35 replies to this topic

[bzzrd feedr]

Well I hear it's official. Can you believe No Salmon Season. There's gong to be alot of boats for sale cheap, both commercial and sport. What a bummer.

[socal shooter]

is that for everywhere or just california?

[CoyoteHuntress]

For how long? Are we talking just this year or more? I dont do any salmon fishing but curious all the same

[Jeff]

Really? That's hard to believe. I don't fish much anymore, but that's still a shame. Anybody know the reason behind this one?

[ShooterJohn]

The fish population numbers are way down for 800,000 counted in the Sacramento River a couple of years ago to less than 90,000 last season.Read about it.HERE!

[CoyoteHuntress]

Well its no wonder... Have you seen were certain ethnic groups line the river with shopping carts to form a dam to hold the fish back and they were just loading their vehicles??

[ShooterJohn]

Yep and they never have a license and they don't throw anything back. Those are some varmints I'd like to hunt!

[Moe]

I could write a book about this. It's true California salmon feed in Oregon and Washington waters but it's also true that California, Oregon and Washington fish feed in Canadian waters and every time the US has had a closure Canada has failed to follow suit. In fact, the Canadians have great salmon fishing and welcome US fishermen to the lodges in BC bragging that there's no closure there. Most of Canada's fish feed in Alaskan waters and they get real upset that Alaskan fishermen catch Canadian salmon. In fact, at one time they wouldn't allow US fishermen to pass through their waters on their way north to the fishing grounds. They may still do that for all I know.Some of you know that I have a boat and spend much of my summer on the ocean salmon fishing. One thing I can tell you is that the commercial guys find the fish and stay on top of them fishing 24 hours a day 7 days a week. When a boat has to go in for fuel, food or to unload their fish someone takes his place and they will follow the fish throughout the entire season. There's always a fleet of commercial boats on top of the fish. Then there's guys like me who go out on the weekend hoping to catch a couple of salmon and go back to the marina spending hundreds of dollars in the process. Tell me which guy aids the local economy the most.If you happen to run across the commercial fleet fishing and want to get on the fish with them for a couple of hours some of them will do everything they can to intimidate you. They'll steer their boat straight for you turning at the last possible second trying to make you nervous. If they're serious about saving the fish they'll curtail the commercial guys and cut the sport limit to one fish per day. I think this only applies to the king salmon fishery. We'll probably still have coho. A salmon closure usually puts a lot of pressure on the bottom fishery so I'd look for that to close early, too. Fortunately, I'm putting my boat up for sale after the 4th of July. Someone else can worry about this. Except for sockeye, farmed salmon tastes way better than any wild fish I've ever eaten. Most of the horror stories you've heard about farm raised fish is pure BS. Propaganda from the commercial fishing lobby. Farmed salmon have a controlled diet that they use to regulate the flavor and all salmon need clean water to survive.

[xyourlocaldjx]

They'll steer their boat straight for you turning at the last possible second trying to make you nervous. If they're serious about saving the fish they'll curtail the

I think our shotguns will be more intimidating

[Truckeedan]

My son is a member of the Coastside Fishing Club and follows this issue closely. He tells me that there may be a couple of weekend openings but that will be determined at the fisheries meeting up north later this month. He feels that there won't be a salmon season for at least a complete four year fish spawning cycle.Moe, we haven't been able to fish Coho for a few years now. They are protected south of SF for sure and I think the whole state.We went through this dog poop a year ago with the Klamath salmon. The fisheries folks wanted to shut us down then and they did shut down the commercial guys. Last year the Klamath had an all time record run based on the fish count taken above where the indians took 20,000 in nets. Something like 800,000 fish were counted that returned to spawn.Salmon may spawn on average on a four year cycle but man is not in charge of their timing. If that were the case you would think they would all be the same approximate size. I am of the opinion that ocean currents and tempratures play a bigger part in affecting the spawning cycles than so called scientists think. And, it is pretty obvious that all the fish born in a given year don't stay together once they hit the ocean.

