Officially, it's a refining of a revised run forecast earlier this week ...read more...]]> Columbia salmon managers now say that around 216,500 upriver-bound spring Chinook will return to the mouth of the big river, thanks to continued strong days at Bonneville Dam.

Officially, it's a refining of a revised run forecast earlier this week that said 202,000 would come back, give or take. That was down from the preseason prediction of 314,200.

A fact sheet out ahead of today's joint state hearing on salmon fisheries shows that managers are also mulling a weekend reopener of the mainstem from Bonneville to the Oregon-Washington line just upstream of McNary Dam which produce 350 Chinook, or a slightly longer opener a week later as the fish slide on past.

But there's more confirmation that the lower two of the Snake's four fisheries will close after tomorrow's angling.

Hell, if ...read more...]]> No, seriously, that what's being reported on one of those we-hook-your-street-corner-up-to-the-world blogs this morning, this one from the 6.2-square-mile and very, very, very, very wealthy Lake Washington island which is bisected by miles 6 through 8 of I-90.

Hell, if I was a resident there, I'd want only the finest deer too!

Maybe some Scottish stags, red deer from the Bayernwald, or perhaps the 2-foot-tall rainforest pygmy kind.

But I think the reporter actually just means blacktail.

Mule deer and black- or white-tailed deer — the two species that are found on Mercer Island — began migrating back onto Mercer Island several years ago ...

Even for Okanogan muleys, which are known to put a few miles on their hooves, that would be a walk.

The deer musta swum over from almost-as-rich Bellevue, or, heck, maybe back from not-doing-too-bad Seattle.

They're causing car accidents!

They're browsing in folks' gardens!

And no doubt their doots are an ecological menace what with all the pesticides applied to keep the dandelions at bay!

Realistically, hunting is not an option here.

Neither is "catch and release."

And it sounds like damage control killings are only applicable on commercial property.

So residents are gonna have to deal with the deer, says a memo from the Parks & Recreation Department posted on the city's site.

They're being directed to WDFW's "Living With The Peaceful & Harmonious Wildlife Now Feeding On Your Shrubberies And Knocking Over Your Garbage Cans and On Occasion Giving Your Dog Rabies" page.

Meanwhile, one of the ungulates apparently sent a postcard to the Teanaway Pack 92 miles east on the interstate.

It read: "Ha ha, can't get us."*

*Not really.

THE WILLAMETTE, WHERE STEPHANIE GATES CAUGHT THIS ...read more...]]> Sorry for the abbreviated post -- hellish deadlines for multiple magazines -- but here's a link to fishing opportunities to be had around Oregon this weekend, courtesy of ODFW's weekly Recreation Report

THE WILLAMETTE, WHERE STEPHANIE GATES CAUGHT THIS 23.5-POUNDER EARLIER THIS MONTH, IS AMONG THE FISHERIES TO SAMPLE THIS WEEKEND IN OREGON. THE TIGARD ANGLER WAS TROLLING HERRING. (WRIGHT & McGILL/EAGLE CLAW PHOTO CONTEST)

(USGS current conditions: Above average and headed up.)

Two sections of the Yakima River will open this week to fishing for hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon, under regulations adopted by the Washington Department ...read more...]]> (WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH & WILDLIFE PRESS RELEASE)

(USGS current conditions: Above average and headed up.)

Two sections of the Yakima River will open this week to fishing for hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon, under regulations adopted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

Starting Wednesday, May 16, the lower Yakima River will open to fishing for hatchery spring chinook from the Interstate 182 Bridge in Richland to the Grant Avenue Bridge in Prosser.

On Saturday, May 19, the salmon fishery will expand to the upper Yakima River from the Interstate 82 Bridge at Union Gap to the railroad bridge below Roza Dam.

John Easterbrooks, regional WDFW fish program manager, said the lower river is expected to remain open through June 30, while fishing in the upper section will likely continue through July 31.

"The springers are running late this year, but they're finally moving into the Yakima River," said Easterbrooks, noting that fishery managers are predicting a return of approximately 5,000 adult hatchery chinook to the Yakima River.

Anglers will have a daily limit of two adipose-fin-clipped hatchery chinook.  All wild salmon, identifiable by an intact adipose fin, must be released unharmed and must not be removed from the water prior to release. The same is true for all steelhead, as noted in the fishing rule on WDFW's website (http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/rulechanges/ ).

To participate in the fishery, anglers must possess a Columbia River Salmon/Steelhead Endorsement (CRSSE), along with a valid fishing license. Anglers also have the option of purchasing a "two-pole endorsement" to fish with two poles during the fishery.

