{"id":708,"date":"2013-02-26T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T19:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/?p=708"},"modified":"2013-02-26T17:28:55","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T01:28:55","slug":"methow-river-to-re-open-for-steelhead-whitefish-portions-of-okanogan-river-to-close-for-steelheading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/26\/methow-river-to-re-open-for-steelhead-whitefish-portions-of-okanogan-river-to-close-for-steelheading\/","title":{"rendered":"Methow River to re-open for steelhead, whitefish;  portions of Okanogan River to close for steelheading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;\">WDFW FISHING RULE CHANGE<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife<br \/>\n600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/wdfw.wa.gov\/\">http:\/\/wdfw.wa.gov<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>February 26, 2013<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: large;\"><strong>Methow River to re-open for steelhead, whitefish;<br \/>\nportions of Okanogan River to close for steelheading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Actions:<\/strong>\u00a0Open the Methow River on March 1, 2013 to fishing for steelhead and whitefish. Close two sections of the Okanogan River to fishing for steelhead on March 17, 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Species affected:<\/strong>\u00a0Steelhead and whitefish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Fishing area locations and effective dates:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Areas that will open to fishing for steelhead and whitefish one hour before sunrise on March 1, 2013 until further notice:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Methow River:<\/strong>\u00a0From the mouth (Hwy 97 Bridge) to the confluence with the Chewuch River in Winthrop. Fishing from a floating device is prohibited from the second powerline crossing (1 mile upstream from the mouth) to the first Hwy 153 bridge (4 miles upstream from the mouth).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Area that will close to fishing for steelhead one hour after sunset on March 17, 2013:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Okanogan River:<\/strong>\u00a0From the first powerline crossing downstream of the Hwy 155 Bridge in Omak (Coulee Dam Credit Union Building) to the mouth of Omak Creek, and from the Tonasket Lagoons Park boat launch to the Tonasket Bridge (4th Street).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Reason for action:<\/strong>\u00a0Recent analysis of the steelhead fishery in the upper Columbia River revealed additional natural origin steelhead impacts remain under current NOAA permit. Re-opening steelhead fisheries in the Methow River will help to reduce the proportion of hatchery fish on the spawning grounds and further reduce competition between natural origin and hatchery juvenile production. Sections of the Okanogan River around the mouth of Omak and Tonasket Creeks will be closed to protect natural origin steelhead staging prior to spawning within those tributaries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Areas that will continue to be OPEN for steelhead angling until further notice include:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Mainstem Columbia River:<\/strong>\u00a0From Rock Island Dam to boundary markers below Wells Dam and from Hwy 173 Bridge at Brewster to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Wenatchee River:<\/strong>\u00a0From the mouth to 400 feet below Tumwater Dam, including the Icicle River from the mouth to 500 feet downstream of the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery Barrier Dam.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Okanogan River:<\/strong>\u00a0From the mouth to the Highway 97 Bridge in Oroville, except for the two closure sections listed above.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Similkameen River:<\/strong>\u00a0From the mouth to 400 feet below Enloe Dam.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Areas that will continue to be CLOSED for steelhead and\/or whitefish angling until further notice include:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Mainstem Columbia River:<\/strong>\u00a0From Wells Dam to the highway 173 Bridge in Brewster.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Entiat River:<\/strong>\u00a0From the alternate Highway 97 Bridge near the mouth of the Entiat River, to Entiat Falls.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>GENERAL RULES for all locations open to steelhead fishing:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Mandatory retention of adipose fin clipped steelhead, daily limit two (2) hatchery steelhead, 20 inch minimum size. Hatchery steelhead are identified by a clipped adipose fin with a healed scar in its location.\u00a0<strong>Adhering to the mandatory retention of adipose clipped steelhead is vital in allowing the fishery to continue and to provide the maximum benefit to natural origin fish.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Adipose present steelhead must be released unharmed and cannot be removed from the water prior to release.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Night closure and selective gear rules are in effect, except bait is allowed in mainstem Columbia River.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Whitefish anglers must follow selective gear rules in areas open to steelhead fishing, no bait is allowed. Daily whitefish limit fifteen (15) fish.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Other information:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Remaining additional natural origin steelhead impacts for fisheries in the Methow River are limited, and this and other steelhead fisheries may be closed on short notice depending on participation and catch rates of natural origin fish. Anglers are advised to check daily the fishing hotline at 360-902-2500 or the webpage at WDFW &#8212; Washington State Sport Fishing Rules\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fortress.wa.gov\/dfw\/erules\/efishrules\/rules_all_freshwater\">https:\/\/fortress.wa.gov\/dfw\/erules\/efishrules\/rules_all_freshwater<\/a>\u00a0.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">Anglers are required to possess a Columbia River Salmon\/Steelhead Endorsement as part of their valid fishing license.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\"><strong>Information contacts:<\/strong>\u00a0Jeff Korth, Region 2 Fish Program Manager (Ephrata), (509) 754-4624, Bob Jateff, District 6 Fish Biologist (Methow, Okanogan), (509) 997-0316, Travis Maitland, District 7 Fish Biologist (Wenatchee, Entiat), (509) 665-3337.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Fishers must have a current Washington fishing license, appropriate to the fishery. Check the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/wdfw.wa.gov\/fishing\/regulations\/\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">WDFW &#8220;Fishing in Washington&#8221; rules pamphlet<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">for details on fishing seasons and regulations. Fishing rules are subject to change. Check the WDFW Fishing hotline for the latest rule information at (360) 902-2500, press 2 for recreational rules. For the Shellfish Rule Change hotline call (360)796-3215 or toll free 1-866-880-5431.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WDFW FISHING RULE CHANGE\u00a0 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091 http:\/\/wdfw.wa.gov February 26, 2013 Methow River to re-open for steelhead, whitefish; portions of Okanogan River to close for steelheading Actions:\u00a0Open the Methow River on March 1, 2013 to fishing for steelhead and whitefish. Close two sections of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fishing-report","category-wdfw-fishing-rule-changes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p27r3u-bq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":716,"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions\/716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flyfishersproshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}