Headlines
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Young Chinook Poisoned At Lower Umpqua Hatchery; Sheriff Investigating
Thousands of young hatchery fall Chinook salmon died at a rearing site on Oregon’s Central Coast, the apparent victims of a deliberate poisoning late last weekend.
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SW WA Fishing Report (4-22-24)
Mid-April 2024 spring Chinook and steelhead catch stats for the Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, Wind and Klickitat Rivers and Drano Lake.
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Washington Wolf Population Soars To 260
A minimum of 260 wolves roamed Washington at the end of 2023, a 20 percent jump over the previous count and marking a 15th straight year of population growth.
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WDFW Commission Narrowly OKs Cougar Rulemaking Concepts For Developing 2024 Season
A deeply, starkly, bitterly divided Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has directed WDFW staffers to develop a slate of cougar rulemaking proposals to get in place ahead of the start of hunting season this September.
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Oregon Girl’s King Eider Wins National Junior Duck Stamp Contest
Emily Lian, a 17-year-old Oregon artist, took top honors in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest with a gorgeous rendering of a king eider.
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News From ODFW’s Commission: Game Bird Regs, Director Search, 1,100-acre Minam Buy
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted 2024-25 game bird regs, updated its recruitment plan for a new ODFW director and acquired 1,100 more acres for the state’s Minam River Wildlife Area.
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Orgs File Lawsuit Over Columbia’s Mitchell Act, SAFE Hatchery Operations
A pair of environmental organizations have filed a lawsuit against federal, state and county officials over alleged Endangered Species Act violations related to salmon hatchery programs on the Lower Columbia.
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2024 Lower Columbia Springer Update
Lower Columbia spring Chinook anglers caught 60 percent of the initial quota of upriver-origin hatchery kings available in the fishery that ran through April 11, according to an update out late this afternoon from state salmon managers.
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Skykomish Hatchery Chinook Fishery ‘Will Be Closed’ This Season
2024’s hatchery summer Chinook fishery on the Skykomish River will be even shorter than last year’s three-day late-May affair: There won’t be one.
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OSU Study Shows Improved Reproductive Fitness For First-gen Wild-born McKenzie Springers
Oregon State University researchers report on a study that measured reproductive fitness of first-generation wild-born spring Chinook compared to hatchery kings spawning on the gravel in an Upper Willamette river, finding the former produced more offspring than the latter.
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (4-15-24)
Mid-April 2024 spring Chinook and steelhead catch stats for the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and select Southwest Washington tributaries.
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ODFW To Begin North Umpqua Springer Tagging, Monitoring Project
Later this month, ODFW will tag a total of 200 wild and hatchery spring Chinook at Winchester Dam and then use telemetry to learn more about their movements and behavior. Caught tagged fish must be released, the agency states.
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OR Wolf Poachings Set Back W. Zone Management Flexibility; State Pop. Same As Last Year
ODFW’s annual wolf report is out and the agency says there was a minimum of 178 wolves in Oregon at the end of 2023 – the same as in December 2022 but also not counting 10 taken to Colorado – and that the poaching of three wolves in Klamath County late last year dropped the…
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More Details On 2024 Puget Sound, Columbia, Ocean Salmon Fisheries
Following on yesterday’s announcement of tentative 2024 ocean fisheries, here are more details on what seasons Columbia and Puget Sound summer and fall salmon anglers can expect.
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Latest USGS Migrations Maps Feature Several WA, OR Deer, Elk Herds
New mapping out from the U.S. Geological Survey today is spotlighting how heavily a Central Washington mule deer herd uses a migratory corridor intersecting with busy US 97 over Blewett Pass.
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West Coast Ocean Salmon Managers Set Tentative 2024 Seasons
West Coast ocean salmon seasons were tentatively set this afternoon in Seattle, and there’s good news for some fishermen and not so good news for others.
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Willamette Winter Steelhead Run Comes In At 20-year High
Following on the heels of a record run of coho past Willamette Falls last fall is a best-in-two-decades return of winter steelhead, a continuation of a remarkable turnaround for a stock that was in dire straits not so long ago.
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (4-9-24)
Early April 2024 spring Chinook and steelhead catch stats for the Lower Columbia and select Southwest Washington tributaries.
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Lower Columbia Springer Season Extended 2 More Days
Columbia River salmon managers extended the spring Chinook season through Thursday, April 11, state managers announced this morning.
