The Southwest Washington chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) will hold its monthly meeting this coming, Sept. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Camas Meadows Golf Club in Camas. The group holds meetings every second Tuesday of the month from September through May.
Columbia River remains closed to steelhead retention through September
The Columbia River will remain closed to the retention of steelhead, both hatchery and wild, through the month of September. The closure extends from the river’s mouth at Buoy 10 upstream to The Dalles Dam.
Poor returns of all steelhead stocks are blamed for the action. The run size was downgraded from a preseason projection of 118,200 fish to 86,000.
The closure follows other actions meant to help struggling steelhead, including area-specific closures, a reduced bag limit where open, and a no-fishing zone at the mouth of the Deschutes River in Oregon.
For the latest Columbia River fishing regulation updates: ODFW’s Recreation Report at https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone
Lewis River reopens for Chinook harvest
Washington has reopened the Lewis River to the retention of chinook salmon as of Sept. 1, from Johnson Creek to the overhead powerlines below Merwin Dam.
The main reason for the closure was the protection of spring chinook adults needed for egg take by the hatchery. Those fish are now gone, and the fall chinook abundance is strong enough to allow some retention.
Through Sept. 30, anglers may keep a six-fish limit, including four adults, of which two may be hatchery chinook. Only adipose fin-clipped chinook and coho may be kept. Release all wild salmon.
Anglers are reminded to always check for emergency rule changes prior to fishing: https: //fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/ or by calling the fishing hotline at 360-902-2500.
Sport bottomfish opens to all depths
Oregon anglers are now allowed to target bottomfish at any depth starting Sept. 3.
Fishing in depths of more than 40 fathoms for bottomfish has been closed this year to protect yelloweye rockfish. The closure was scheduled to last through September, however fisheries managers recently determined that there was enough yelloweye quota left to remove the seasonal depth restriction.
The change will allow anglers more opportunity to head into deeper waters for bottomfish such as lingcod. Also, the move should shift some effort to deeper waters, which may reduce impacts to many nearshore species that have reached their yearly quota, such as copper rockfish.
“A lot of anglers really look forward to the fall all-depth bottomfish season, especially for offshore lingcod,” said Maggie Sommer, ODFW marine fisheries manager in a news release. “Opening to fishing at all depths at the beginning of September this year should allow anglers to take advantage of this additional opportunity while weather and ocean conditions remain good.”
All-depth halibut anglers may also now retain bottomfish on the same trip, since this is allowed when the sport bottomfish and halibut fisheries are both open at all depths.
For more about bottomfish regulations, visit https://myodfw.com/sport-bottomfish-seasons
