“He was an amazing guy and an amazing fisherman,” says Rory O’Conner about Bryan Crawford.

The 52-year-old Port Angeles exterior home cleaner ...read more...]]> Western Washington kayak anglers are remembering one of their own who died yesterday on the northern Olympic Peninsula.

“He was an amazing guy and an amazing fisherman,” says Rory O’Conner about Bryan Crawford.

The 52-year-old Port Angeles exterior home cleaner was involved in a roll-over wreck in a construction zone on westbound Highway 101 near his hometown. The Peninsula Daily News details the accident here.

O’Conner, a Bellingham kayak angler known for saving a dog that had swum half a mile off Florida and catching a large halibut in the Straits, had just been emailing with Crawford.

Both participated on Northwest Kayak Anglers, where members are now turning their attention from the angler of the year contest and other pursuits to raising funds for the grieving family.

“We are a pretty tight knit community and we really feel like we lost a brother,” says O’Conner.

He passed along this remembrance of the man known online as Ohbryant:

“I’ve been in a stupor since I got the news about Bryan.  I had just been corresponding with him a few days ago about targeting halibut. Because…he obviously knew a thing or two about halibut.  Got me reflecting on how big a part of the site he has been.  He was a dedicated fisherman.  You could count on him being on the water at least once a week, and posting reports. Rain or shine, winter or summer.  Fish or no fish.  But more often, fish.  The guy loved to fish (especially from a kayak), and had a real talent for it.  He was one of the top anglers on this site, but tended to fly under the radar because there was no bravado.  He wrote of his experiences, shared what he knew (which was alot), and encouraged others.  We’ve gotten used to interacting with him daily on here, and there’s already palpable void.

BRYAN CRAWFORD WITH A LARGE HALIBUT HE AND HIS FAMILY RECENTLY BROUGHT BACK TO NEAH BAY.

I remember the Thursday halibut opener at Neah Bay 2 weeks ago…he showed up late afternoon as we were cutting fish.  He had fished on the strait side on a day when there was a minus tide (big current), but didn’t manage to get one.  When I asked how the current was he said “oh, not too bad.”  Whatever! I saw the chart, I knew it wasn’t a tide for the weak-kneed.  It had to have been a exhausting battle out there on the strait side, in his kayak.  But complaining was just not Bryan’s thing.  He took a look at Brad’s 80# hali and says, “There’s still some day left, think I’m gonna head back out and try to get one”.  I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t.  He suited up, hit the beach and fished nearly ’til dark.  He didn’t get a halibut that day (he was obviously saving his hali mojo for 2 days later), but he came back with a full bag of quality fish.  The guy did not mess around when it came to fishing.

After we fished the 2nd Halibut day and got hali-skunked, Rev. Pierce told us no, we were NOT all skunked.  That Bryan had gone out on the strait side with his family and gotten a 100-pounder.  I was ecstatic. On a day that none of us – and in fact only a handful of powerboaters we talked to – could hook into a hali…Bryan made it happen, and happen big.  Now, I had seen his lil’ boat the day before and assumed they were going to lake Ozette or something.  But no, they were gettin’ salty in it.  It was essentially a square-backed canoe with a 5 horse on it.  Not for the faint of heart.  And if I didn’t know Bryan and know for a fact he can take care of business, I’d have been worried.  He took care of business alright.  I said it before and I’ll say it again…landing a 100# hali in that boat (with your wife and kid on board) was much harder than doing it solo on a kayak.  And it’s HARD doing it on a kayak (he’s done that too, several times)!!  To land what turned out to be the very definition of a “fish of a lifetime”, in that craft, against the odds, with your family there to share in the experience…that’s providence. What an amazing memory for Mindy and Josiah to have.  Josiah will grow up knowing that his dad was one tough, salty, bad a**.

I knew less about his “regular” life, but I did get to hang out with him, his wife and youngest son that weekend at Neah Bay.  Such great people.  So warm and friendly.  Easy to talk to, fun-loving and quick to smile…his six-year-old Josiah pelting me incessantly with pine cones and trying to trick me into giving him my iphone so he could play angry birds.  I remember thinking what an awesome family they were.  My thoughts are with them now.  Bryan’s life was rich, and very well-lived.

With the sudden passing of our awesome brother Bryan, it’s a good time to reflect on the brevity of life.  To hold the loved ones close.  Enjoy every day.  Not take things so seriously.  Life is just too short.  Much love to Bryan and his family.

More memories and photos have been posted by the Crawford family on this Facebook page.

