Sturgeon and salmon angler bent on visiting the lower Columbia River this spring and summer will have to look carefully at the seasons in order to synchronize opportunities for the two quarries.
The 2012 spring king run looks good, but sturgeon numbers are down. Temporary closures and days off from fishing are already in the schedule and quota-driven shutdowns could spring up at any time.
Unfortunately, not all the dies have been cast in the design of upcoming hook and line seasons below Bonneville Dam.
Salmon managers, ala NASA parlance, have scheduled a 'planned hold' or closure in early chinook fishing to start April 6, during which they will rerun their fishery model with real-time information.
Updated figures such as overall run strength, numbers of wild fish as well as angler effort and reported interactions will drive decisions on further spring salmon opportunities.
As always, before setting out from any distance on a road trip to the lower Columbia, be sure to check the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's emergency regulations Web page for recent actions (closures, changes in bag limit). The site is fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/
Here are the lower Columbia's season terms for spring chinook, steelhead and sturgeon.
EARLY COLUMBIA SPRINGS
Salmon anglers have been able to ply the lowest reach of the Columbia in the New Year since day one.
The Dec. 31/Jan. 1 witching hour was the last rules change point for these reaches.
The permanent regulations found on pages 74-78 (red section) of the 2011/2012 Fishing in Washington pamphlet, until they're superseded by any emergency orders, govern recreational fishing.
However, in the early half of the year, the need to protect federally listed Upper Columbia and Snake spring chinook as well as Upper Columbia and Snake River steelhead chinook and steelhead dictates that special annual management plans be crafted.
When managers determine that runs can sustain expected effort and fisheries can take place in any given year, catch allocations are made and the in-year rules are published.
These emergency regulations, published Thursday, Jan. 26, now apply to non-treaty personal use fishers from the Columbia's mouth below the Astoria-Megler bridge upstream to where the Washington-Oregon state-line gets wet above McNary Dam.
Buoy 10 upstream to I-5 Bridge: Currently open, daily, for both shore and boat anglers. Bag limit is six combined salmon and steelhead of hatchery origin (adipose fin-clipped) of which only two may be adult fish (examples: two clipped chinook, two clipped steelhead or one clipped adult specimen of each species).
I-5 Bridge upstream to Beacon Rock: Currently closed. Set to open Thursday, March 1, daily (except closed these Tuesdays March 20, 27 and April 3), for both shore and boat anglers. Will close Friday, April 6. The bag limit will change to six combined salmon and steelhead of hatchery origin (adipose fin-clipped) of which only two may be adult fish except that only one may be a hatchery chinook (examples: two clipped steelhead or one clipped adult specimen of each species).
I-5 Bridge upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline: Currently closed. Set to open Thursday, March 1, daily for shore anglers only. The bag limit will change to six combined salmon and steelhead of hatchery origin (adipose fin-clipped) of which only two may be adult fish except that only one may be a hatchery chinook (examples: two clipped steelhead or one clipped adult specimen of each species).
Bonneville Dam upstream to the Tower Island powerlines: Currently closed. Set to open Friday, March 16, daily for shore anglers only. The bag limit is two hatchery chinook per day and two hatchery steelhead.
Above Bonneville Dam upstream into the McNary Pool: Currently closed. Set to open Friday, March 16, daily for shore and boat anglers above the Tower Island power-lines below The Dalles Dam upstream to the Washington/Oregon line 17 miles above McNary Dam. The bag limit is two hatchery chinook per day and two hatchery steelhead.
Upstream from Buoy 10 anglers may fish for and keep bass, channel catfish and other gamefish according to the Columbia River permanent regulations for each delineated reach. Also any number of shad may be kept until March 31.
These additional legal conditions apply when fishing for Columbia River salmonids:
? The minimum length for keeper salmon is 12 inches.
? The demarcation between jack and adult chinook salmon is 24 inches.
? The binding definition of a steelhead is a sea-run rainbow trout 20 inches and longer.
? When on the bank or in a boat on the anywhere on the Columbia any dead salmon or steelhead in your possession must be in such a condition that it is readily possible to determine its species, legal length and the pre-catch presence or absence of its adipose fin.
? from Wednesday, Feb. 1 to Monday, April 30, the reach from a line between the upstream end of Sand Island (located east of Rooster Rock State Park) and a marker on the Oregon shoreline, downstream to a line between the lower end of Sand Island and a marker on the Oregon shoreline is closed to fishing for all species.
? from Wednesday, Feb. 15 to Friday, June 15 when on board any boat less than 30 feet long, it's not permissible to totally remove from the water any salmon or steelhead that you are legally obligated to release unharmed.
COLUMBIA WHITE STURGEON
The Columbia River mainstem, except Lake Roosevelt, is open year-round to the catching of sturgeon.
Keeping them is another matter.
Less plentiful federally listed green sturgeon may not be killed at all.
And retention periods for white sturgeon span the equivalent of five to nine months depending the management reach. Actual fishing time in some sections is further truncated by weekly calendar day restrictions.
Personal use and commercial opportunities are managed under an over-arching catch ceiling that is determined and agreed to by all managers each year.
With white sturgeon numbers below Bonneville Dam continuing to demonstrate a decline, the overall option to catch and keep for personal use hook and liners will be further reduced this year.
Managers have continued the full ban (no catch and keep or kill) from May 1 to Aug. 31 on sturgeon fishing in the previously established sanctuary reach immediately below Bonneville Dam.
Also Sand Island Slough is closed to fishing until at least April 30.
Buoy 10 line (top of Columbia Control Zone) to Wauna power-lines: a stratified keeper season, currently open for retention of whites daily to Monday, April 30. Anglers may take home one white a day in the 'keeper' slot range of from 38-54 inches (fork length measure), shorter or longer white sturgeon must be released alive. Killing white sturgeon between May 1-11 is banned, but anglers may catch and release. The second keeper stanza runs from May 12-July 8. One white a day is the bag limit. The legal length range for this keeper opening is between 41-54 inches (fork length measure).
Wauna power-lines to Bonneville Dam: a stratified keeper season, currently open for retention of whites Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays each week to Tuesday, July 31. Anglers may take home one white a day with in the "keeper" slot range of from 38-54 inches (fork length measure), shorter or longer white sturgeon must be released alive. Killing white sturgeon between Aug. 1 and Oct. 19 is banned, but anglers may catch and release. The second keeper stanza runs from Oct. 20-Dec. 31 with the same restriction as to length and bag limit as the early stint.
The personal use (recreational fishing) length measure for sturgeon differs from that establishing the management length for salmon and steelhead.
White sturgeon legal measurements are known as fork lengths and are done from the tip of the nose to a point between the two tail lobes on a line lying on the main axis of the fish's body. A diagram in the can be found in the definition of terms section of the fishing pamphlet on page 19.
Doug Huddle, the Bellingham Herald's outdoors correspondent since 1983, has written a weekly fishing and hunting column that now appears Sundays. Read his blog and contact him at http://pblogs.bellinghamherald.com/outdoors.