Revenues from the CRSSE will be used to fund monitoring and law enforcement for the fishery, and to expand the lower river fishery up to Prosser this year.

Endorsement revenues will also fund a hooking-mortality study for spring chinook salmon this year below Roza Dam, where a WDFW research team plans to radio-tag 150 wild fish that have been hooked, played and released.

"Anglers who have hooked a spring chinook may be approached by a scientific technician as they reel in the fish," Easterbrooks said. "If it's a wild fish with an intact adipose fin, the technician will offer to assist in unhooking and releasing it after tagging it and recording information on the fish."

The technicians will also be fishing to catch fish for the study, and will release all fish they catch once they have been tagged. At the end of the spawning season, survival rates for all spring chinook that have been tagged and released will be compared against a control group of fish that have not been hooked by anglers.

"This study, conducted in conjunction with the Yakama Nation, will not only be useful in estimating hooking mortality rates on the Yakima River but also on other tributaries to the Columbia River," he said. "We would appreciate anglers' cooperation as we work to refine estimates that play a key role in managing area fisheries."

Easterbrooks is also asking for anglers' cooperation in helping to maintain access across Roza Dam to the popular fishing area downstream from the railroad bridge boundary. He asks that anglers observe some basic rules established by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the facility:

Passage across the dam is limited to walk-in access to the right (west) bank of the river. The public is prohibited from using the railroad bridge walkway to access the left (east) bank-fishing area. Anglers can access both sides of the river by walking under the bridge abutments to access the fishing area downstream.
Anglers are asked to park in the designated areas on the right side of the Roza Access Road, not on private property on the left side of the road.
Dumpsters have been placed at the parking area and next to the Roza adult fish trapping facility. Anglers are asked to carry a trash bag and deposit their trash - along with any they find along the trail - in those dumpsters.
Anglers are also asked to use the portable toilets provided at the access road parking area and on the west side of the dam.

"Public access across Roza Dam is a privilege, not a right," Easterbrooks said. "We're asking anglers to do everything they can to make sure that access point remains open for their use."

A 2-year-old Rogerson boy, Rudy Kasel, wandered lost for about three hours two miles from home, before being found by Pepper, a 3-year-old black Labrador trained for wildlife detection and human tracking.

Fishery managers have announced 2012 summer and fall salmon fishing seasons on the Columbia River.

The seasons are based on results of this year’s Pacific Fishery Management Councils (PFMC) process including a ...read more...]]> (OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PRESS RELEASE)

Fishery managers have announced 2012 summer and fall salmon fishing seasons on the Columbia River.

The seasons are based on results of this year’s Pacific Fishery Management Councils (PFMC) process including a series of public meetings, referred to as North of Falcon, in which fishery managers from several jurisdictions convene to plan salmon fisheries on the Columbia River and parts of the ocean off the Oregon and Washington coasts.

This year’s projected return of summer chinook is expected to be 91,000 fish with the retention season currently scheduled to run from June 16 through July 1.

“There’s a chance the season may be extended once we get a good look at what the actual return is,” according to Steve Williams, ODFW deputy Fish Division administrator. “Until then, we’re planning a conservative fishery to stay within the available quota.”

Similar to last year, sockeye salmon retention will be allowed during part of the summer with retention scheduled to open May 16-July 1 downstream of the I-5 Bridge and June 16-July 1 above the I-5 Bridge.

The fall season begins Aug. 1, and includes the popular Buoy 10 fishery near Astoria and the fall “upriver bright” season in the main stem Columbia. The 2012 predicted run sizes and fishing season for chinook are similar to last year, though managers expect sport anglers will be allowed to retain chinook through Labor Day at Buoy 10. Managers are predicting coho returns will be down from last year but not enough to affect season length.

Summary of 2012 summer and fall salmon regulations for the Columbia River

• Sockeye Salmon
  • Retention of sockeye allowed:
    • May 16 – June 15 ** from a line projected from Rocky Point on the Washington shore through red buoy #44 to the navigation light at Tongue Point upstream to the I-5 Bridge.
    • June 16 – July 1** from Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to Bonneville Dam
    • June 16 – July 31 from Bonneville Dam upstream to the OR/WA border.
    • All sockeye count as an adult salmonid in the daily limit.

• Summer Chinook
  • Retention of adipose fin-clipped adult (longer than 24-inches) summer chinook allowed June 16 - July 1** from the Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to Bonneville Dam, and June 16-July 31 from Bonneville Dam upstream to the OR/WA border.
  • Retention of adipose fin-clipped jack (12 to 24-inches long) summer chinook allowed June 16 – July 31 from the Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to the OR/WA border.
  • The combined daily bag limit is two adults and five jacks.