Sport fishermen will get an additional three weeks to get out and catch a chinook salmon on the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam under a season extension approved Monday by fishery managers ...read more...]]> (OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PRESS RELEASE)

Sport fishermen will get an additional three weeks to get out and catch a chinook salmon on the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam under a season extension approved Monday by fishery managers from Oregon and Washington. During a joint state hearing fish and wildlife officials from the two states decided to reopen the spring chinook season on the lower Columbia from Saturday, May 25 through Saturday, June 15. The extended spring season takes place for three weeks immediately prior to the summer chinook season, which is scheduled on the lower Columbia from June 16 through June 30.

“We’re pleased to be able to provide five weeks of uninterrupted chinook salmon fishing,” said Steve Williams, deputy administrator of ODFW’s fish division.

The joint state action is based on revised estimates of salmon returns and harvest data that showed an additional 1,357 upriver spring chinook salmon are available for sport fishermen to harvest in the lower Columbia, based on management guidelines established earlier in the year. The revised forecast shows an expected return of 107,500 upriver spring chinook, which is down from the preseason estimate of 141,400 chinook.

“We have fewer fish than expected at the beginning of the year but the harvest was also lower than anticipated so we have some extra fish to catch,” said John North, ODFW’s Ocean Salmon and Columbia River Program manager.

The season opens from Tongue Point up to the deadline at Bonneville Dam with only bank angling allowed from Beacon Rock to Bonneville. Above Bonneville Dam, the chinook season remains closed until the summer season opens June 16 – July 31 since most of the spring chinook quota was used prior to the May 6 closure.

The daily bag limit prior to June 16 is two adult salmonids per day, of which only one may be a chinook. Any sockeye salmon caught must be released unharmed. Only barbless hooks are allowed, and only adipose fin-clipped fish may be retained.

In a separate action last week, the states approved four days of white sturgeon retention fishing in the Bonneville Pool. Those seasons will take place June 14-15 and June 21-22. The bag limit is one white sturgeon per day and two for the year. Only sturgeon with fork lengths of 38-54 inches may be retained, and only barbless hooks may be used.

For more information, visit ODFW’s webstie at www.dfw.state.or.us.

Following Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reports on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s pending delisting proposal for most of the Lower 48, ...read more...]]> Just a couple weeks ago, wolves were about to be kicked out of the ESA kennel.

Following Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reports on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s pending delisting proposal for most of the Lower 48, including the western two-thirds of Washington and Oregon, federal officials sent state managers in Olympia a draft document to comment on.

Now, the whole process is on hold.

An AP story out of Montana yesterday afternoon says:

In a court filing Monday, government attorneys say “a recent unexpected delay” is indefinitely holding up action on the predators. No further explanation was offered.

Sequester? Protest from wolfies?

Stay tuned.

Wolves were federally delisted in the eastern thirds of Washington and Oregon, but remain under state protections.

Where as many as seven dozen of the wild sheep have roamed the mountains and valleys of this part of north-central Okanogan County in recent years, only 17 ...read more...]]> Something’s happened with a herd of bighorns in Washington’s scenic Sinlahekin Valley.

Where as many as seven dozen of the wild sheep have roamed the mountains and valleys of this part of north-central Okanogan County in recent years, only 17 turned up during an aerial survey earlier this month.

Did they wander off to new pastures? Were they winter-killed? Is some illness taking its toll? Did predators get them?

It’s a puzzler that’s got the attention of hunting managers as well as the folks at the local store where hats bearing the likeness of the iconic animals are for sale.

Sara Bones, a cashier at the Loomis Kwik Stop, says she hopes the missing critters are found soon.

“They’re part of the town,” she says.

The herd has been in these parts since 1957 and, outside of one nasty winter in the early 2000s, has done pretty well.

Bones says that ten ewes hang around Loomis. A few folks dropped off hay for them this past winter, which she says was pretty bad.

A SCREEN GRAB FROM GOOGLE MAP'S STREET VIEW SHOWS A PART OF LOOMIS WITH AENEAS MOUNTAIN IN THE BACKGROUND. OWNED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, AENEAS WAS IMPORTANT RANGE FOR THE SINLAHEKIN HERD BEFORE FOREST ENCROACHMENT BEGAN TO TAKE OVER THE GAME RANGE THERE.

Jeff Heinlen, a lifelong area resident as well as the local state wildlife biologist, called it “arguably the dreariest winter ever.”

It was so gray back in late fall that he was unable to fly his usual posthunt survey routes.

When the weather did give him a break in February, he only counted 18 bighorns, an alarming drop from recent years’ high counts.