[Moe]

Pity the poor salmon. Seriously. Take the coho, for instance. They're a 4 year return fish. Not many know it but they spend at least the first two year of their life in their natal stream. They have to deal with the danger of being eaten by trout, squawfish, bass, birds and a host of other predators. The farmers pump water out of the rivers and put the pump intakes near the shore where the salmon spend most of their time trying to avoid predators. The farmers are supposed to place screens over the pump intakes but that makes them get plugged up so they fudge and when the pump starts the smolt are sucked up by the thousands. Millions, actually. If the salmon has to go through a dam it may get sucked in to the turbines getting ground up to feed the large trout that hang around the outlets getting very fat on all that good feed.If the young salmon is lucky enough to survive the dangers of the river and gets to the ocean he still has to survive all of the predators who want to eat him once he gets to the open ocean. On an average he gains 8 lbs for every year he's in the salt but size is no guarantee of survival. His predators just get larger plus he has the Russians and Japanese fishing the high seas for him. Once he heads back to his natal stream he's pursued by the coastal commercial fishers plus all of the sports fishers. When he enters his natal stream he still has the sports fishers after him as well as the indian tribes who fish with nets. If there's no rain at the right time he may not be able to make it up stream to spawn but he's still pursued by predators like seals and sea lions who swim upstream to continue feeding on his kind. I've seen them as far as 120 miles inland when I was fishing for steelhead in Canada. Eagles and ospreys are also large consumers of salmon. The dams wreak havoc on the salmon in lots of different ways. Mostly, they turn the cold streams into lakes that warm in the sun and nurture the warm water species that like to feed on the salmon smolt. It's really a wonder that the salmon has survived this long. Politicians are another big enemy of the salmon as well as developers, loggers and farmers. Just shutting down the fishing won't do much but it will help. I just wish these people really knew what they were doing. No one wants to claim responsibility and politicians who want to stay in office will attempt to intervene for the fishing lobby like our s**t for brains governor and one of our Representatives, David Wu.

[Truckeedan]

Well said Moe. You hit the nail right on the head.Truckeedan

[bzzrd feedr]

One of the possible reasons for the the salmon's drop has been attributed to the pumping water south and the drastic drop in the delta smelt which the salmon smolt feed on while on their way out thru the delta. It's a real bummer I love fresh salmon on the BBQ. That 41#'r I caught last year may be the last for a while.

[Arise]

That 41#'r I caught last year

That's a whopper! Gotta Pic?

[Moe]

I've got a pic.......From what I hear we'll get to fish on the holidays. Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. No commercial season so we'll get a real short ground fish season as the commercial guys will get some of the sport quota. What they'll do is give the sports fishers a more generous all depth halibut fishery. It will be hard to catch halibut of any size after the first couple of openings. Oh, well.

Attached Files

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[bzzrd feedr]

That's a whopper! Gotta Pic?

Yep, cheers the big one was 41# and the other one was 37#. One of the guys in our group of boats caught a 46#'r so I didn't even win the pot.

[SAGITARUS]

If only my native american brothers and sisters were managing the wildlife of this nation we would not be in this mess in the first place...too many european decendants messing it all up for the TRUE AMERICANS by industrialization/commercializations....from the so-called founding fathers of this nation to the current decendant generation has continued the repeated rape over and over of the land and sea of this continent.

[Moe]

Your forefathers should've had stricter immigration laws.

[Jason]

I figure we'll never see Salmon fishing come back. Once they close it they will probably never open it again. As soon as they try to reopen it a few years down the road every enviro will initiate a lawsuit that it will never happen. When you couple this closure with the closures of areas up and down the coast to fishing I feel very sad.

[Moe]

Don't get disheartened. Fishing is still open in the rivers up here. There was a closure on cohos up here a number of years ago and it was opened back up for sports fishers. Sports fishing is big business and a big source of revenue for the states. Politicians will be stumbling over each other to curry favor. Fishing isn't the same as hunting in their eyes.

[bzzrd feedr]

Moe Our rivers are going to get closed by the state dfg. I hope it comes back but the way they pump the water south out of the delta it may be doomed. Socal doesn't have any other water sources except the Dryed out overtapped Colorado. It is a fricking mess for sure.

[Fishwrestler]

UPDATE AS OF noon today Salmon fishing season canceled in CaliforniaBy Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com Last Updated 12:00 pm PDT Tuesday, April 15, 2008In a decision they called "tragic" and "painful," state wildlife officials Tuesday reluctantly banned fishing for salmon in California coastal waters this year.The unanimous decision by the California Fish and Game Commission closes both commercial and recreational fishing in state coastal waters, which extend out three miles from shore. It brings California into line with a vote last week in Seattle by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which banned salmon fishing in federal waters reaching out 200 miles.The commission delayed a vote on salmon-fishing restrictions in Central Valley rivers until its May 9 meeting. But it looks very likely that the rivers also will be closed to salmon fishing. Salmon fishing has never been closed completely along the entire California coast. But fisheries experts believe the closures are required to ensure survival of the Central Valley fall-run chinook population. The species is the backbone of the Pacific Coast's salmon fishery and is expected to see record-low spawning numbers this fall for reasons still not fully understood.Commission Chairman Richard Rogers said the closures, together with the state's broader economic woes, pose a "perfect storm" of problems that may drive many fishing businesses out of existence. The state predicts a $255 million economic impact and a loss of 2,263 jobs as a result of the closures."That's one of the most painful votes I think we've ever taken," Rogers said. "I'm very sorry we had to do that."http://www.sacbee.co...ory/863899.html

