It's been over 20 years since they closed the Wenatchee. There are so many great tribs that will be nice trout fisheries once they give up on the dream of seeing it return to its steelhead glory days.

 

When we're the steelhead glory days on the Wenatchee?

 

1970s and 1980s in my experience.

 

Good questions! Well stated; makes me wonder why we can fish the Methow for trout but not the Wenatchee (then of course there's the trout fishery in the Icicle). Hope you (we) get some good answers.

 

Didn't the guides and chamber of commerce lobby for keeping portions of the Methow open? They successfully argued for the economic benefits of C&R trout fishing. I don't think the Wenatchee had the same kind of advocacy.

 

@Smalma @Salmo_g - any insight?

 

From what I remember in past discussions here is that the make up of the Wenatchee doesn't lend to trout as much as the Met or Yak. It simply doesn't have the nutrients those other rivers to support a robust resident population.

 

Seems that I recall hearing from a district biologist over there a few decades ago that the Wenatchee isn't a very productive trout stream. However, given the geomorphology, the Methow wouldn't be either, yet it has fair numbers of trout. I don't really know. Contact the district bio or the Regional office; maybe they can provide a logical answer. Or maybe the answer isn't logical.

 

I took your advice, Salmo. Here is the email that I sent to the District 7 Biologist:

Hi Travis,

My name is Bryce Levin. I am a resident of Lake Stevens, but spend a fair amount of time each year in the Lake Wenatchee / White River area of Chelan County. I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, but mostly do a lot of fishing. This has made me curious as to why the Wenatchee River does not have a CnR season for trout?

I am not an expert on biology or wildlife management, but do have an interest and decent understanding of how they work, or so I like to think... I am aware of the recovery efforts of Chinook and summer steelhead and their ESA listed status along with Bull trout in the Wenatchee and it's tribs. I also know that the Yakima and Methow Rivers both have similar ESA listing and recovery plans.

So, my question is what keeps a river like the Wenatchee from having a selective gear CnR fishery on it like the Yak and Met?

The Napeequa, Little Wenatchee, Nason Creek and White all have trout fisheries above their anadromous barriers - so is the main concern by catch and mortality on juvenile steelhead and salmon, and incidental Bull trout encounters? If so, what separates the Yak and Met from this management philosophy?

Additionally, Icicle Creek has a catch and kill trout season on it, from the way I interpret the regs. Which seems counterproductive for the recovery of steelhead considering the overlap in life history in regards to rainbow trout, and precocious males ability to fertilize adult female eggs.

Is it an enforcement issue, with not enough resources available?

Is there a significant difference between trout abundance on the Wenatchee and the Met and Yak? If so, is there a significant difference between Icicle Creek populations and the Wenatchee?

Is it as simple as the Methow and Yakima valleys advocated for a CnR fishery and Wenatchee valley didn't (outside of Icicle Creek)?

I in no way am griping, so I hope it doesn't come off that way. I appreciate the work that WDFW does and the challenges they face in managing the extremely diverse and complicated fisheries that the state of Washington has. I'd be happy to talk over the phone if that is easier, but either way, I appreciate your time and response. If there is someone else I should forward this email to, please let me know.

Thank you,

Bryce Levin

 

My (vague) recollection is that the Wenatchee steelhead population crashed in the early '90s and the state instituted a temporary closure to let the population rebound. I guess they are still waiting for that to happen.

The state did a similar thing with the Cedar river around the same time. Except there they eventually reopened it for summer C&R trout fishing season.

None of the east side rivers are very productive, at least not until they get out of the mountains (cf the Yakima). But what they lack in fish number and size they make up for in beauty, solitude, and pleasure for a days outing. Some of my favorite WA rivers are small east Cascade streams that I can spend a day by myself or with a partner and never encounter another fisherman. I don't mind if I don't catch anything bigger than 10".

 

My (vague) recollection is that the Wenatchee steelhead population crashed in the early '90s and the state instituted a temporary closure to let the population rebound. I guess they are still waiting for that to happen.

The state did a similar thing with the Cedar river around the same time. Except there they eventually reopened it for summer C&R trout fishing season.

None of the east side rivers are very productive, at least not until they get out of the mountains (cf the Yakima). But what they lack in fish number and size they make up for in beauty, solitude, and pleasure for a days outing. Some of my favorite WA rivers are small east Cascade streams that I can spend a day by myself or with a partner and never encounter another fisherman. I don't mind if I don't catch anything bigger than 10".

the last few miles along hwy 2 going east into leavenworth is treacherous... putting a road that curvy next to water that beautiful and fishy looking (esp in the snow) just isn't fair! i do hope they open it before i'm too immobile to fish it.

 

I was having this exact same conversation with someone awhile back about why these streams we fished as kids are not open anymore. They used to plant all of them up until the early/mid 90's. Caught lots of 10-12 planters, and wild fish 7-14." I would love to see these streams open again, even though i am 300 miles away now.

 

Back when WDFW held community meetings in Pateros on an annual basis, I asked this question to the district fish bio at the time. The response was already alluded to here; the Wenatchee is a colder, less productive system than the Methow or Yakima and has lesser numbers of resident trout so it is harder to justify as a C&R trout river.

Along the same lines, I asked why the Klickitat, Ronde, Walla Walla, and Tucannon rivers are open for steelhead fishing by default per the regulations whereas the Methow and Wenatchee are closed by default and only open during an emergency action. All the rivers have the same ESA listed fish so why are some open unless closed while others are closed unless opened. I did not get a good response to this question from WDFW.