He says that in 2009, he tallied 86, in 2010, 67, and in December 2011, 82 — 23 rams, including five with three-quarter or better curls, 55 ewes and four lambs.

Heinlen followed up with intensive ground surveys and then another flight, but even with more eyes in the chopper during a May 9 survey, the herd count actually went down by one.

He, district wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin and state special species manager Richard Harris saw just 15 ewes, a lamb and the butt of another sheep.

Maybe it was a ram, maybe it wasn’t.

The trio decided against taking the chance. A newer hunting opportunity, the Sinlahekin is the toughest bighorn unit in Washington to draw a special permit for — in 2012, basically you had to have put in unsuccessfully for 16 years to be drawn for a ram.

But with the inexplicable disappearance of the herd, WDFW scratched the single tag that has been available since 2010.

That caught the attention of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep which sent Heinlen an email.

He says he’s hearing it elsewhere too: “I go to meetings and it’s like, ‘You lost the herd?!’”

The animals he’s seeing are in the typical spots they’ve been spotted in before, but there just are far fewer of them.

“Everything’s weird about this,” he says.

He’s also puzzled by the lack of dead sheep on the landscape, something you might expect with a population drop and such a visible herd.

“I usually get notified of a carcass,” Heinlen says.

When we spoke last Friday afternoon, he said that he was still seeing winterkilled deer carcasses around.

In addition to cougars and bears, a new predator does roam this country. The young collared Smackout Pack male known as 17M paid a visit to a cattleman’s boneyard in late winter, but the biologist doesn’t think it ate the herd alone.

Occupying range where domestic sheep also graze, if the Sinlahekin bighorns had come down with pneumonia, like the Tieton herd in western Yakima County which had to be destroyed earlier this year, they likely would have been seen “coughing” from the illness.

Loomis residents would have noticed and called Heinlen.

They’re also quick to call in illegal kills.

“The locals were not pleased with the last poachings,” he adds.

As with other Washington game herds, 21 sheep here were GPS-collared in 2010 and 2011.

The devices are also programmed to come unlatched after a certain amount of time — which unfortunately is the case here.

“That would be handy if they were still on,” Heinlen laments.

They’re great for tracking movements at hyperlocal levels and inferences can be drawn from the data, but they don’t really tell you what the collared animal is actually thinking.

So what might the bighorns have been thinking?

There are a couple clues: In 2011, something called “psoroptic mange” appears to have taken a toll on young sheep. In that December’s count, Heinlen noted that lamb recruitment plunged to a rate of just seven per 100 ewes.

Is it possible that the condition — which can range from an annoyance to fatal — continued last year and affected more than just 2011′s year-class? If so, that and natural adult mortalities could begin to add up to a fair number of missing sheep.

Then there’s the whopping 42 rams Heinlen counted mowing down spring green-up on a single south-facing slope of Mt. Hull, a dozen miles to the east-northeast across the Okanogan River — enough studs that his bosses added another special permit for that hunt.

Is it possible that some of the Sinlahekin’s sheep wandered over there, or elsewhere? A trio of young rams in Oregon did surprise managers there when they crossed over the Wallowas in the dead of winter — then recrossed the range for good measure.

The thing is, it doesn’t match with this particular herd’s history.

“Before collar drop, there weren’t any signs of long-distance movements,” Heinlen says.

Would the arrival of a gray wolf change that? In the Rocky Mountains, the species has pushed other ungulates into new areas.

It’s also possible that the sheep here just aren’t being spotted no matter how many folks Heinlen stuffs in the chopper because of the area’s generally thicker forests than that of the Mt. Hull area.

BIGHORN SHEEP IN THE SINLAHEKIN WILDLIFE AREA. (WDFW)

Those woods may also be part of the answer.

WDFW’s 2012 Game Trends report notes that “The amount of available sheep habitat on Aeneas Mountain and in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area has likely declined due to tree encroachment and forest succession.”

Some of that can be seen in historical photographs of the area, and Washington State University researchers — the folks who put the collars on those 20-plus sheep — theorized that had a threefold effect:

In addition to reducing grazing areas, a closed forest canopy “shades out” many of the grasses, shrubs and herbs that are staples of the sheep diet. In addition, closed forests provide much better cover for predators such as mountain lions. “That, obviously, makes the sheep much more vulnerable,” (Associate Professor Mark) Swanson said.

Managers have been thinning and burning the wildlife area as well as aggressively performing weed control to improve habitat.

