Recent content by Smalma

skyriver- My read on the news release and what came out of NOF freshwater season the only sea-run fishing will be on the Snohomish itself when open for salmon - Mouth to mouth of Pilchuck 9/21 to October 31 and mouth of Pilchuck to confluence of Sky and Snoqualmie 10/1 to 10/31 as well as the...

A great quote indeed showing the need for an open mind for anyone looking in depth at a resource. Does their findings and reporting mean they are "Splitters" or "lumpers"? Reminds me of the early days of looking at our bull trout/native char. Every time something new was learned one or more...

Matt B - Thanks for the link! I don't know when it comes to looking at western North American genetic structuring whether that it was found that what we thought of as brook and river lamprey were the same species or that the region potentially supports 7 lamprey species. Curt

Have not done any in more than 25 years but it was always great to get close and in person with a school of our salmonids. Hands down the most stunning schools I ever had the pleasure of watching were large schools of bull in trout in the early fall. Seeing schools of maybe 50 fish in full...

The river lamprey while smaller (about 1/2 the size) than its cousin the Pacific lamprey is a pretty interesting critter. Like the Pacific it also migrates to the salt where it is parasitic feeding on other fish. Apparently some individuals instead of migrating to the salt will instead use...

The fish had spend considerable time in a hatchery (some sort of jumbo or brood fish) also had grown significantly once released in the wild. Look closely at the tail or anal fin rays. Those "wavy" fin rays near the outer edge of the tail mark the edge where the tail had been deformed and...

SkyRunner in post #73 you questioned "...the state's ability to conduct the various fisheries monitoring it has agreed to..." The state certainly has the tools to monitor those various fisheries, A solid statistical model (that has been reviewed a number of times), funding for test fishing to...

Teh osprey's meal is indeed a peamouth, one of our native minnow species. Seeing large numbers of those fish in a small creek in the spring (mid-May/June) would be typical of peamouth spawning run. During the period they have that characteristic red strip. They are found in our larger...

Recently received from Region IV WDFW enforcement staff; in 2023 on the Stillaguamish/NF/SF there were 67 tickets written and 39 warnings issued. In 2023 they were short staffed but with a transfer and a new hire they will soon be at full staffing. Curt

The tribe has not been an enthusiastic about freshwater fishing seasons and have demanded monitoring of any such fisheries. This is fair enough but in that framework I will continue to believe not taking advantage of additional impact or two to test the potential impact of a new season...

In the Everett area there two organizations that the Evergreen Fly fisher's conservation committee support O.R.C.A. - Ocean resource College Academy Sound Solutions, Inc.

Returning to Stillaguamish game fish opportunities. At the first NOF it was announced that several Chinook stocks (SF Nooksack, Skagit summers, NF Stillaguamish and Snohomish/Snoqualmie) were likely to most limiting on 2024 salmon seasons and the amount of salmon fishing opportunities...

Ever since the Ice left Puget Sound the salmonids have been exchanging individuals from the various populations. That is what they do which assures that the species can colonize habitats that become available. It is thought that exchange rate is low. Colonizing fish typically quickly adapt...

I believe that the status of the North Fork Stillaguamish Chinook is much worst that what is commonly thought (if such a thing is possible). A quick look at the coded wire tags (CWTs) shows that a significant portion of the hatchery origin (HORs) in the NF natural spawning population is from...

Well done sir!!! Back in my gear fishing days I could usually get some top water LMB in late February (wet side of the mountains). The most consistent were shallow back waters and channels. I would think your ponds would fish at ice out. Might have to slow down some but would not be...