Fall Salmon Seasons

• Buoy 10
  • Retention of adult (longer than 16-inches) adipose fin-clipped coho and adipose fin-clipped steelhead allowed Aug. 1 - December 31.
  • Retention of adult (longer than 24-inches) chinook allowed during Aug. 1-Sept. 3** and Oct. 1-Dec. 31.
  • The combined daily bag limit is two adults, only one of which may be a chinook during Aug. 1 – Sept. 3. Beginning Oct. 1 the combined daily bag limit is two adults, both of which can be chinook. Jacks may not be retained between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30 under permanent rules.
  • All other permanent rules apply.
• Lower Columbia (Tongue Point/Rocky Point upstream to Bonneville Dam). 
  • Retention of adipose fin-clipped coho and adipose fin-clipped steelhead allowed Aug. 1 – Dec. 31.
    Retention of chinook allowed:
    • Aug. 1 – Sept. 9** and October 1-December 31 from the Rocky Point-Tongue Point line upstream to a line projected from the Warrior Rock Lighthouse on the Oregon shore to red buoy #4 to a marker on the lower end of Bachelor Island.
    • Aug. 1 – Dec. 31** from a line projected from the Warrior Rock Lighthouse on the Oregon shore to red buoy #4 to a marker on the lower end of Bachelor Island, upstream to Bonneville Dam.
  • The combined daily bag limit is two adults and five jack salmon. During Aug. 1-Sept. 9** the daily bag limit may not include more than one adult chinook. During September 10 – December 31, the daily bag limit may include two Chinook upstream of Warrior Rock. During Oct. 1 – Dec. 31 the daily bag limit may include up to two chinook from Tongue Point to Bonneville Dam.
  • An in-season extension may be considered for the area from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line upstream to Warrior Rock during all or part of the September 10-16 timeframe under mark-selective (ad-clipped) regulations.
• Bonneville Dam upstream to the OR/WA border
  • Retention of chinook, coho, and adipose fin-clipped steelhead allowed Aug. 1 – Dec. 31**.
  • The combined daily bag limit is two adults and five jack salmon.
  • All coho retained downstream of the Hood River Bridge must be adipose fin-clipped.

** Seasons may be subject to in-season modification.

For a complete summary of the summer and fall fisheries on the Columbia, including salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and shad, go to the ODFW website.

Weekend Fishing Opportunities:

*        Angling for summer steelhead, spring chinook jacks and sockeye opens Wednesday, May 16 between Tongue Point and the I-5 Bridge.

*        Shad angling opens Wednesday, May 16 between Buoy 10 and Bonneville ...read more...]]> (COURTESY TANNA TAKATA, ODFW)

Weekend Fishing Opportunities:

*        Angling for summer steelhead, spring chinook jacks and sockeye opens Wednesday, May 16 between Tongue Point and the I-5 Bridge.

*        Shad angling opens Wednesday, May 16 between Buoy 10 and Bonneville Dam.

*        Sturgeon retention is allowed three days per week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) from Marker 82 downstream to Wauna Powerlines through July 31 with a 38-inch minimum and 54-inch maximum fork length restriction in effect.

*        The estuary sturgeon season reopens seven days per week during Saturday May 12 through Sunday July 8 (or catch guideline) below the Wauna power lines with a 41-inch minimum and 54-inch maximum size limit (fork length).

STURGEON

On Saturday’s (5/12) flight, 119 sturgeon boats and 35 Oregon bank anglers were counted.

Gorge Bank: No report.

Gorge Boats: Weekly checking showed no catch for one boat (three anglers).

Troutdale Bank: No report.

Troutdale Boats: Weekly checking showed one sublegal sturgeon released for two boats (three anglers).

Portland to Longview Bank: Weekly checking showed one legal white sturgeon kept, plus one sublegal sturgeon released for 15 bank anglers.

Portland to Longview Boats: Weekly checking showed six legal white sturgeon kept, plus one oversize and 88 sublegal sturgeon released for 45 boats (102 anglers).

Estuary Boats (Puget Island to Buoy 10): Weekend checking showed one legal white sturgeon kept, plus one sublegal sturgeon released for one boat (four anglers).

The Dalles Pool: Weekly checking showed one legal white sturgeon kept, plus one oversize and 19 sublegal sturgeon released for 37 bank anglers; and 13 sublegal sturgeon released for three boats (seven anglers).

John Day Pool: Weekly checking showed no catch for six bank anglers; and one legal white sturgeon kept, plus 15 sublegal sturgeon released for nine boats (15 anglers).

WALLEYE

The Dalles Pool: No report.