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2024 Puget Sound Spot Shrimp Season Set
The highly anticipated spot shrimp season will begin as early as May 16 in many of Washington’s inside waters, WDFW announced late this afternoon.
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Possible New World Record *Checks Notes* Monkeyface Prickleback Landed By OR Angler
Tillamook angler Rebecca Jones’ 4.8-pound monkeyface prickleback, caught near Garibaldi on April 1, could be a new world record, topping one caught in Yaquina Bay in 2008, ODFW reports.
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4 More Days For Lower Columbia Springers
Lower Columbia spring Chinook managers extended the sport fishery below Bonneville Dam four more days through Tuesday, April 9, as ODFW and WDFW staffers had recommended yesterday, and will be watching whether more time might be added.
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Lower Columbia Springer Managers To Mull 4-day Extension
Lower Columbia salmon managers will mull a four-day extension of spring Chinook season below Bonneville Dam when they meet tomorrow morning.
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Hatchery Truck Crash Kills 25,500-plus NE OR Springer Smolts; Many Escape Into Creek
ODFW reports that a hatchery truck carrying 102,000 spring Chinook smolts meant to be released into the Imnaha River crashed on the way instead, killing 25,529, but 77,000 survived and made it into Lookingglass Creek and are expected to boost adult returns there in a couple years. The driver suffered minor injuries.
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (4-2-24)
Late March 2024 spring Chinook and steelhead catch stats for the Lower Columbia and select Southwest Washington tributaries.
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Feds Complete Status Reviews Of Oregon Coast, NorCal Chinook Populations
Federal salmon overseers say Oregon Coast Chinook face a low risk of extinction, according to a recently concluded deep dive into the health of runs stretching from the Necanicum in the north to the Elk and Sixes in the south.
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The Most OVERLOOKED Way to Properly Manage Your Hunting Property for FREE
Using fire to manage land is a technique dating back to when Native Americans freely roamedour lands..
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New Joint-agency Work Group Formed Around Walleye, Nonnatives In Snake, Columbia
Another clear warning about walleye expansion up the Snake has been issued by Idaho salmon and steelhead managers, who also unveiled a new focus on addressing nonnative species in that river and the Columbia.
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Willamette Summer Steelhead Production On Federal Chopping Block
Oregon sportfishing organizations are raising the alarm about “shocking” budget cuts to Willamette Valley salmon and steelhead hatchery programs by the Army Corps of Engineers, including a complete defunding of summer-run production.
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Unlicensed Lower Columbia Guide, Partner Fined, Lose Fishing Privileges For 3 Years
ODFW reports on the case of an unlicensed fishing guide and his partner who were caught in September 2021 and sentenced last fall.
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Comment Opens On Introducing Bull Trout To Northeast Washington’s Sullivan Lake
State, tribal and federal managers will hold a mid-April meeting on their plan to place bull trout, a native char, in Sullivan Lake in far northern Pend Oreille County. They say it wouldn’t affect activities on the lake, but may lead to seasonal closures of Harvey Creek to protect spawning and rearing fish, similar to…
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (3-27-24)
Late March 2024 spring Chinook and winter steelhead catch stats for select Southwest Washington tributaries and the Lower Columbia River.
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Marine Area 10 Blackmouth Fishery Closes
WDFW announces that blackmouth fishing off Seattle, Bremerton, Shoreline and elsewhere will close as Marine Area 10 encounter limits have been reached. Year-round piers remain open, as does Area 11 to the south.
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Feds Release Final EIS On North Cascades Grizzly Reintro, Want To Go 10(j) Route
Federal agencies are one step closer to reintroducing grizzly bears into Washington’s North Cascades via a nonessential population, or 10(j), designation that would give managers more latitude in dealing with Ursus arctos horribilis conflicts.
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Don’t Overlook Shellfish Ops On Washington’s Inside Beaches
It’s not just all razor clams and Dungeness crabs when it comes to Washington shellfishing – there are good opportunities for steamer clams, oysters and mussels this time of year, thanks to spring daytime low tides and ongoing seasons or the opening of beaches on the state’s inside saltwaters.
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Satellite Tracking Tags To Be Attached To Rogue, Chetco Winter-Run Steelhead
ODFW biologists are putting satellite pop-off tags on 10 Rogue and Chetco adult winter steelhead after they’ve spawned to track them for 180 days on their journey back out into the Pacific.