In a Nov. 10 news release, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced it was increasing the daily catch limit for adult coho salmon throughout the Chehalis Basin.
Anglers can now catch a daily limit of six salmon and can retain two adults with a minimum size of 12 inches.
No more than one of the retained fish may be a wild coho, and the other must be a farmed fish. The catch limit change will take effect on November 12th and will end on November 30th.
Any Chinook salmon caught must be released.
According to the WDFW release, Grays Harbor breeders have exceeded pre-season forecasts when it comes to returning Coho salmon.
“Evaluations of commercial catch information and trap counts indicate that returns of both wild-caught and hatchery-caught Coho salmon in the Chehalis Basin are sufficient to meet or exceed management goals,” he said. affirm the statement. “This, coupled with a reduced opportunity earlier in the season due to environmental conditions, now provides a greater opportunity.”
The specific places where the catch limit is raised are the following:
• Riu Negre, from the mouth of the river to the 128 SE avenue bridge
• Chehalis River, from the Highway 101 Bridge to the Weyerhaeuser 1000 Line High Bridge
• Elk River, from the 105 Freeway Bridge to the confluence of the Middle Branch
• The Hoquiam River, including the West Fork, from the Highway 101 Bridge to Dekay Road
• Hoquiam River, East Fork, from the mouth of the river to the confluence of Berryman Creek
• Johns River, from the Highway 105 bridge to the confluence of Ballon Creek
• Newaukum River, including the South Fork, from the mouth of the river to Leonard Road
• Satsop River and East Fork, from the mouth of the river to the bridge at Schafer State Park
• Satsop River and East Fork, from 400 feet below Bingham Creek Hatchery Dam to the dam itself
• Skookumchuck River, from the mouth of the river to 100 feet below the outlet of the TransAlta WDFW Steelhead rearing ponds
• Van Winkle Creek, from the mouth of the creek to 400 feet below Aberdeen Lake hatchery outlet
• Wishkah River, from the mouth of the river to 200 feet below the Wishkah Hatchery Ponds weir, as well as 150 feet upstream and 150 feet downstream of the Wishkah Adult Attraction Channel and the ‘issuer structure (fishing limits are shown)
• Wynoochee River, from the mouth of the river to the WDFW White Bridge access site
All anglers must have current Washington State fishing licenses. Anglers can also sign up to receive fishing change notification emails at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/lists.
For more information on fishing seasons and regulations, visit https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations. For more information on the limit increase, contact the WDFW Region 6 office at 360-249-4628.