[Cranky Farmer]

Sorry gents, this has got to have you in a tizzy. I can't imagine making payments on an expensive boat that you couldn't use.

[Moe]

Salmon is only one of the species we fish for and California has other options, too. We'll still be crabbing and fishing for tuna, halibut and groundfish plus we'll just be enjoying the marina and all of our neighbors down there. In Oregon there will still be salmon fishing in the rivers so we could move our boat to the Columbia or just wait for the run up through Yaquina Bay in the fall. Lots of big sturgeon in the rivers as well.I mostly feel bad for the California guys who have a boat just for fishing the rivers but it seems to me that California has something we don't but I wish we did.......stripers. Which IMHO taste a whole lot better than any kind of salmon we catch in Oregon. (We don't catch sockeye) My cousin keeps a boat at the Delta and fishes for catfish and stripers during the summer and he seems happy enough. It's what I'd be doing if I lived down there.

[Truckeedan]

A federal judge in Fresno issued a ruling yesterday that requires the state to formulate a new water management plan that will keep up to 30% for the current amount of water from the delta used for agriculture from being diverted. The ruling should have an impact on the central valley rivers salmon and steelhead runs so maybe there is hope yet.

[lilwes278]

...California has something we don't but I wish we did.......stripers.

Supposedly there's pretty good striper fishing on the Umpqua. I agree they are an excellent tasting fish and probably one of the most fun to catch since they're such great fighters.

[bzzrd feedr]

The Umpqua is an awesome river. I've caught steelhead, smallmouth and american shad on it. I've heard there is a decent sturgeon fishery but have never heard about stripers, could be very possible that it has stripers too. Beautiful River for sure. The spring striper run is really heating up in the delta, with the trollers working the tule berms, where they hold producing limits when the wind lays down.

[SAGITARUS]