WDFW says that bighorn movement into previously unused habitat has probably led to its overall increase in recent years.

Is it possible that the missing sheep are now in areas the biologists just aren’t surveying?

Is it also possible that multiple factors are in play?

For the moment, Heinlen has more questions than answers in this perplexing mystery.

“Is it a die-off? I don’t know. Did they wander off? I don’t know,” he says. “I haven’t observed carcasses. I haven’t seen coughing sheep like (Yakima district biologist Jeff Bernatowicz) Bernie. This certainly isn’t cut and dried.”

Then he adds, “My ideal hope is that they wander back in.”

“I hope so,” says Sara Bones at the Loomis store. “We enjoy having them here.”

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife May 20, 2013

The States of Oregon and Washington met today and took the following action:

SALMON/STEELHEAD

Elochoman River from mouth to West Fork and Grays River from mouth to South Fork and West Fork from mouth to hatchery intake/footbridge – Under permanent rules, open to fishing for ...read more...]]> (REPORT COURTESY PSMFC SUPERVISING FISHERIES BIOLOGIST JOE HYMER)

SALMON/STEELHEAD

Elochoman River from mouth to West Fork and Grays River from mouth to South Fork and West Fork from mouth to hatchery intake/footbridge – Under permanent rules, open to fishing for hatchery Chinook and hatchery steelhead beginning the first Saturday in June (June 1st this year).

Green River from the mouth to 400′ below the water intake at the upper end of the hatchery and South Fork Toutle River from the mouth to the 4700 Road Bridge – The ending date for the early hatchery steelhead season that opens the last Saturday in May is incorrectly listed in the 2013-2014 Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet.  The correct ending date is the Friday before the first Saturday in June.  This year, the ending date is May 31, 2013.  Selective gear rules apply during this fishery.

Cowlitz River – Anglers are catching some spring Chinook, mostly near the barrier dam.

Last week Tacoma Power recovered 456 spring Chinook adults, 51 jacks, 52 winter-run steelhead and 18 summer-run steelhead during five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.

During the past week Tacoma Power employees released 189 Chinook adults, 16 jacks and five winter-run steelhead and into the Cispus River above the mouth of Yellow Jacket Creek and 81 spring Chinook adults, 25 jacks and two winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa above Cowlitz Falls Dam.

River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately 5,240 cubic feet per second on Monday, May 20. Water visibility is 11 feet.
Blue Creek from mouth to posted sign above rearing pond outlet – Effect June 1, the trout daily limit is 5 fish.  Up to 2 fish over 20 inches may be retained.  Release wild cutthroats.  Night closure and anti-snagging rules will be in effect.  Open to all anglers.

Kalama River from Summers Creek upstream to 6429 Road (about 1 mile above gate at end of county road bridge) – Effective the first Saturday in June, up to 2 hatchery steelhead may be retained.  Fly fishing only.

North Fork Lewis River from Johnson Creek (located downstream from Lewis River Salmon Hatchery) upstream to overhead powerlines below Merwin Dam – Through May 31 CLOSED TO ALL FISHING.  On June 1st this section will reopen to hatchery steelhead but remain closed for Chinook.

East Fork Lewis River from the mouth to 400 feet below Horseshoe Falls (except closures around various falls) and the Washougal River from the mouth to Salmon Falls Bridge – Under permanent rules these areas will be open to fishing with bait for hatchery steelhead beginning the first Saturday in June (June 1st this year).

Washougal River- Slow for hatchery summer run steelhead.

Wind River – Boat anglers at the mouth are catching some spring Chinook, mostly jacks.

195 spring Chinook returned to Carson National Fish Hatchery over the weekend, including 69 fish last night.  The hatchery has 952 adults on hand.  The hatchery escapement goal is 1,500 fish.

Last year, a total of 80 spring Chinook had returned to Carson National Fish Hatchery through May 21.

Drano Lake –   Boat anglers averaged a spring Chinook per every 5 rods last week. About 35% of the catch were jacks.

Klickitat River – Including fish released, bank anglers below Fisher Hill Bridge averaged about ½ fish per rod.  Jacks comprised about 1/3 of the salmon catch.  A few steelhead were also caught.

Under permanent rules, the Klickitat River from the Fisher Hill Bridge downstream will open 7 days per week beginning June 1. The salmon daily limit will be 6 fish of which no more than 2 may be adults. Two hatchery steelhead may also be retained. Release wild Chinook.

The section from 400 feet upstream from # 5 fishway upstream to boundary markers below the Klickitat Salmon Hatchery will open to fishing for hatchery Chinook jacks and hatchery steelhead beginning June 1 under permanent rules. Again, release wild Chinook.

