Tuesday's Commercial net results

[Pete]

Reported by WDFW:

Note, this reflects the stock composition and effort, but does not reflect complete catch. Further, the number of boats or total drifts is not reorted.

Results from Tuesday's (03-02-04) 16hr fishery. This data is observations only, not a complete detail of stock summary, nor a complete tally of landings. This is just a snapshot of what the count and stock compostion (based on visual ID) looked like while observers were on board. (I don't know what times during the 5 AM to 9 PM season observers were on the boats.)

77 drifts were observed resulting in 12 chinook and 4 steelhead, showing 75% of the catch were chinook. Of the 12 chinook observed, 11 were white face (assumed lower river stock) 8 of which were marked and 1 black-face (assumed Up River stock) which was not marked, resulting in a 67% mark rate for chinook. 8% of the chinook were visually ID'd as upriver.

Steelhead data showed 3 of the 4 sthd were wild.

Poor weather conditions (fog) may have had negitive impact effort during the early tide river-wide.

Looks to me like we are still in a waiting mode. An announcement should be made later today about whether there will be a commercial fishery on Thursday, 3/4.

[Blue Tip Spinner]

thanks pete!

[Blue Water 23]

I am not understanding something. How does 77 nets only get 12 chinook? Yet 15 boats at Selwood this morning have caught 6 fish? If the nets are only getting that many it doesn't sound like there should be that many fish in the river. I hope somebody can correct me so I will have faith fishing this weekend.

[Time Off]

Pete, that number seems really low to me. How does this compare to previous years sampling?

[Pete]

I think - purely speculation, I don't have last years day by day reports - that there was an early surge of Willamette fish and the rest of the run hasn't come in strong yet. I suspect the fleet is getting anxious to get some fish ... they don't pay their bills unless they have fish to sell and they can't pursue other fisheries while they wait for an open day. But if the fish don't cooperate, they can't do much about it.

[Ty]

Heard the CR is near 37 degree's... BURRRR... more than liekly holding springer off, untill we get warmer water conditions.

[Chromaflage]

Thanks for the report, Pete!

Any smelt in those nets?

ORS

[Pete]

I would be very surprised if there were any smelt in the 9 1/4 inch mesh nets ... those would be some beefy smelt! :grin:

[Bill Monroe]

FYI...
I fished yesterday with Steve King, who said there's no way the nets can scour a river of its fish...he said fishing can still be very good during net seasons. They went fishing because it's getting late for them and they're unlikely to get to fish in April. There also are few netters using the bottom nets any longer.

Those could have been some large steelhead. It's for sure, though, that too many steelhead will torpedo their fishing...

[ 03-03-2004, 01:55 PM: Message edited by: Bill Monroe ]

[Blue Tip Spinner]

pete- appearently they were wrong. :depressed: i guess it shows that regardless of what size net is used, our steelhead will still get caught and handled.

[cosmo]

I'd have liked to have seen the four steelhead that were large enough to get caught in 9 inch mesh. Those are the dandys.

[ 03-03-2004, 02:01 PM: Message edited by: cosmo ]

[Blue Water 23]

A good day for a gillnetter is 20? I just assumed that they caught hundreds every day.
How many different boats are working each Tuesday and Thursday?

[Killertraylor]

That's right, bluewater. When they fish for fall chinook at night, they sometimes catch 200 if they let them go in late in the run, but springers are much harder for them to catch. The guy I know had a few days last year where he got 18-20, and at $100-$120 per fish, that's an excellent day for them. That's why this fishery never makes any sense economically. I'm not sure how many boats are out, but I'd guess somewhere around 100 between here and the mouth.

Thanks for the clarification, Pete. And you guys are right, a steelhead that gets caught in 9 inch mesh is at least 20 lbs. I went out with my gillnetter friend a few years ago on a sturgeon gillnet trip and he cought 2 steelhead that night in 9 inch mesh and both were 25 lbs plus. Sad thing is they usually die in the net and they aren't permitted to keep them so they just toss them over.

