Headlines
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (3-18-24)
Mid-March 2024 winter steelhead, spring Chinook and walleye catch stats for the Lower Columbia and select Southwest Washington tributaries.
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Washington Game Commission Kicks Cougar Rulemaking Can Again
Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission today again did not reach a decision on moving forward on cougar rulemaking that could be implemented as soon as this hunting season, kicking the can down the road – but only a few short weeks.
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Ominous Catches During Lake Washington Gillnetting
WDFW crews report potentially worrisome catches on southern Lake Washington this week: a small northern pike, and salmon fry in the belly of American shad.
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Washington Fish And Wildlife Commission To Talk Cougar Science, Rulemaking Today
Petitions, public comment, the director’s report, and cougar science and hunting rules. That’s the meat of today’s Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission agenda.
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$1.5 Million More For Columbia Sea Lion Control Nixed In Final Washington Budget
Funding for Washington sea lion culling on the Lower Columbia will continue for at least another year, but a chance to triple that spending in the coming fiscal year to save ESA-listed salmon and steelhead was lethally removed from the recently passed state budget.
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WDFW Talks Area 10-11 Chinook Proposal, Snohomish Wild Kings With Anglers
Washington salmon managers this morning rolled out a proposed new way to manage summer Chinook seasons off Seattle and Tacoma to try and avoid the early shutdowns and interrupted fisheries that deeply frustrated anglers last year.
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Sturgeon Retention On John Day Pool To Close After Thursday’s Fishing
March 14 will be the last opportunity to keep a sturgeon on the John Day Pool, Columbia River managers decided this morning after learning the quota is projected to reach 94 percent full after Thursday’s fishing.
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (3-13-24)
March 4-10, 2024 winter steelhead and spring Chinook catch stats for the Lower Columbia and select Southwest Washington tributaries.
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Settlement Will Restore Salmon Habitat On Lower Duwamish
A settlement reached with the federal government will see a Seattle recycling company create fish habitat at the mouth of the Duwamish River as well as contribute $360,000 to an assessment of damage to natural resources on the highly industrialized waterway.
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2024 Ocean Salmon Fishing Options Up For Comment
WDFW is looking for comment on a range of recreational ocean salmon quotas drummed up by the Pacific Fishery Management Council for Washington Coast ports.
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Washington Lawmakers Fund Sekiu Boat Ramp Buy And More In WDFW Budget
WDFW scored $2.7 million to acquire a key boat ramp in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as just under $2 million to ensure agency hatchery production complies with federal ESA requirements and $222,000 for a new avian salmon predation work group in the Washington legislature’s recently passed supplemental operating and capital budgets.
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Lab Results Come Back On King County Mountain Lion That Attacked Cyclist
WDFW reports that Washington State University’s animal disease lab “found the animal to be in good health and body condition with no evidence of significant diseases or abnormalities that would affect its behavior. The animal tested negative for rabies.”
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More Northern Pike Found In San Juan Island Lake
WDFW crews this week netted four northern pike out of the San Juan Island lake where an angler caught one last month.
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Washington Fish And Wildlife Commission Set To Meet March 14-16
Petitions to create new Eastside and Westside deer tags and do away with the perch limit on Chelan County’s Fish Lake, land acquisitions, committee meetings, the draft Conservation Policy, cougar management and more are on the Washington Fish and Wildife Commission’s agenda at its upcoming three-day meeting.
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Reward For Info On Eastern Oregon Bighorn Poaching, Wastage Climbs To $4,500
The reward for information on an Eastern Oregon bighorn shot for its head alone last fall has reached $4,500 after the Oregon Wild Sheep Foundation added to the fund in hopes of bringing the poacher(s) to justice.
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Lures And Flies Only Till April 22, Santiam Steelheaders – ODFW
Oregon steelhead managers issued a reminder to Santiam system anglers that since 2021, fishing has been restricted to artificial lures and flies from November 1 through April 21 to protect ESA-listed wild winter-runs.
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Snohomish Wild Chinook A Stock To Watch At North Of Falcon
Pugetropolis salmon anglers may want to become more familiar with a certain fisheries management term over the coming weeks of North of Falcon: “lower bound threshold.”
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SW WA, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (3-5-24)
Late February and early March 2024 catch stats for the Lower Columbia and the Cowlitz River.
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Northern $#%^#@ Pike Caught On San Juan Island
A teenage angler caught a northern pike at a pond on the west side of San Juan Island, and WDFW crews will gillnet the waters starting as early as next week to eradicate any others illegally introduced there.
