HOOK AND FUR By Bob Brown Most marine areas of Puget Sound will reopen Oct. 1 for recreational crab fishing. The openings were approved by fishery managers after summer catch assessments indicated more crab are available for harvest, said Rich Childers, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlfe (WDFW) shellfish manager. Reopening to sport crabbing at 8 a.m. are marine areas 4 (Neah Bay, east of the Tatoosh-Bonilla line), 5 (Sekiu), 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island, and Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island), 12 (Hood Canal), and 13 (South Puget Sound). In each area crabbing will be allowed seven days a week through Dec. 31. Sport crabbing will not reopen at this time in Marine Area 10 (Seattle-Bremerton). The daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6.25 inches. In addition, fishers may catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least five inches across, which are valid through Dec. 31. All Dungeness crab caught in the late-season fishery must be recorded on winter catch cards. Winter cards are free to those with crab endorsements and available at license vendors across the state. Winter catch reports are due to the WDFW by Feb. 1, 2016 . More information on catch report cards is available on the department's website.
Rivers report
" Fishing on the Cowlitz River continues to be better than fair. Anglers are catching a mix of fall chinook, coho, summer-run steelhead and cutthroat trout. Chinook are being caught throughout the river, coho in the lower areas, and steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout around the trout hatchery. Just about half of the chinook caught were wild and had to be released. During Sept. 14-20, Tacoma Power recovered 306 summer steelhead, 73 spring chinook, seven jacks, 707 fall chinook, 71 jacks, 94 coho, 18 jacks and 18 cutthroat. " Lewis River bank anglers have been catching some coho and summer steelhead near the trout hatchery. Joe Hymer of the WDFW reported that during the first six days of the no chinook retention below the Lewis, department personnel sampled 833 salmon anglers (including189 boats) with 335 adult and 17 jack fall chinook, four adult coho, nine steelhead and four adult coho. Overall, 310 of the adult chinook were kept. Below the mouth of the Lewis, 20 adult fall chinook were released. As of Sept. 22, 755,455 fall chinook had passed over Bonneville Dam. The Technical Advisory Committee expects the early coho run (through September) at Bonneville Dam to be approximately 27,000 fish compared to a pre-season expectation of over 140,000. This will be the fewest fish counted at the dam since 1997.
About mule deer
WDFW is seeking public comments through Oct.31 on a draft plan to guide management of the state's mule deer population. Key objectives in the plan include maintaining stable mule deer opportunities for both hunters and wildlife watchers. It also covers strategies to reduce damage caused by deer to crops and personal property. "This plan will serve as the foundation for sustainable managing mule deer throughout their range in Washington,GÇ¥ said Jerry Nelson, deer and elk section manager for WDFW. "We encourage people to give us feedback on the management approaches we have identified.GÇ¥ Despite two tough fire seasons, mule deer populations are generally in good shape, said Nelson. The plan is available on the department's webpage.
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