Oregon Fishing News

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Headline - West Coast salmon fishing facing closures again in 2009. I for one am getting sick of seeing this in the news. At least the news media should be reporting the whole story, not just the doom and gloom. Yes the ocean salmon seasons both sport and commercial will most likely be limited or closed in 2009 or for at least all of California and most of Oregon to protect a depressed run of chinook salmon that call California's Sacramento River home. People that love to salmon fish read this and assume that fishing is poor or closed. Did you know that this year our spring salmon run on the Columbia River is forecast to be the third largest on record. Did you know the coastal forecast for coho salmon includes terms like "possible all time record". Did you know that virtually every river that drains into the Pacific ocean that has salmon runs is still open for fishing. This year alone the Columbia River is predicted to have nearly 2 million fish made up of coho and chinook salmon enter the river August and September. The spring chinook run on the Columbia which happens in March and April is forecast to be near or over 300,000 fish. The only thing the "Salmon fishing closed in 2009" headlines are refering to is the Ocean and only the part that has Sacramento River fall King salmon swiming in it which are the reason for the concerns. The rest of the pacific coast is all open and looks to be a year with huge numbers of salmon to catch, especially Coho salmon. The predictions for the next few years are for all of the Salmon fisheries on the west coast to rebound to abundant levels. If your planning on a salmon trip you can still fish you might just have to travel to Oregon or Washington. Fishery managers are already considering expanding daily catch limits for many fisheries due to the predicted abundance of hatchery coho salmon. Forget the headlines - go fishing if your a sport fisherman, if your a commercial fisherman read the headlines and collect your government assistance check.