[Bill Monroe]

Pete, et al...
Just hung up the phone with Steve Williams...number was 205 chinook caught Tuesday. He said using some steelhead catch data from observers and extrapolating it across the fleet they estimated 100 steelhead revived and released. All boats have to have Jesus boxes regardless of net size...and they're only in for 45 minutes at a time, so fish aren't dangling for hours at a time like the old days...Williams also said he is wary of the 100 steelhead figure, which he said seems pretty high. I'm guessing that rather than that many 20 pounders in the run, they may have been caught around the bodies instead of the gills...
A second season was set for Thursday night...3 p.m. until 7 a.m. Friday.

[Freakwater]

What part of the river were they netting?

[ 03-03-2004, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Freakwater ]

[WillFish]

Anyone know of a link where the commercial catch numbers can be accessed?

How about Columbia River water temps?

Thanks

[FishinTechnician]

I think I see a solution in here to the gillnet problem. Take their nets away and give them poles and reels and a little instruction from a good guide. They can go ahead and sell their rod and reel caught fish and release the wild ones just like the rest of us. This way they'll have to work at it everday to earn a living like the the rest of us.

[Lured In]

Pete here is some more on yesterday's results. I beleive the 'observed' was only for sampling purposes. There appears to be more when you look at the following. It is from the CRC March 3rd reports.

JOINT STAFF REPORT
WINTER FACT SHEET
Columbia River Compact
March 3, 2004
Purpose: To consider non-Indian commercial fishing seasons for salmon and
sturgeon in the Columbia River
Spring Chinook:
• .Monitoring Data: (3/2/04) 77 drifts resulted in 12 chinook and 4 steelhead. The
chinook mark rate was 67% and 8% of the chinook were Upriver stock
• Sampling Summary: 101 chinook were sampled. Lower River stock accounted for
85% of the catch. The average weight was 18.9 pounds.
• Landings Summary: 69 deliveries with 205 chinook and 21 sturgeon.
Impacts:
• Up River Stock – 0.006% (Guideline 0.8%). Based on mark rate observed in test
fisheries and monitoring (70%).
• Wild Winter Steelhead – 0.068% (Guideline 2%)

[boater]

[ 03-03-2004, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: boater ]

[blacktail519]

Bluewater,
I beleive the nets they are running are setting around 10 feet off the bottom in 25 feet of water. This would tell me that when they are netting during daylight hours, these fish are running close to the bottom, thus for reducing the catch by the gillnetters. But then again, i'm justb a fisherman :grin:

[boater]

Originally posted by Bill Monroe:
they estimated 100 steelhead revived and released. All boats have to have Jesus boxes regardless of net size...and they're only in for 45 minutes at a time, so fish aren't dangling for hours at a time like the old days

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">they are saying that all 100 steelhead swam away like nothing happened to them ?, i realy think thats a bunch of "you know what", and as far as the 45 minute soak time the mortality rate for the large mesh nets using the 45 minute soak time is 30 percent for steelhead and 40 percent for wild chinook, call the game department and ask them if you think i`m full of "you know what".

[212hjet]

Lured In: Can you give us a web site for the info you recited?
Thanks.

[WheresMyBobber]

Bill, you said it's unlikely that they'll get to fish in April. But for as far back as I can remember they usually seem to get quite a few extensions which included going into April. Is my memory fading?

[Pitch Pocket]

I went out at St Helens yesterday and watched a netter at the mouth of the channel bring in his net. Zippo, but he said he had 1 fish and his buddy who was at Warrior Rock, had 3 for a total of four between them by 2:30pm. Didn't see an observer on either boat.

BTW, the Columbia is running 43.5 degrees right now according to my electronics.

[ 03-03-2004, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: Pitch Pocket ]

[glowball]

They'd be super-smelt.

[slabhunter]

Pitch Pocket, Temp sounds about right. I read the response above and went to another site. Their report was 6c. 6x2=12 12+32=44

[Killertraylor]

I thought this was a tangle tooth net opener, not 9 inch?

