July 15, 2010

US rivers Baker and Skagit to open for salmon fishing

The Baker and Skagit rivers open Friday (July 16) through Sunday (July 18) for sockeye salmon fishing, and word has it that Baker Lake could open as soon as Thursday (July 22) for the first time ever.

"The sockeye fooled us again and have been pouring into the river, and (Tuesday) we had 4,868 sockeye in the lake and 2,994 at the hatchery," said Brett Barkdull, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.

The hatchery spawning goal this summer is 3,800 sockeye, and the lake goal is 2,500. The preseason forecast was 4,485.

"The tribal fishery went in (Wednesday) and they were not catching fish at the rate we thought," Barkdull said. "I would expect catches in the sport fishery will be low, since we normally open it earlier around July 1."

Sockeye fishing is allowed from Baker mouth to Highway 20 Bridge; and Skagit from The Dalles Bridge at Concrete to a point 200 feet above the east bank of the Baker River. The daily limit is two sockeyes.

"If we open up (Baker Lake) my guess is that you would fish it like Lake Wenatchee," Barkdull said. "There (at Lake Wenatchee) the fish tend to stack up on the inlet side, and it is a crack of dawn first thing in the morning show."

This highly popular marked selective chinook fishery (which means only fish with a missing adipose fin may be kept) began in 2007, and targets healthy hatchery fish stocks while releasing wild fish.

"Since that first year fishing hasn't been so great, but judging by what we saw for catch rates in (south-central Puget Sound) this past June we could be in for a good season," said Tony Floor, director of fishing affairs for the Northwest Marine Trade Association.

This past month in south-central Sound anglers caught 1,100 chinook, which was the second highest since 2007, as compared to 2009 when 550 were hooked in June.

Charter boats fishing off Jefferson Head in central Sound have reported fair action for small coho and were releasing some kings.