Here's one editorial that seem to be on the objective about this issue..."April 16, 2008 Headlines Salmon Season Closed It's been quite awhile since anglers have received any good news in regards to our fisheries but that is exactly what we want to share with our readers today. GOOD NEWS X THREE!. See our "Fishing News" page for key policy changes and a court ruling that will improve our future salmon returns. No, we will not have an ocean salmon season this year or next but this bill, a court ruling and a new F&G and federal hatchery release policy will help enhance our fisheries in the future. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Connnk, connnk, connnk... that is the PFMC's hammer, nailing in the last spike to the coffin of our California salmon fisheries. We just received word on Thursday 4-10 evening that the entire coast of California has been closed to salmon fishing. Our source who called in at 6:PM from the PFMC meeting left just a brief message saying that while they tried to get a short Klamath Management Zone and Eureka fishery as well as a few holiday weekends the models could not justify any fishery at all in California. Oregon fared only slightly better with no commercial season and a few very limited sport areas open this year. We still don't know the allowed quota for the Klamath in-river fishery and if there will be a fishery with no adult take on the Central Valley rivers??? It is NOT the PFMC's fault for closing the fishery. The collapse of our salmon fisheries is due to the governor of California allowing unchecked water diversion by the state Department of Water Resources and the BOR which resulted in the collapse of the Delta food chain. This coupled with (but certainly not the largest impact) with poor ocean feed conditions in 2005 and 2006 and the 50% reduction in hatchery production over the past few years are the reason (s) for the collapse of our salmon stocks. It's not over fishing, it's just a complete incompetence by our state and federal agencies who are suppose to manage and protect our water and fishery resources who are to blame. One day, maybe the public will wake but for now it's too late and a $100 million plus fishery has been lost. Only though the support of the many organizations that are fighting for the recovery of our fisheries will we every have a salmon fishery again. I hope that our readers will support us and the many others out there in that effort. The salmon have no voice other than anglers and if we don't continue this battle we will have failed our children and a fishery will love so much. What a terrible legacy we have left the generations behind us. I hope that the politicians, fishery managers and the governor are out there are proud of their "accomplishments". Mike Aughney-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back on the Soap BoxThe future of our fisheries appear very bleak. Between the nearly complete shut down of our California salmon fisheries, the upcoming adoption of MLPAs, shortened rockfish seasons, the collapse of the Delta due to unprecedented water diversion levels and the complete lack of management by the Department of Fish and Game we are now on the edge of a compete collapse of not only our fisheries but sportfishing as we know it today.There is some hope of a better future but only if sport anglers support the many groups that are working their tails off to ensure viable fisheries in the future. I receive several emails every week from readers asking who they should support? The short answer is all of them. While these groups do compete to get their "message" out all have one thing in common, healthy viable fisheries and our right to fish in the future.With the salmon season all but completely shut down for the next two years we are going to be much more focused on the political side of our fisheries and will be highlighting different fishery groups and the great things they are doing throughout our pages. Over the past several months we have been talking up Water4fish.org We have been working closely water4fish founders Dick Poole and Sep Hendrickson. To date over 55,000 sport anglers have signed their petition. Dick has said that USAFishing.com readers have been key to their success of raising political support to stop future water diversions out of the Delta and our rivers. He just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their support and sent a letter stating that this week. That battle in far from over and much more needs to be done on many fronts. The most pressing issue right now is the MLPAs and the effects it will have on recreational fishing opportunities for decades to come. The Coastside Fishing Club has been leading the charge to keep huge areas of our coast from being shut down to sportfishing through the MLPAS process. For the past several years they have been at the forefront of this fight and have come up with the best proposal "2XA" which will protect fisheries and allow sportfishing in many of the MLPAs to continue. They are working closely with the ASA to ensure that YOU can have the right to fish in the future. Environmental groups have been spending millions to use the MLPA process to stop fishing along huge swaths of our coast. Individuals within Coastside have put in literally 1000s of hours of their own personal time to fight for your right to fish. We are asking that you go to http://capwiz.com/ke...ESS=Take Action and sign their petition. It takes only about two minutes to support your right to fish in the future. I want to express my thanks to Coastside for all they have done. I only hope that our readers see how important this issue is. If 2XA is not adopted by the Cal Fish and Game Commission we could lose nearly all of our most viable rockfishing areas within state waters from Pigeon Pt to Point Arena. Anglers need to get involved with the political process and support the many groups that are fighting for the fisheries we all so much love. If every California angler donated the equivalent of what they spend on their annual fishing license ($38.85 plus stamps) over $100 MILLION could be raised ever year. With a war chest of this size sportfishing organizations would have the political clout and funding to turn our fisheries around. If anglers don't support these groups then our fisheries and fishing rights will only continue to vanish right before our eyes. Mike Aughney"

[lilwes278]

Thought you salmon guys might want to hear what's going on up north.Oregon & Washington state had voted to kill off up to 85 sea lions per year for the next 5 years from the Bonneville Damn on the Columbia River due to the impact the sea lions were having on the salmon run. Of course PETA and all of the other animal right's groups intervened through the courts and a compromise to trap and relocate the animals was made. Since then, 3 sea lions have been successfully relocated to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. One has died under anesthesia while waiting to be relocated at a Tacoma, Washington zoo. And the big news: Yesterday afternoon officials found the bodies of 6 sea lions that were shot to death inside the traps. Since the sea lions are federally protected, both state and federal authorities are investigating. I can only imagine how the animal right's groups are going to react to this. They're so worried about killing up to 425 sea lions over the next 5 years, but what about the salmon who's numbers are already dangerously low??? If you figure each sea lion kills 1 to 2 fish per day, that's 85 to 170 fish per day or roughly 2,635 to 5,270 salmon saved just in the month of May alone. Evidently common sense is not a factor with the animal right's groups. Fish & Game should have just killed off the sea lions instead of wasting tons of time, tax dollars, and SALMON.

[Moe]

I know for a fact that sea lions kill more than just one or two fish per day. Seals, too. At the mouth of the Columbia when I kept my boat at Ilwaco I watched two or 3 sea lions get into a school of king salmon. The sea lions would bring the fish to the surface and shake their head until the fish came apart then grab another one. We watched them destroy at least two dozen salmon. This was in open water. Just imagine how they work where the fish are stacked up at the fish ladder.It's amazing to me that sea lions can keep up with the salmon but they can. Those big blobs of fat are extremely agile and fast. When I lived in SE Alaska I don't know how many salmon I caught that had a seal bite on them. Seals get into a school of salmon and take a bite out of as many fish as they can then feed on the carnage. I've had seals attack a fish while I was playing it.