a 10 year closure.

Hatcheries just destroy the wild gene pool.

More defunct Dams need to go too.


Over 100 years ago (before logging and dams) we had as many salmon and steelhead coming in under the Golden Gate as any river

system in Alaska. One dam can destroy an entire river.

I’m not sure a complete closure will help anything, at least in regards to sportsfishing.
There are streams up here that have been closed to steelhead fishing now approaching 30 years and the fish numbers aren’t bouncing back. One of them is one of my home rivers, which I doubt I’ll ever get to fish again for steelhead in my lifetime.
There are a lot of issues regarding this and it has been a long time coming.
It’s super easy to close things and a hell of a lot harder to ever get them back open again.
I’m a Washington lifer and caught my first steelhead 55+ years ago, so that is the prospective I’m coming from on this.
SF

I strongly suspect that the decline is way beyond dams, netting, sealions etc. and a matter of ocean temps warming from climate change, how that effects the biomass and the entire food chain. I dont know much about the science of it so my opinion is pretty uninformed, but that is my hunch fwiw. Whether or not that warming is caused by us or is a natural long term trend is really irrelevant for the result is the same. Thinking that im done with winter SH and will just fish the klamath and trinity in the fall, which is both profoundly saddening and also liberating considering all the time ive spent swinging flies and not catching shit the better part of a decade when i could, really should, have been devoting my time to other passions instead.

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Originally Posted by stonefish

I’m not sure a complete closure will help anything, at least in regards to sportsfishing.
There are streams up here that have been closed to steelhead fishing now approaching 30 years and the fish numbers aren’t bouncing back. One of them is one of my home rivers, which I doubt I’ll ever get to fish again for steelhead in my lifetime.
There are a lot of issues regarding this and it has been a long time coming.
It’s super easy to close things and a hell of a lot harder to ever get them back open again.
I’m a Washington lifer and caught my first steelhead 55+ years ago, so that is the prospective I’m coming from on this.
SF

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In the last 50 year most of Nor Cal's hunting and fishing have totally collapsed.

I witnessed it all because I was in the hunting and fishing business for over 50 years.


In the 1970s we had big winter runs of Eel river Steelhead in the American.

We have big Half-pounder runs in the Fall and Spring.

Stripers and Shad were introduced in the 1870s so with our pretty intact ecosystem they both took off like crazy.

Many of our trout streams were in much better shape.

J - Don’t regret the time you spent chasing and swinging for winter steelhead. You have plenty of years to chase bass, stripers, trout, shad, dorado or whatever. I think I will just not count on a season and look for opportunities as the winter unfolds each year. I spent about 15 years on the winter steelhead and used to plan a few winter trips each year and figure I had about three month to lasso some just-back-from-the-ocean giant. I loved hooking a huge chromer and having it explode and take off. It will happen again but while I wait for that day I will be targeting Eurasian carp and they better look out because I am a hellhound on their trail.

Hey John,.... I certainly agree with your thought on this. It's better to look forward than to live in the past. Most of the fishermen/hunters I know are enjoying their sport by focusing on what's there.

You have to fish what you have. Look around and see what is good or what you have a passion for and fish it or take up pickle ball.

In the late ‘70’s I remember the talk on stripers was it was no good anymore - they crashed in the 76-77 drought and were not what they were back in the 60’s and 50’s. True but compared to now it was probably really good. If you decided then it was not worth pursuing you would have missed out on some good striper fishing. I remember bait fishing for them then and longing for the old days. I went to Baja in 1973 and read some books about it and decided it was no good anymore and had gone downhill since the ‘50’s. It had gone downhill but the fishing was probably still pretty good in 1973. I am not saying ignore abuses of the resource but fish what you have even if the glory days have passed.

As much as I hate to admit,I'm walking away from winter steelheading for the forseeable future.