Olympic NP Rivers Reopen To Fishing, Except Queets

Most Olympic National Park rivers and creeks will reopen for fishing tomorrow, November 1, federal managers announced today, following their closure in early October due to extreme low flows for this time of year.

They say that recent rains have helped salmon to move upstream, and while levels are dropping in the nearterm, more precipitation is in the forecast for this weekend.

“We are happy to welcome back recreational fishers to reopened creeks and river systems at Olympic National Park,” said Acting Deputy Superintendent Kevin Killian in a press release. “We appreciate the public’s cooperation and understanding during this fall’s historic drought and the resulting closures.”

However, park sections of the Queets and Salmon will remain closed “due to higher than expected in-river harvest levels,” park officials stated.

ONP’s release added to WDFW’s somewhat vague verbiage from last week – “closed until further notice to all fishing due to emerging conservation concerns associated with recent in-river fishery activity” – when the state lifted closures on all coastal rivers except for the Queets, Salmon and Clearwater.

“Fisheries biologists have conservation concerns based on expected lower numbers of natural Chinook salmon returning to spawning grounds; the continued closure to recreational fishing in the Queets and Salmon Rivers will provide added protection to Chinook salmon making their way to spawning areas in the national park,” federal managers stated.

Anglers have speculated about the reason the Queets won’t reopen.

A Quinault Indian Nation emergency regulation closed the Queets River commercial gillnet fishery as of October 21.

ONP river systems opening on Tuesday include the Bogachiel, Dickey, Hoh, Ozette, Quillayute and the upper Quinault (from the upper bridge down to the park boundary), as well as on these creeks: Cedar, Goodman, Kalaloch and Mosquito.