By Bob Brown
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking comments on proposed alternatives on proposed alternatives for the 2018-20 hunting seasons and has scheduled several meetings in July and August to discuss them with the public.
The proposals will be posted by July 17 on the department’s website, where people can comment through Aug. 31. The department (WDFW) has also scheduled a series of public meetings that will run from 7 to 9 p.m. The closest one for Pierce County residents will be held Aug. 2 in Olympia at the Red Lion Hotel, located at 2300 Evergreen Park Dr. Meetings are also scheduled for July 25 in Spokane, July 26 in Wenatchee, July 27 in Yakima, July 31 in Lynnwood, and Aug. 3 in Vancouver.
Anis Aoude, WDFW game division manager, said comments received from the public will be used to develop specific recommendations for the 2018-20 hunting seasons, which will be available for further review in January. Final recommendations will be presented to the Fish and Wildlife Commission for adoption in the spring of 2018.
Down on the Nisqually and other rivers
• A few anglers have been testing the waters of the Nisqually River for anything catchable, but the results have been negligible.
• Fluctuating flows continue to dominate fishing on the Cowlitz. There have been days when fishing has been pretty good, but on other days, it has been mediocre at best.
There was a drop in water flows last week to the mid-5,000 cubic feet per second, which turned out to be a boon for anglers, according to Karen Glaser of Barrier Dam Campground. Glaser reported boat anglers were limiting on steelhead at Blue Creek, while bank anglers at Barrier Dam were catching spring chinook. Glaser said, “Right now, the key to fishing the Cowlitz is persistence.”
Last week, at the Cowlick Salmon Hatchery, Tacoma Power recovered 434 spring chinook, 36 jacks and 50 summer steelhead.
• The WDFW announced the summer chinook fishery reopened July 7 and will run through July 31 on the lower Columbia. Based on the latest projection, 74,100 adult summer chinook will return to the lower Columbia this year,-up from 63,100 anticipated at the start of the season. As a result, the catch guideline has increased by 1,200 fish, said Ron Roler, a WDFW fishery manager.
Bob Brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at robertb1285@centurylink.net.
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