Those numbers seem about right for the daytime. The fish can see the mesh pretty easily (plus it was sunny yesterday) and the catch always goes way up when it gets dark. Remember, a very good day for a gillnetter is 20 springers and very few get that many - this isn't like gillnetting Alaska for Sockeye! I haven't talked to him, but I heard that the guy I know only got 3 and he was down below the bridge by Ilwaco. Sportsfishermen will find it hard to believe that they outfished the gillnet fleet, but it was probably pretty close yesterday.

[Chromaflage]

LOL! Guys, I hope you know I was joking....with all the anxiety about the smelt runs, I thought I just add to it.... :grin:

ORS

[Pete]

KillerT, they will use the large mesh until the numbers of steelhead drop off. Tooth tangle nets are used for the test fishery, so they know the numbers of steelies in the river, but until the numbers drop off they will use the large mesh. What's really surprising is that they caught any steelhead at all. The idea of using 9 1/4 mesh, instead of the 8 inch they used initially last year is that the steelhead should be able to swim through, thus reducing impact on non-target species.

[Pete]

212hjet, the CRC link is near the bottom of the Ifish Data Page ... which is linked at the top of this forum.

[Bill Monroe]

There is a slim chance they'll net a little in April, but not likely given their impacts and the fact that they've been separated this year from the sport impacts.

And yes, there is a higher mortality on short-soak steelhead...that could stop them, too, since a lot of those seen weren't clipped...but the 100 figure is an estimate based on observations and biologists think it's too high...they'll look closer for a better figure. I think steelhead hold up more at night (but am not sure), so perhaps the number will go down with tonight's fishing.

[SteelieSteve]

Bill whats the survival rate for those Steelhead released by the netters? 0 to 10%?

[luguando]

Pete,

I agree with Blue Water. I find it extremely hard to believe that only 12 salmon were netted on Tuesday. I was out on Monday 3-1-04 and we caught 3 springers. How can one boat catch 3 and 77 nets only get 4? Give me a break!

[luguando]

whoops,

My math was wrong. The reported catch of salmon was 12. Still, I can't see where we caught 3 and 77 nets get only 12. We used kwikfish and the salmon had to come to the lure and bite it. The nets drift along a fairly lengthy portion of the river and they capture most of the fish in their path. Something's fishy about that report. I'm not calling you a liar Pete. I appreciate all the info you post. I was on the water near the time of the netting and I saw a much different picture.

[DJFISHS2XS]

Guys you can catch lots of smelt in gill net's there teeth get caught in the mesh....the Indians in the great lake bring smelt in everyday that the pluck from the nets...Im not pulling your leg...DJ

[Killertraylor]

So, luguando, you were on the water on Monday, cought 3 springers and "saw a much different picture" from the gillnetters? The nets weren't out until Tuesday...and what are you saying, you personally saw a gillnet boat hauling in lots of fish? I've watched gillnetters net springers several times and like I said before, if they get 20 in an opener, they are usually the high boat on the river.

I don't want gillnets in the river either, but for you to insinuate that they cought more fish than were reported based on you "seeing a different picture" calls into question the basis for your remarks. Are you just saying that if you cought 3 on hook and line, the day before, that it seems impossible that they would have only cought 200 for 70+ boats? I can see that reasoning, but it's not as easy as folks think to catch a salmon in a gillnet during the daytime - I've seen it done and they see that net coming and get out of the way! Nighttime is a different story.

[ 03-04-2004, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Killertraylor ]

[212hjet]

Pete: Thank you for the info. I don't see where you get info regarding the fishery as to results of catch? Can you lead me to that info also, or is it published on the same site?

[Lured In]

212jet...

Here is the link to everything you could ever want to know about what is going on on the Columbia for commercial, indian and sport fisheries. This is linked off ODFW's home page under "columbia river fisheries" but their page was down went I went to get the link.

Here is the same info as posted off WDFW's website.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/crc/crcindex.htm

The fact sheets and action notices are usually where most of this is found. They are dated and usually posted by the end of the day following a commercial fishery.

[stlhdr1]

I know of a 17 and 25 that got by... They're in my fridge... Yummy!!
Keith :grin: