Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that catch-and-release fishery for wild Steelhead trought will get underway this weekend in sections of the Skagit and Sauk rivers.
Along the Skagit River and its tributary, the Sauk, on Friday, Dave Mitchell took a drive.
"I'm going back checking my old haunts to see where I can fish again," Mitchell said. "I've been steelheading since I was about 7 years old."
The decline of wild steelhead led to a threatened listing under the Endangered Species Act.
But not recently on the Skagit, where the wild steelhead fishery closed in 2010.
Now, after years of discussion and habitat restoration, the number of Skagit steelhead has grown enough to allow a catch-and-release season beginning Saturday.
Fishery managers have scheduled openings beginning this weekend and continuing April 18-22, and 25-29. The fishery includes the following areas:
• Skagit River, from the Dalles Bridge in the town of Concrete to the Cascade River Road Bridge in Marblemount. Fishing from a boat that is under power is prohibited.
• Sauk River, from the mouth to the Sauk Prairie Road Bridge in Darrington. Fishing from a boat equipped with an internal combustion motor is prohibited.
"This exact day is what we've been pushing for six years," said Wayne Cline, a leader in the group Occupy Skagit, which staged rallies along the water advocating for a catch-and-release season.
"We decided to come up here and pretend to fish and occupy the river," Cline said.
State officials say that activism made a difference in opening what they hope will be a sustainable fishery.
"We're taking a really conservative approach," said Edward Eleazer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, "because we want to see this fishery go on as long as possible."
Beginning next year, the new federally-approved plan calls for a wild steelhead fishery from Feb. 1 to the end of April.
The conservation group Trout Unlimited supports it, but is concerned that in years with strong steelhead runs, the plan will allow a mortality rate of up to 25 percent.
That's when anglers accidentally kill the fish they're supposed to release.
"We're trying to rebuild the wild steelhead population, so we don't want to be clipping off a quarter of the population," said Rob Masonis of Trout Unlimited.
The fishery that starts Saturday will allow a 10 percent mortality rate.
Keeping fish alive is why anglers can only use single-point barbless hooks.
They're also not supposed to pull fish out of the water for grip-and-grin photos.
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