Columbia Quota

[SteelieSteve]

How is it that we have got our 11% of the target number when most of the catch has been native fish so far. How do they estimate a accurate catch number? I read the figures the day they set the closure but all I saw was a guessed number of people & boats fishing. As I have seen if you get 7 biters maybe 2 or 3 will be keepers. Anyone know how F&W gets there numbers? images/icons/rolleyes.gif

[Nanook]

This whole thing is to let the netters back in. Watch and see. Then they may say we can have a few more, maybe. images/icons/confused.gif

[Pete]

ODFW has fish checkers interviewing folks as they end their fishing day. They ask how many were kept and how many were released. An aerial survey determines the total number of boats and the catch rate from the ramp samples is projected to the entire fleet. I asked ODFW what percentages they are seeing and they said it's about 50/50. I can't say that comes close to what I've observed.

[boater]

they know how much money we spend as sportsfisherman, look at the WDFW website, they have economic impact statements for the coast, i`m sure they have some idea what is spent elsewhere, what i could never figure out is why we could use barbed treble hooks, the only reason i could see in them doing that was so the .08 quota was reached sooner because of the high mortality rate with these hooks, what was wrong with single pointed barbless hooks ? what was wrong with them is it would have made the season last longer and that would interfere with the indian netting, after years of barbless hooks in the ocean and puget sound and alot of the rivers, what other reason was there for them letting us use barbed treble hooks with endangered fish in the river other than to get our quota of so called dead endangered fish over with in a hurry. i predict the river will be loaded with nets by the end of the week.

[Pilar]

I'm thinking about the fact that for the first time in a long time we are fishing the Columbia River for springers in mid April. Lots to be thankful for there. My hope is that the Ocean is as productive and Salmon friendly this summer as it was last year.

I'm going out later today to try for spotty tail for the first and last time this spring. Maybe the holiday will thin out the crowds on the river.

If you are eating Springer this weekend think about how lucky you really are.

[SteelieSteve]

Very true Pilar. It is lucky to have a Columbia season at all but with the numbers going up the Columbia don't you think a longer season is justified, especially when most of the hookups have been nates? I was on one of the beaches yesterday and saw only one keeper taken. There was a seal or sea lion in the area chasing the salmon, kinda hard on the bite. images/icons/frown.gif

[Pilar]

Hey SteelieSteve I have to avoid wishful thinking here if possible. It could be that we get more days later. Does anyone know of discussion by the authorities of this possibility? Where will the hatchery fish that go by end up?

That's what I want to know. More days on Columbia would be good, this is the first decent Springer season in years.

[Nanook]

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=003972

[Hoosier Daddy]

Boater: the reason the regs no longer say barbless only is that angler groups and folks within ODFW thought the regulations were too confusing a few years ago. They dropped the barbless hook stuff because it made it difficult to tell where you needed them and where you didn't. They also revamped alot of the statewide regs to make them a little more consistent. I personally think that playing time and stress involved with how you release the fish has more to do with mortality than what kind of hook you use, although single barbless is obviously less stressful than barbed trebles.