HOOK AND FUR By Bob Brown The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced hunters may submit applications for a 2016 spring black bear hunting permit, applicable to specific areas of western and eastern Washington. To be eligible for a permit, hunters must purchase and submit an application to WDFW by midnight Feb. 29. A drawing will be held in mid-March for 346 permits in western Washington and 509 permits for hunts east of the Cascades. Permit winners will receive notification by mail no later than March 31. Applicants may also check the department's website for drawing results. Hunters should be aware some owners of private timberland in some hunt areas are limiting access or charging fees for access. If a hunter can't secure access in advance, they shouldn't apply for these hunts.
Razor clamming
WDFW also has approved a month-long razor clam dig at Long Beach Feb. 4 through March 10. All other coastal beaches will remain closed to recreational razor clam digging. The dig at Long Beach is on evening tides, and no digging will be allowed before noon. The department is advising diggers should check tide charts before heading out, since tides of one foot or above are not conducive to digging. Best digging usually occurs one to two hours prior to low tide.
Chinook and sturgeon fishing
Anticipating a return of 299,000 adult spring chinook, fishery managers from Oregon and Washington set this year's initial fishing season to run through April 9 on the lower Columbia River. In addition, the representatives from the two states agreed to close the winter sturgeon retention fishery in Bonneville Pool. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission also wants to end the catchGÇôand-release sturgeon fishery in the lower Columbia to protect the troubled population. To that end, the commission directed WDFW staff to begin talks with Oregon about the phase out. "I can not support any handling or harvest of sturgeon and do not support catchGÇôand-release,GÇ¥ said Conrad Mahnken, a commission member from Bainbridge Island. Sturgeon fishing shifted to catch-and-release-only starting 2014. Since then, angler participation has dropped by 90 percent in the estuary and 82 percent between the estuary and Bonneville Dam. Also, four of the five measurements used to track the health of lower Columbia sturgeon appear down. The good news is the estimated population of legal-size sturgeon in 2016 is 147,000. That's up from 72,700 in 2012, but the bad news is the estimated sturgeon spawningGÇôsize was only 3,040 in 2015, with a three-year average of 3,330, said Patrick Frazier, fish program policy coordinator for WDFW. Frazier also said the sturgeon population is approximately 69 percent juvenile. A healthy population would be 90 to 95 percent juveniles. Sturgeon spawning success in the lower Columbia appears to have been extremely poor in 2015, continuing a trend of poor spawning. The increasing numbers of sea lions in the lower Columbia has not helped the situation. River fishing is starting to improve slightly, but water levels and flows continue to be erratic. Angler participation on the Skookumchuck has been heavy with fair catches being had at times. Water conditions are murky. Joe Hymer of the WDFW said fishing has started to improve on the Cowlitz in the Blue Creek area. During Jan. 25-31, samplings taken of 18 bank anglers tallied eight hatchery steelhead kept, while four boat anglers had one hatchery steelhead kept.
Bob Brown can be contacted at robertb1285@centurylink.net
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