Since we are talking about fragile fisheries and the need to shutdown
fisheries let me make some observations and information that has come to
light recently.
I fished the Yakima yesterday(upper Yak) with a newly wed couple. Beautiful
day, but few rainbows. There are king salmon spawning in the river
everywhere. This is above the hatchery at Cle-Elem. The rainbows in this
section are main river spawners! You can kiss that section of the river
goodby for rainbows hence forth.
Secondly, I learned where these kings came from since I was convinced they
were not "WILD" fish at all, but hatchery fish. No, they are wild fish!!
For the first time, in a long, long time, the Federal gov't(marine
fisheries) made the commercial netters pull their nets from the lower
Columbia, because of the endangered salmon runs. Voila!! Lots of salmon
returned to lots of rivers!! The upper Yak was a return area and 11,000
plus salmon returned!
Get this one. The state of WA is suing the Federal Gov't to get the nets
reinstated! Locke has informed them that sport fishing is NOT a viable
industry and that our commercial fishery and the Indian net fishery are!!
There is a law suit to reinstate the nets at this time!
Reality.......Those feeding at the gov't trough will not get their food
($100 million taxpayer bucks!) if there are salmon in the river!! No need
to restore salmon and all the project monies available if we have runs of
salmon.
My area, here in the valley, has held numerous meetings on salmon
restoration. County executives show up, mayors of the city, no fisheries
specialists to give educated input on what is needed! They have lots of
proposals to spend the monies on computors, personnel additions, most having
nothing to do with salmon restoration!! IMHO (my humble opinion), this
whole thing is a big time scam and big time bucks will be spent with little
hope of salmon restoration and we, the fisherman, will pay dearly. Again,
MHO Jere
----- Original Message -----
From: Wes Neuenschwander <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Patrick Petersen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: Carkeek Park
> Pipers Creek is one of those little urban Puget Sound streams that have
> become a focal point for neighborhood restoration efforts and as such a
> symbol for urban environmental decay and recovery. A very prominent
> part of this restoration effort has been the reintroduction of chum salmon
> into the stream system. This is currently sustained by the annual
> release of several thousand chum fry each spring; an effort that will very
> likely need to be continued since it appears that natural reproduction
> levels in the creeks (Pipers Creek is joined by Venema creek from the
> north near the park entrance) are very low. Returns have been hugely
> variable, from a high of several hundred a few years ago to just a few
> dozen (or less) the last couple of years. In addition to the chum, there
> are very small (miniscule) runs of coho and searun cutthroat trout that
> are managing somehow to naturally reproduce in the silt-laden
> watershed. Park naturalists that I've spoken to estimate their numbers
> at around "a dozen or two". There have also been reports of an
> occassional steelhead or two and even some pink salmon entering the
> creek.
>
> The streams are closed to all fishing (previously Pipers Creek was open
> to juvenile fishing only) but the beach areas are currently open. There
> has been a keen interest among the park supporters over the last few
> years to close the entire park - including the public beaches and the
> nearby off-shore area - to all types of fishing, based on the assumption
> that fishing is detrimental to the restoration efforts. So far this
effort has
> not succeeded, partly I suspect due to jurisdictional issues (the state
> regulates fisheries) as well as concerns about setting precedents and
> the lack of a scientific basis for the restrictions. Interestingly, at
the
> same time, several of the Seattle Parks and Recreation staff have
> expressed interest in developing public awareness of the fishing
> opportunities at Seattle area beach fronted parks and seemed relatively
> unconcerned about the potential for adverse impacts from increased
> beach front fishing.
>
> Most of my fishing at Carkeek Park has been for the winter resident
> coho. These usually show up in late December or early January and
> may hang around until April or May. A few years ago this was fabulous
> (30-40 fish days were not uncommon) though the last couple of years
> have been flat out dismal. I also catch the odd fall coho there (both the
> returning Puget Sound resident fish and occassionally the larger ocean
> fish) and at certain times of the year, some pretty nice sea-runs, but
> this can be hit-or-miss (like most places in Puget Sound). Mainly I fish
> there because it's close by and I find it interesting. If nothing else it
> provides a convenient excuse to get out and get some contemplative
> exercise and much needed casting practice.
>
> I would recommend that anyone fishing Carkeek Park treat it with
> respect, keeping in mind both the fragility of the ecosystem as well as
> the fragility of the politics that allow you to be there. I think that
boldly
> targeting the chum run would be foolhardy, as well as probably futile
> (even in a good year there are rarely enough milling fish about to make
> the odds of a hookup very high). It's also very likely to enrage the
large
> numbers of park visitors and volunteers who are there to enjoy the return
> of the fish to their natal stream. If the runs are strong, I suspect a
> properly timed and discreet mid-week foray could be rewarding, as well
> as enjoyable, but I would strongly discourage anyone from killing any
> fish, unless you're willing to face a lot of long and angry faces on your
> way back to the car!
>
> -Wes
>
>
> Date forwarded: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 08:08:26 -0700
> From: "Patrick Petersen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Carkeek Park
> Date sent: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 08:14:15 -0700
> Forwarded by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > Wes,
> >
> > Have you fished Carkeek park for chums before? I understand there is a
run
> > on pipers creek but I don't have any idea about the size of it. I live
right
> > across the street from the trail head and plan on fishing for them this
year
> > if its permitted. Is there a run of Coho for this creek as well?
> >
> > Curiously,
> >
> > Patrick
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Wes Neuenschwander <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 7:25 AM
> > Subject: Carkeek Park
> >
> >
> > > Fished Carkeek Park briefly yesterday (Sunday), around the turn of the
> > > PM high tide. Began at the small cove north of the overpass, working
a
> > > small green/white streamer on a floating line, encouraged by the
> > > occassional small jumping baitfish 30' off the beach. Not enough tide
to
> > > stir the waters in the cove, so I moved up to the cobbly point at the
> > > mouth of Pipers Creek to catch the flowing ebb, just as a nice coho
> > > cleared the water about 120' feet out. Forded a small gulley onto the
> > > last gravel ridge, allowing me to just reach the area of the rise,
where
> > > now a small rip was forming, but no luck. Finally, fishing downtide
to
> > > the tail of the ridge, a nice tug and a couple of minutes later a fat
16"
> > > cutthroat to hand. Switched to a green Popper and fished back up the
> > > ridge and finally back down along the cove, without any further
action.
> > >
> > > Watching from the overpass on the way back to the car, I spotted a
> > > couple of coho-sized rises well off shore from the north cove, along
with
> > > the odd jumping herring. Curiously, no sign of birds or seals the
entire
> > > time.
> > >
> > > -Wes
> > >
> > > Wes Neuenschwander
> > > Seattle, WA
> > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >
> >
>
>
>
> Wes Neuenschwander
> Seattle, WA
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
