If you’re reading this column then there’s a good chance that you fancy fish in some capacity or another. And if you’re a loyal reader with the rare stamina and patience to keep up with free form long worded whimsy, then you probably know that I fancy myself as some sort of farmer as well as a friend to farmers, fish and fishermen, although not necessarily fish farms.
Those two interests collided with a dry spark last Friday when Governor Jay Inslee made a declaration of statewide drought in Washington. During a week when high school playoff baseball games were being rained out and then sopped up with cat litter, it could have been easy for many web-footed Washingtonians to disregard the declaration of drought as sky-is-falling rhetoric from a finicky state bureaucracy.
But when the Governor ominously invoked the wellbeing of both fish and farms, my alarm bells began ringing.
From Governor Inslee’s announcement, “Difficult decisions are being made about what crops get priority water and how best to save fish.”
If this still sounds alarmist to you because your rain gauge is brimming over and your boots are still wet from the last puddle you parked in, consider that it is not a dearth of rain that has caused the low flow in our region’s rivers, but a near complete lack of snowpack in our mountains.
The same lack of snow that stymied snowboarding powder heads all winter has left Washington’s mountains with only 16 percent of their standard snowpack. In the Olympic Mountains up on the Olympic Peninsula, where the rain is prevalent but the snow scarce, that number is at just four percent. Statewide a full two-thirds of historical “snow-sites” were found to be snow free by May 1.
Without the usual trickle down water source of melting mountain snow our area rivers are bound to dwindle dangerously low this summer. Rivers are already showing the effects during late spring when flows should be high, cold and steady. In southwest Washington, the upper Cowlitz, Yakima, Lewis, and Klickitat rivers are all checking in well below their standard flow rates for this time of year.
Those low rivers are going to be bad news for fish migration. Less water means fewer channels and more fish stranded along the way. Less water also means higher water temperature, which is notoriously harmful to the spawning success of wild fish.
Implications like these will roll right into one another like water runs downhill.
All of this is why I have found the concept of xeriscaping to be so fascinating. For those who aren’t familiar with xeriscaping, and for the sake of simplicity I’ll assume that is everyone, it is the concept and practice of water wise gardening.
The word “Xeros” is Greek for “dry”. Like xerography, which is dry printing, xeriscaping is dry gardening. The invention of the term is credited to a Colorado based company, but what’s more important, like Xerox, is its potential to be copied.
Much of the water used in agriculture is pulled directly from rivers. The rest is pumped up from wells or municipal water systems. In either case water is being removed from the grand water system by either draining an aquifer or by slowing its ability to recharge.
It is an unavoidable truth that we need both farmers and water to make our food. Some crops are water intensive and so too are some farmers, gardeners, and front yard landscapers. What xeriscaping implores one to do is to be mindful of the types of crops and ornamentals that are planted in the first place. Deep rooting, drought and heat resistant plants are a good investment, even in Washington, where July and August are generally drier than a witch’s tit.
Likewise, xeriscaping integrates water saving techniques, like heavy mulching to slow evaporation, and including soggy detritus in the makeup of the soil in order to hold subsurface water.
For perspective, a well-coiffed English style front lawn with a leaky sprinkler that floods the sidewalk is the textbook antithesis of xeriscaping.
To be sure, we can all fix a leak in our water management practices somewhere along the line, and if not for ourselves, then we should do it for the little fishies. After all, even if your ultimate goal is simply to hook and fillet one, you’ve still got to befriend the fish along the way from fry to pan fried.
FISHIN’
The summer king and sockeye fishery for the lower Columbia River has officially been set. Big fish anglers will have three weeks, from June 16 to July 6, to fish for the prized salmonids below the Bonneville Dam down to the Astoria-Megler Bridge.
The daily limit for that fishery will be a total of six fish, of which two may be adult salmon or hatchery steelhead, or one of each. All unclipped fish must be returned to the water and sockeye will count toward the adult daily limit.
Until then the extended spring king season rules will remain in effect on the lower Columbia. Last weekend lower Columbia anglers made 6,258 fishing trips and hauled in 1,099 adult spring Chinook (773 keepers), 70 steelhead (64 keepers), and three sockeye. Those tallies bring the total seasonal harvest for spring Chinook up to 16,483 fish in the lower river.
Out on the Cowlitz River the spring king action continues to percolate. Samples on the lower river last week showed anglers hauling in both adult and jack Chinook. Beginning June 1, anglers in Blue Creek will be allowed to keep five fish per day. Wild cutthroats must be released and night closure and anti-snagging rules will still apply.
Elsewhere, the lower East Fork Lewis River and the lower Washougal River are both set to open up for a baited steelhead fishery on June 6. That same day a section of the Kalama River will open up for a select fly-fish only steelhead fishery.
The North Fork Lewis River will remain closed to all fishing through the end of May but will open on June 1 to steelhead angling. All traditional salmon must be released.