John Day Pool: Weekly checking showed two walleye kept for four boats (six anglers).

"What wolves there are in Western ...read more...]]> Coverage out of last weekend's wolf symposium in Albany, Ore., featured words from a federal official on the possible future status of Canis lupus in the western two-thirds of a pair of Northwest states.

"What wolves there are in Western Oregon and Western Washington may lose their federal Endangered Species Act protection after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completes a regional review this fall," reports Mitch Lies of the Capital Press, an agribusiness news Web site which has been regularly reporting on wolves in the states.

He quotes Paul Henson, USFWS supervisor for the Beaver State, as saying, "The service is taking a serious look at that."

The service is conducting regional reviews of wolf populations in the Northwest, Southwest and Northeast, Henson said. The reviews were recommended in the service's regular five-year status review of the wolf, which it completed in February.

Currently wolves in eastern Oregon and Washington are protected under state endangered species acts, but aren't federally listed.

The review is analyzing whether to break out one or more distinct population segments from the Northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolf, which now comprises all wolves in the Northwest U.S.

Henson said a delisting recommendation would trigger several steps, including a public comment period.

The symposium was hosted by the Oregon Cattlemen's Association and Oregon Hunters Association. OHA says that much more is known about wolves and their potential impacts on Western ungulates than when Oregon's wolf conservation and management plan was developed.

“The purpose of the symposium is to better inform the public of the impacts wolves have on Oregon’s wildlife,” said Fred Craig, president of the Oregon Hunters Association in a press release. “While livestock producer issues with wolves have been in the news nothing is said about the take of big game and other wildlife. Hopefully a better-informed public will lead to the proper management of the wolf in Oregon. We believe Oregon can be proactive in implementing the Oregon Wolf Plan and not suffer the devastation of our big game and livestock like our neighboring states before proper management is started.”

The symposium featured the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's David Allen, among other speakers. Pointing to Canadian and Alaskan populations in the tens of thousands, he said that "that does not qualify in my view as an endangered species."

According to the Capital Press, he also questioned federal biologists' population estimates, saying they've basically been around 1,700 since 2009 though they can reproduce by 30 percent a year.

Former USFWS wolf manager Ed Bangs, however, has said that population growth was slowing down as almost all potential wolf habitat is now occupied.

Despite wolf advocates' out-of-proportion worries that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's presence at the event was tantamount to supporting poaching, three high-up officials were on hand to talk about the importance of following the agency's approved wolf conservation and management plan.

Joining Director Roy Elicker were Ron Anglin, Wildlife Division chief, and Bruce Eddy, ODFW's Northeast Region manager.

"They felt like the meeting went well," said ODFW spokesman Rick Hargrove in Salem.

For more on the symposium, see the article here.

Henson's words didn't surprise WDFW spokeswoman Madonna Luers in Spokane.

"It would make things simpler," she said. "When they divide two states it's confusing as heck for anyone with any interest in wolves."

It's not as simple as this, but basically WDFW and ODFW manage wolves east of Highways 17 and 395 while USFWS is in charge to the west of the asphalt.

Luers says that this past winter WDFW Director Phil Anderson submitted a letter to Dan Ashe, USFWS chief for Washington, recommending that the wolf status review "not result in a new (distinct population segment) for Western Washington and asked for a minimum step of downlisting to threatened from endangered."

She adds that the letter also thanked the feds for $100,000 for wolf work.

Trappers from both states are now out trying to capture and collar members of the various packs, including one wolf that killed at least four sheep in Northeast Oregon while another ram was killed in another nearby attack blamed on wolves.

Luers says that efforts in The Wedge and Hozomeen areas of Washington didn't work out and that trappers are now focusing their work on the Smackout Pack on the Stevens-Pend Oreille County line.

From there it will be onto the Diamond Pack and, presumably, Southeast Washington's suspected pack in the Touchet drainage.

"Sooner or later we're going to get something radio-collared," she says.

The agency is receiving around five or six wolf calls a week, Luers adds.

And in Oregon, the state police say that there is now a $2,500 reward for information on the killing of a possible wolf in Union County earlier this year.

States to consider reopening chinook fishing in Columbia

Washington to open the Yakima, reports Scott Sandsberry of the ...read more...]]> ODFW and WDFW to consider reopening the Columbia from Bonneville to just east of McNary Dam, reports Allen Thomas of The Columbian

States to consider reopening chinook fishing in Columbia

Washington to open the Yakima, reports Scott Sandsberry of the Yakima Herald-Republic

Spring chinook season a go on Yakima River

Watch here and here for the official go-aheads.

And there be springers in the Clearwater, as this vid from guide Jason Schultz shows.