Quick question here. I haven't followed the whole NOF process super closely. However, as I understand it, essentially all rivers and lakes in the Puget Sound with anadromous populations are closed and will be closed until there is some resolution. The Cedar River has become one of my favorite summer fisheries, but as things stand now, there won't be any opener in June. Is that correct?
Not really Larry.
All of their bass tournaments scheduled for Lake Washington & Sammamish are cancelled as of now due to the failed NOF negotiations.
No salmon, no trout, not steelhead, no perch , no bass, no crappie, no.....in many places you wouldn't think would be closed due to NOF.
SF
I'm planning on hiking, I am confused why the s.f.sky and tribes are on the closed list, I would think sunset falls in index would be a natural barrier?
It is. But there's a facility to "trap and haul" migratory fish above sunset, canyon, and eagle falls. The habitat above now produces a good number of anadromous fish, including PS Chinook.
If it ends up closed all season this year, I hope fish and wildlife send a whole bunch of people out to the Cedar to enforce on all the poachers/people not following the regs, and to ticket litterers and/or force them to pack out their trash.
It is a frustrating river, as for every law-abiding person, seems like there are two or more people who ignore the regs with impunity. I've sometimes tried to explain the regulations to folks.....with mixed results.
Frankly, if everyone truly stopped fishing it for a year it would probably benefit the fishery, which has declined over last few years. However, if the flat-out poachers, the litter-bugs and the "I practice C&R, dude - I unhook trout from all the barbed hooks hanging off my Rapala, just as soon as I get my hands on the fish after dragging it up on the rocks" folks still abuse the river freely, that will suck.
Thus ends my rant. I typically get one anti-littering rant in per year. Normally, I pen it after a day hauling out trash in one hand and holding my fly rod in the other. With this rant submitted "in advance," I now owe the universe at least one trash pick-up day at later date.
I just don't see how this is going to benefit anadromous fish at all. I fished that river at least once a week for three summers, caught nothing but resident trout. It seems lazy to blanket-regulate like that.
I'm generally a silver lining, let's find the bright side of this kinda guy, but this is whole NOF shutdown is a tough one.
I rarely fish the salt (although I always tell myself 'this is gonna be the year') but I feel for the guys that do. I do fish the Cedar quite a bit. It's my 'go to' after work stress relief during the summer, and usually provides enough good memories to get me through a good part of the winter.
Kyle is right, this isn't going to benefit anadromous fish in the least - the regular annual season on the Cedar already takes that into account.
But, like Brian W. mentions, it is going to make the illegal fishing on the Cedar a whole lot easier to spot and maybe that will mean less of it....and maybe a year off will improve the health of the fishery. Still, I feel like I'm reaching for some very thin silver linings here...
Perhaps this will be the year of focusing on unlocking the secrets of Green Lake for after work stress relief...
It's going to be a bummer if the Cedar doesn't open. I've floated that a number of times and love that I can be on the water from my house in 30 minutes. Great place to wet a line.
The Columbia river is going to crowded this summer. so will the larger bodies of water in Ea Wa - such as Banks, Blue, Park, etc.
no PS salmon for my freezer this year - damn it!
I'm probably moving to the US Virgin Islands soon and will be visiting for long periods of time for the next 6 months. The tropics are looking better and better!
BTW, re the South Fork Sky drainage, indeed... Gary Knowels and I saw quite a few salmon way up on a certain piece of water up there. It was surprising. Bummer if that whole drainage is shut down this summer. Add to my growing list of why WA sucks. (I've lived here all my life, I'm entitled to say that)
never had to buy salmon my entire life - not about to start now. always been able to keep my freezer stocked. Actually still have local salmon from last year (smoker material or crab bait now)
Wow. I had heard this might happen, but didn't know it was for real. That's heartbreaking. I learned to fly fish on that river last summer and I credit the time I spent out there in July and August with pulling me out of a really bad place I had been in emotionally for a year or so. It sounds cheesy, but fly fishing the Cedar literally changed my life. I've been counting down the days to the first Saturday in June ever since it closed last year.
And for the record, closing that stream to protect salmon runs is bullshit with a big capital "B." I spent hours - if not days - on the water and saw literally one salmon. If they really want to replenish the runs, fire up the Black River again.
Odd how they close down freshwater rivers that get salmon to trout fishing but you can still fish Puget Sound for SRC's?? I can stay content as long as that holds true. I do most of my trout fishing in rivers in OR, ID and MT these days anyway.....
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