Here's an article I found about a decline in the winter run steelhead.
Mike Chamberlain, owner of Ted's Sport Center in Lynnwood, decided to take a little field trip over the weekend to see for himself whether or not this winter steelhead season is as bad as everyone is saying.
"So I started up the line, about noon, driving the Snohomish/Skykomish, up to the North Fork Stilly, the Sauk and then down the Skagit," Chamberlain said. "I talked to bank fishermen and boaters taking out at several access ramps, and you know how many total fish I saw? One, caught by a guide on the Skagit."
Chamberlain said a state Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer stopped in the shop last week, and the two of them tossed around the idea that this is the worst winter hatchery steelhead season the pair of them had ever seen.
Chamberlain said there were reports recently of small bunches of fish in several of the southwest rivers - Wynoochee, Satsop, Humptulips - but not many.
Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks said the relatively - and he stressed the word "relatively" - good fishing on a handful of the rivers on the Olympic Peninsula was pulling horrendous pressure from around the state.
"We've got every steelheader in Western Washington over here," he said, "and I can understand that, based on what other areas have to offer this season."
Gooding characterized the action in his area as "not great, but fishable."
"If a 10 is the top of the scale, and if, most seasons, we're fishing here at a 7 or 8, this winter it's been probably a 4 or 5," he said. "But even that beats the 1 or 2 on most of the other streams around."
Gooding said the Hoh probably has been the most consistent producer, followed by the Bogachiel. Rain the middle of this week could be the catalyst needed to bring fish into the Sol Duc, he added. The Sol Duc is a well-known "late" river that usually turns on by the end of January.
Mike Chamberlain, owner of Ted's Sport Center in Lynnwood, decided to take a little field trip over the weekend to see for himself whether or not this winter steelhead season is as bad as everyone is saying.
"So I started up the line, about noon, driving the Snohomish/Skykomish, up to the North Fork Stilly, the Sauk and then down the Skagit," Chamberlain said. "I talked to bank fishermen and boaters taking out at several access ramps, and you know how many total fish I saw? One, caught by a guide on the Skagit."
Chamberlain said a state Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer stopped in the shop last week, and the two of them tossed around the idea that this is the worst winter hatchery steelhead season the pair of them had ever seen.
Chamberlain said there were reports recently of small bunches of fish in several of the southwest rivers - Wynoochee, Satsop, Humptulips - but not many.
Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks said the relatively - and he stressed the word "relatively" - good fishing on a handful of the rivers on the Olympic Peninsula was pulling horrendous pressure from around the state.
"We've got every steelheader in Western Washington over here," he said, "and I can understand that, based on what other areas have to offer this season."
Gooding characterized the action in his area as "not great, but fishable."
"If a 10 is the top of the scale, and if, most seasons, we're fishing here at a 7 or 8, this winter it's been probably a 4 or 5," he said. "But even that beats the 1 or 2 on most of the other streams around."
Gooding said the Hoh probably has been the most consistent producer, followed by the Bogachiel. Rain the middle of this week could be the catalyst needed to bring fish into the Sol Duc, he added. The Sol Duc is a well-known "late" river that usually turns on by the end of January.