Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Thursday, Mar. 05, 2009

Steelhead rules tighten on Okanogan

Several short reaches of the Okanogan River will close for steelhead Sunday, March 15 to protect wild summer-runs staging to spawn in several of its tributaries.

The affected mainstem Okanogan sections are at Omak (for Omak Creek) and at Tonasket (for Bonaparte Creek).

The reach at Omak, runs from 100 feet below the State Route 155 bridge (Omak Avenue) upstream a little more than a mile to the mouth of Omak Creek. At Tonasket, just scant 33 yards of the Okanogan River will be off-limits from the mouth of Bonaparte Creek downstream to 100 feet below where the creek enters the river.

The Okanogan River is also closed to fishing from the Osoyoos Lake control structure (Zosel Dam) downstream to the first Highway 97 bridge south of Oroville.

Even with these closures, late winter anglers still will have access to most of the other reaches of the Okanogan through the end of March (unless the ESA cutoff is reached before then).

Also currently open for the March fishery are:

? the Columbia River from Rocky Reach to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam,

? the Methow River from the Highway 97 bridge at Pateros to the second powerline crossing and from the first State Route 153 bridge upstream to the Chewuck River,

? and the Similkameen River from its mouth upstream to within 400 feet of Enloe Dam.

WDFW managers encourage anglers to retain in their bag limit the first two adipose fin-clipped steelhead (without an anchor tag attached) they land. They may continue to fish until the steelhead daily limit is retained but not after.

The daily limit is two adipose clipped-only fish, 20 inches or longer, plus 15 whitefish also may be retained.

Anglers are reminded that all wild steelhead with intact adipose fins must be turned back immediately after unhooking and may not be removed from the water in the process. Any steelhead, regardless of fin-clip mark, with a Floy (anchor) tag attached also must be released unharmed.

In these open stream reaches, the selective gear rule and night fishing ban apply. Exceptions to the provisions of the selective gear rule are in effect on the Columbia where baits, scents and fishing from a motorized craft are allowed. Angling out of a motor-equipped boat also is allowed in open portions of the Methow and Okanogan.

Anglers are advised to check the Fishing in Washington pamphlet that is still valid until April 30 for other restrictions on the Methow, Okanogan and Similkameen.

Any or all of the above stream sections could close prior to the end of March if the federally mandated maximum permissible impact to wild summer-run steelhead is reached before then.

OTHER RULES CHANGES

With expected lower returns of spring chinook to Southwest Washington tributaries this season, state fisheries managers have reduced the adult component of the daily salmon limit for the Lewis and Kalama rivers.

Under emergency regulations that took effect Sunday, March 1, freshwater salmon fishers in those two streams may keep no more than one adult spring chinook among the six total salmon they are allowed per day.

All wild (non-marked) chinook must be released in these rivers, too.

In freshwater, the minimum legal length for an adult chinook salmon is 24 inches. Any king less than 24 inches down to 12 inches is classed informally as a 'jack' and may be kept as part of the daily limit.

The coho minimum adult length is 20 inches with the minimum keeper size also 12 inches.

All salmon less than 12 inches must be released.

Further down the Columbia toward Astoria, Deep River also now has more stringent salmon bag limit rules in place. For more details on these regulation changes log onto http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/.