 

Along the same lines, I asked why the Klickitat, Ronde, Walla Walla, and Tucannon rivers are open for steelhead fishing by default per the regulations whereas the Methow and Wenatchee are closed by default and only open during an emergency action. All the rivers have the same ESA listed fish so why are some open unless closed while others are closed unless opened. I did not get a good response to this question from WDFW.

Dave - "did not get a good response" imagine that? We are faced with unexplained inconsistencies. I wonder how many regulations are a result of some old stuck in the box mentality? For example: I asked WDFW about extending the season at least through October on Park and Blue Lakes here in Grant County. The response made me wonder if I was on another planet, Skip-Like.

 

....

 

WDFW heads currently just don't care. They don't value hunting and fishing. They don't value opportunity in this state or creating new opportunities. I am starting to think large scale boycotting might be the only solution. They refuse to acknowledge our concerns so why keep funding them?

I watched the WFDW show the other night and Susiewind did not acknowledge the Game Commission once...I was listening specifically for him to say something. He is totally focused on the Legislature. The other staff mentioned the Game Commission but not Susiewind...he's supposed to report to the Commission.

The Commission is the hunter and fisher's input...he's not listening.

 

Late '60's we caught a lot of nice trout (10" - 15" is what I recall) in the Wenatchee R.

 

Until the 1990s, the PUD stocked catchable trout in the Wenatchee as mitigation for mid-Columbia River dams. Unfortunately, that caused a lot of mortally hooked juvenile steelhead.

 

This past week i rented a cabin on the Wenatchee river in Plain. The 2 local neighbor kids came down each morning to fish. I watched for a few minutes each day. The slot was perfect for holding fish. They said they would hook a fish or 2 each day. They landed a nice 14" fat rainbow the time i was watching. He showed me pics of many diff trout from the river. The kids had pinched barbs and good fish handling skills.
We kept the politics out of our conversations after discussing closed waters.

 

It's odd because I have advocated for a no bait barb less catch and release reg on the North Fork Nooksack above Welcome bridge a number of times and the response I got was " We do enough to protect Salmon and Steel head there, and we don't want to take away opportunity".

 

Hey everyone,

I meant to share this earlier, but never got around to it. Travis, the district biologist got back to very quickly with an informative and detailed response. This is that something that I really appreciated, and I made sure to let him know that.

My original email I sent to him is on page 1 of the thread for reference. From Travis:

"Good Morning Bryce

This is a good question and one that pops up from time to time in the angling community. In short, through past and ongoing data collection activities (i.e. Smolt/fish trapping via rotary screw traps, snorkeling, hook and line surveys) conducted mostly by WDFW's local Fish Science Division staff, it is currently evident that the Wenatchee River Basin within the anadromous zones (below fish passage barriers) does not support a very robust resident trout population…..unlike the Methow River for instance, which has a good population of resident trout to be had in catch and release fisheries. So, your assumption regarding bycatch and mortality impacts to those ESA listed species is correct. With the Wenatchee having a relatively small resident trout population, the bycatch would be high for listed species……unlike the Yakima and Methow Rivers which are able to sustain resident trout fisheries through relatively higher numbers of resident trout species…thereby drastically reducing the impacts to ESA listed species.

As for the Icicle River in comparison…..as you mentioned, it does support a high population of resident trout (mostly rainbow). The vast majority of those rainbow are thought to be remnants from old hatchery stocking programs from years ago (pre-ESA listing of STHD) and as I can recall some possible native redband influence. Recent work on the Icicle (PIT tagging, genetic tissue samples) gathered supporting data, which also revealed that very few "resident" rainbow migrate downstream to possibly interact with the anadromous form. Therefore, at this time we feel that the current fishery on the Icicle does very little harm, if any, in terms of impacts to ESA listed species.

I appreciated your interest in this matter and I hope I've been able to provide clear answers to your questions."

Best regards

Travis Maitland
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Dist. 7 Fish Biologist
Wenatchee District Office
3860 Hwy 97a
Wenatchee, WA 98801

(509) 665-3337

 

I worked with Travis for a season back in 1998. He's a good guy and one that I'd trust, even if he'd rather fish bass than trout. I won't hold that against him.

 

I went to high school with Travis in Pateros. Him and his buddy used to drive up Black Canyon and fish a little pond. When I saw them drive up the road I would sneak out of the house and run up the hillside with my BB gun and shoot at them just to mess up there fishing. they would start yelling and trying to figure out where I was hiding! I still laugh about that! I was such a shithead. Anyway... Travis is a good dude.

 

When those rivers were open I fished the hell out of them. Caught some really nice fish out of Nason Creek, The Entiat River also had some nice fish in it along with the mad River. But that was about 50 years ago or so. Yes, the Pud used to plant the Wenatchee. Too bad they gave up on that. It was fun while it lasted. Just before they closed those rivers down I fished a few of them. I caught nothing. Maybe it was for the best. But who knows.

 

Jim - You're digging up a "not too older" thread..... my first fly rod caught steelhead was a Wenatchee River hatchery brat. The year before ESA listings closed the river; 9/24/95.

Nason Creek - There's an example of how man has adversely affected wild fish habitat.

 

Bryce, I was just having this discussion with my friends when I saw your post. We arrived wondering the same thing as you, with almost all steelhead tributaries in Washington State open for a CnR season of any sort and time (even similars like Methow, Yak, Entiat), then why is the Wenatchee closed. Its hard to ignore the possibility of lack-of-advocacy especially when its something I haven’t seen happen but fortunately it is something within our control. Opening a CnR SelGear season on the Wenatchee would promote conservation through significant angler engagement and economic impact. Has anyone considered drafting a petition to Change.gov to open a CnR Selective Gear season for the Wenatchee?