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WDFW To Hold Afternoon Smelt Dip On Cowlitz Next Week
WDFW reports that in-season monitoring shows this year’s Cowlitz smelt run is big enough to support another opener, but unlike mid-February’s Thursday morning dip, the one coming up Tuesday, March 5, will occur in the afternoon to try and “increase harvest opportunity.”
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Springer Limits Reduced On 5 SW WA Rivers; Cowlitz Keepers Must Be Ad, Ventral Clipped
WDFW rolled out a host of spring Chinook rule changes this afternoon affecting Southwest Washington tributaries including the Cowlitz, Kalama, Wind, Drano and Klickitat.
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New Study Looks At Northeast Washington Elk, Wolf, Lion, Human Interactions
A new paper on Northeast Washington elk, wolves and cougars will give hunters and local residents – themselves active participants in this dynamic interplay – some things to chew on.
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Northwest Salmon Season-setting Process Kicks Off With Oregon Coast Forecasting
A new Columbia River hatchery coho forecasting model, new tule Chinook harvest matrix and more 2024 West Coast salmon predictions are being rolled out this week for public perusal.
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Scappoose Bay Sturgeon Poachers Sentenced
It took awhile, but a Lower Columbia sturgeon poacher was sentenced to jail, fined and had his fishing license suspended for three years for attempting to retain an oversize fish, among other violations.
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Biden Administration, WA, OR, 4 Tribes Sign Columbia Basin Commitments
The Biden Administration, states of Oregon and Washington and Nez Perce, Yakama, Warm Springs and Umatilla Tribes signed the Columbia Basin Commitments at a White House ceremony, putting into effect a court stay to work on Snake River salmon and steelhead restoration and other facets.
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Washington Senate Passes Smelt, Carp, Crawfish Licensing Bill
A bill requiring a fishing license to dip for smelt on the Cowlitz and elsewhere in the state is one step closer to becoming law after being passed on a 49-0 vote in Washington’s Senate late this morning.
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‘We Need A Helicopter … And We Need Someone With A Gun’: 911 Cougar Attack Call
More details on last Saturday’s cougar attack on a 60-year-old woman on an upper Snoqualmie Valley trail are coming out, including how fellow cyclists fought the animal and their desperate 911 call, and they make for tough reading.
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WDFW Opens Comment On 3-year Hunting Proposals Package
Comment is open into late March on WDFW’s three-year hunting package proposals, routine but “in-depth” rulemaking, and this go-around the agency is looking for feedback on a raft of ideas, from general deer season regs to bighorn special permits, hunter orange/pink requirements to game and special management unit boundaries, gear rules to simple calendar date…
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Public Hearing Held On Bill To Disband Washington Fish And Wildlife Commission
House Bill 2434 and its bid to disband the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission won’t go anywhere in Olympia this session, but this morning its prime sponsor certainly achieved his goal in introducing the “hand grenade.” A couple others went off as well.
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2024 Lower Columbia, Gorge Pools Springer Season Set
“Although this run is smaller than the last few year’s returns, we are still able to provide some quality fishing opportunities,” said Ryan Lothrop, Columbia River fisheries manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We have an obligation to ensure the most limiting run, Snake River natural-origin spring Chinook listed under the Endangered…
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Washington State Report Reflects Positive Trends In Hunting, Angling
In the most recent edition of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation in Washington, a sweeping analysis of hunters, anglers and wildlife viewers put out by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, current trends are pointing to some interesting conclusions.
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Washington Smelt Licensing Bill Sent To Floor Of Senate
As Washington smelt managers continue to test the Cowlitz this week to see if enough of the skinny little fish are running upstream to hold another opener – more on that below – a bill that would require dippers to have a fishing license advanced to the floor of the state Senate.
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Areas 10, 11 Blackmouth To Open On Weds-Sat. Schedule Starting March 1
Blackmouth fishing off Seattle and Tacoma will be open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays when season begins March 1, WDFW announced today.
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Penrose Point SP To Reopen March 1 For Shellfish Harvesting
After a construction-related season closure in 2023, Penrose Point State Park will reopen for clam, oyster and mussel harvesting from March 1-April 30, WDFW announced this morning.
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Cougar That Attacked Cyclist Was 75-pound Male; Carcass Sent To WSU Lab
Fellow cyclists are being credited with bravely fending off a cougar attack in the upper Snoqualmie Valley Saturday that could have been far worse for a 60-year-old woman who was taken to the hospital after suffering head, jaw and neck injuries.
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Second Cowlitz Smelt Dip Possible; 8,600 Anglers Harvested 54,000 Pounds On Thursday
MD Johnson reports back from the banks of the Cowlitz on last Thursday’s smelt dip, which was slower lower in the system and better toward Castle Rock, and what WDFW is looking for to be able to hold a second opener.