STURGEON

Estuary – Charter and private boat anglers are catching some legals.  Still about a 50/50 chance a fish landed will be legal size.

Lower Columbia mainstem below Bonneville Dam – We sampled 62 sturgeon anglers (including 19 boats) with 6 legals kept.  All the legals kept were caught by boat anglers from Vancouver to Cathlamet.

The Dalles and John Day pools – Slow for legal size fish.

WALLEYE AND BASS

The Dalles Pool –  Boat anglers averaged 2 walleye and 7 bass per rod when including fish released.  Bank anglers also caught some bass.

John Day Pool – Including fish released, boat anglers averaged nearly 2 walleye and a bass per rod.  Bank anglers also averaged a bass per rod.

SHAD

Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam – We sampled 75 shad anglers (including 5 boats) with 70 shad kept and 5 released.

TROUT

Lake Scanewa (Cowlitz Falls Reservoir) – Beginning June 1, open to fishing for hatchery rainbows.  20,000 catchable size rainbows expected to be planted from June through August.

Vancouver Lake- The flushing channel and the lake shoreline 400 feet east and west from the channel exit are closed to all fishing through May 31.  It had been through May 30.  The regulation was changed during the recent permanent rule process.

Some streams in Region 5 that open to fishing the Saturday before Memorial Day (and scheduled plants of catchable size rainbows) are Canyon (5,500), Bird (1,000), Outlet (1,000), and Spring (3,000) creeks and the Little White Salmon River (3,000).

Skate Creek and Tilton River from mouth to west fork – Under recently adopted permanent rules, effective the first Saturday in June the daily limit was reduced to 2 trout.  Release all cutthroats.  No longer planted with hatchery rainbows (see Rainey Creek below).

Rainey Creek from mouth to Hwy. 12 – Effective the first Saturday in June, the trout daily limit is 5 hatchery (adipose clipped) rainbows.  Release all cutthroats. Scheduled to be planted with 2,000 catchable size rainbows this summer.

Recent plants of trout into SW WA waters (no reports on angling success):

Knuppenburg Lake in Lewis County – 780 catchable size browns May 9

Lake Sacajawea in Longview – 1,716 catchable size rainbows May 14

Horseshoe Lake in Woodland – 2,145 catchable size rainbows May 10

Battle Ground Lake – 3,000 rainbows averaging 2/3 pound each May 15

Klineline Pond – 856 rainbows averaging 1.5 pounds each May 9

Kidney Lake near Stevenson – 862 catchable size May 13

Little Klickitat River – 429 catchable size rainbows May 14

That is, ...read more...]]> Spring Chinook retention could reopen on the Columbia this Thursday for 24 days, a proposed fishery that would bring the recreational fleet’s harvest for the season on the lower river within one-one hundredth of a percent of filled.

That is, if we catch precisely the modeled haul 1,353 of the upriver-bound salmon from May 23 through June 15 below Bonneville Dam.

Oregon and Washington managers are talking it over currently.

A fact sheet supporting the recommendation says that they also stuck with the updated run forecast of 107,500, down from the preseason prediction of 141,400. The fishery was managed conservatively and ended with available fish.

By Leroy Ledeboer

Good day on the water. Friday, May 17th, I joined guide Shelby Ross (509-750-7763) for a day of searching out ...read more...]]> Editor’s note: This report comes from our Moses Lake scribe, a longtime walleye angler and outdoor writer.

By Leroy Ledeboer

Good day on the water. Friday, May 17th, I joined guide Shelby Ross (509-750-7763) for a day of searching out Moses Lake walleyes, keying in on his way-points, dragging cranks, three No. 3 Rapala Shads in perch, walleye and firetiger, and  a crawdad pattern Berkley Flippin’ Shad.

Primarily we ran north from Blue Heron Park, hitting 10- to 15-foot bays and rocky points all the way to a mile or so above Connelly Park.

NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN COLUMNIST LEROY LEDEBOER SHOWS OFF A NICE CATCH OF MOSES LAKE WALLEYE. (LEROY LEDEBOER)

A few spots were totally dead, but most produced at least a couple of hard strikes and some enough solid  hook-ups, five decent walleyes, several little guys, a big rainbow and a couple of bass.

Alas, what would have been my ‘picture’ walleye (a real lunker) shook the hook half way to  the boat.

No doubt we’d have boated more fish if we’d concentrated on those spots that produced but this was an exploratory trip, so we kept moving,