On May 23 the lower Green and South Fork Toutle rivers will open up for an early hatchery steelhead affair, just in time for Memorial Day fish warriors to take advantage. That early opening will run through June 5, and the daily limit will be just two hatchery steelhead. All unclipped fish must be released, as the intended target is late returning stock from a discontinued hatchery run.
The lower Elochoman River will also open up early for a Memorial Day fishery. This fishery will target stray hatchery Chinook and steelhead from May 23 through June 5. The daily creel limit will be six fish, no more than two of which may be adult hatchery Chinook or steelhead. All unclipped fish and trout, besides steelies, must be released.
Anglers on the White Salmon River will be able to fish for spring Chinook and steelhead over the holiday weekend as well. That fishery will open on May 23 and continue through July 31. Through June 30 the daily limit will be two adult fish, and will bump up to three fish per day on July 1. All unclipped fish must be released. Stray hatchery fish are again the target for this fishery.
Angling effort on the Wind River and Drano Lake slipped a bit last week with just 32 boats counted between the two locations. Bank anglers on the Klickitat River have been hooking a few spring Chinook on the lower river.
Sturgeon hunters in the catch and release lower Columbia River were catching and releasing legal size fish last week in between Kalama and Longview, but the keeper action was happening up in the John Day Pool where boat and bank anglers were both catching legal size fish. Only about 39 percent of the 500 fish catch guideline has been taken in that pool.
Walleye fishing was hot in the lower Columbia near Woodland last week, as well as upriver in The Dalles and John Day pools where three fish per rod was the minimum expectation. Bass were the real draw in the John Day Pool, however, with nine of the impressive lipped specimens landing on each rod with a wet line.
Warming temperatures continue to coddle the traditional opening of trout season here in western Washington and WDFW stocking efforts are fortifying the odds. Last week 4,000 rainbow trout were planted in Klineline Pond in Clark County, but Lake Scanewa in Lewis County is set to steal the show beginning June 1. That day the lake, also known as Cowlitz Falls Reservoir, will open to hatchery trout fishing. Between June and August some 20,000 “catchable” size rainbow trout are scheduled to be stocked in the lake.
In the meantime, Kress Lake in Cowlitz County will be closed for two days this week in order to accommodate a juvenile Safety Day fishing event on May 23. The lake will close to the public at 12:01 a.m. on May 22 and remain closed through 3 p.m. on May 23. The WDFW estimates some 600 people will be on hand to participate in the tenth annual incarnation of the event.
In saltwater news, a 163 pound, 68 inch halibut was reportedly landed at the John Wayne Marina near Sequim back on May 16. If that story gets you pumped up to try some halibut fishing, do note that Marine Area 2 (Westport/Ocean Shores) was closed on May 13 when the seasonal catch quota was reportedly met.
HUNTIN’
The recent declaration of a statewide drought in Washington has hunters on edge. The drought and impending fire season will more than likely result in limited access to popular hunting areas, restrictions on firearm and vehicle use, and the cancellation of some if not many early late-summer, early-fall hunting seasons.
Be sure to stay tuned for updates tricking out of the Governor’s mansion and the cubicled confines of the WDFW offices.
In the here and now, turkey hunters are rounding the corner on their spring turkey hunt. Hunters are allowed to bag up to three birds during the season, of which two may be from eastern Washington and just one from western Washington. May 31 will be the final day of the statewide turkey hunt.
CLAMMIN’
Just a reminder for the clam crazy crustacean crunchers amongst us, the remainder of the coastal razor clam season has been canceled by the WDFW.
Elevated levels of the naturally occurring marine toxin known as domoic acid led to the season cancellation. Domoic acid is produced by certain types of marine algae which thrive in warm ocean waters. Rising temperatures coupled with a lack of cold mountain water runoff from area rivers may have contributed to the prevalence of the toxic acid, which is harmful and possibly fatal when consumed in large quantities.
“Based on the most recent test results that show increased levels of domoic acid, razor clams will not be safe to eat for the remainder of this month,” said Dan Ayres, WDFW razor clam manager, in a press release.
While the toxin can become diluted in the large ocean over time, razor clams store the toxin in their fat cells and can be dangerous to consume for an extended period even after the marine water is cleared as safe.
“We hope toxin levels will drop and razor clam digging can begin again this fall,” Ayres said.
Since it was first detected on the Pacific coast in 1991, domoic acid has been responsible for the closure of three complete clam digging seasons in Washington. The last partial closure came in 2005 at Long Beach.
WILDLIFERS
The WDFW is soliciting public comment on the newest draft policy for Willapa Bay salmon management. Fishery managers have been tinkering with the plan since last October with the help of a volunteer citizen committee and the public.
According to a WDFW press release, “The revised policy includes provisions to conserve wild salmon, clarify catch allocation, and reduce conflicts between sport and commercial fishers in the bay.”
The policy is available for review at wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/willapa_bay_salmon/. Written comments may be submitted via email to willapabay@dfw.wa.gov or by mail to Steve Thiesfeld, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091, through June 3.
