Nov 1 area 9 opener.......chum ONLY

[goodtimesfishing]

Hope nobody planned on fishing area 9 for blackmouth this year! IT IS OPEN TO CHUM ONLY!

[goodtimesfishing]

WDFW restricts salmon fishing in Marine Area 9 to chum only





OLYMPIA – Anglers fishing for salmon in Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) will be allowed to keep chum only beginning Nov. 1, state fishery managers announced today.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) had scheduled an opening for hatchery chinook salmon to begin Sunday, Nov. 1, but has postponed that season to protect a large number of juvenile chinook in those waters.

“We’re seeing more young chinook out there than we’ve seen in over a decade,” said Ron Warren, WDFW fisheries policy lead. “They’re too small to retain under state rules, so we’re postponing the chinook fishery.”

Before the salmon fishing season started, WDFW and tribal co-managers agreed to a limited number (4,729) of chinook encounters – retaining or releasing fish – anglers are allowed for Admiralty Inlet. Test fishery data indicates that anglers would quickly meet or exceed the guideline for encounters because of the abundant number of juvenile chinook, Warren said.

A similar situation occurred earlier this month in nearby Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), where anglers rapidly met the chinook encounter guideline, prompting the department to close the chinook fishery early.

“Although these young chinook are causing some inconvenience for anglers now, the volume of them suggests we could see a strong run when they return in a few years,” Warren said.

The department will continue monitoring Marine Area 9 and could open the area for a brief hatchery chinook fishery around Thanksgiving, Warren said. Admiralty Inlet is scheduled to close to salmon fishing Nov. 30 and then will be open Jan. 16 through April 15.

“The action we’re taking today should allow us to keep the winter chinook fishery going longer when the area reopens in January,” Warren said.

Beginning Nov. 1, anglers will have a daily limit of two chum salmon in Marine Area 9. Warren emphasized that the area is not open for catch and release fishing for other salmon species. The department would be forced to close Admiralty Inlet to all salmon fishing if anglers don’t follow the rules, he said.

Anglers should check the fishing rule change at https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for more details.

More information about fishing for chum salmon can be found on WDFW’s webpage at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/salmon/chum/ ... shery.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[BentRod]

Well that's no surprise. Waiting for them to shut that down too.

[Hunter757]

Warren emphasized that the area is not open for catch and release fishing for other salmon species. The department would be forced to close Admiralty Inlet to all salmon fishing if anglers don’t follow the rules, he said.

So my question is being a new Salmon fishing person to the sound, how does fishing for these differ? I speed up for Coho and still catch Chinook and pinks. Must be a way of fishing for Chum that I have to learn as I never fished for them before. I know like fishing for anything in a lake I always catch something by surprise so lets face it its going to happen. I feel if you close it for one HUMAN it should be closed for all PERIOD!!!!!!

[Larry3215]

It makes no sense to me either. How can they say there is too much bi-catch when fishing for coho or blackmouth but still allow fishing for chum?

[BARCHASER10]

Kind of a joke. So they left it open to Chums. First of all there aren't that many Chums. The Chum runs are at the low end of history over the last 10-15 years which is why they closed local rivers to Chum fishing. So they closed the rivers and now they pretend you can catch Chums in the salt, really? Click on the Sky and Nisqually to see what I mean.

I kept my Seahawk at the Everett Marina August through October. I thought about leaving it in through November but I took it out at the end of Oct. Glad I did. I fished Possession for Silvers but we never did get an adult Blackmouth just shakers. So it didn't look like there was anything there to fish for in Nov.

https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/score/score ... ecies=Chum" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;