MYTH OF THE LATE LEWIS COHO.....sorta

[ssteelheadsteve]

After guiding on the Lewis for about 10 years I noticed a strange occurence.The big bright late October, all of November and first part of December Coho were not around like they should be.Forget El Nino. I knew something was wrong.A call to regional fisheries manager Bruce Crawford put me on the trail to the truth.He put me on to the right guys on the Salmon side of Wash. fish management.The tale as told to me follows.
The NF of the Lewis was a major producer of Salmon before the Dams (duh).Production on the Lewis was estimated to be far better than the Cowlitz or Clackamas. The NFL had Coho entering in August and Continuning to late Feb.When the dams were built a decision was made to use an early and late return stratgey on the NFL.This worked for several years and we all enjoyed the benefits.One of the great benefits was that the 2 stocks of Coho used not only had different return times but they also went seperate ways in the Ocean.This diversity allowed poor survival of one stock to be somewhat offset by a good return by the other stock.Then the Salmon wars between Oregon and Washington began and the NFL Coho were in trouble.It seems that someone discovered that some of the early returning Coho were "S" fish.South turners that hung out too long off the OREGON coast and providing OR anglers a chance to catch WA fish.Bad if you are a WA. fish manager or legislator.Up untill this discovery the stocks were managed seperately in the hatchery.And at about a 50/50 ratio of early vs. late returners.
The Gillneters and others in WA. did not want sports or OR anglers catching their fish.So the hatchery started doing a larger number of late "N" fish.They turn north at the Columbia and return after the sport season is generally over in the Ocean and the Columbia.To the benefit of the Gilneters.
I reported this on TV in the 80's and it had an effect.Not the one I thought best for Anglers and fish.
WA decided to no longer try to seperate the late stock from the early stock in the hatchery.There are several reasons.I'll leave that to the readers imagination.Space and money were the reasons given by WA fish managers.If you look at the gillnet harvest timing in the Columbia river you might think differently.
For many years I looked forward to the NFL on Thanksgiving Weekend.Big Bright Coho and lots of them.Not anymore.The Hatchery has totally screwed this run up.Come to think of it there really are NO hatchery success stories in the WORLD.I believe a strong case can be made to prove that WA fish managers have once again manipulated a hatchery for the benefit of the commercial fishers and not a crumb of concern for the sports.I suspect the same strategy has been used on the Cowlitz but I have no proff. In the 70's & 80'S 50 Coho a day for 4 rods was not a big deal on the NF Lewis.Tough job now.
I know several of you will prove me wrong and say the late run is in good shape because you will catch a few.This year should be better than most.It's the low abundance years that worry me.The low's keeep getting lower.That is a concern.This is a freak year.Enjoy it.
Good Luck
SS


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[ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: ssteelheadsteve ]