Grande Ronde River steelhead fishing rules have a catch

Steelheading regulations regarding catch-and-release fishing in the lower Grande Ronde River are incorrectly published on page 68 in Washington’s 2015-2016 Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet.

Officials say the pamphlet neglects to show that fishermen, as in the past, must release all steelhead caught until the end of the year in the lower 2.5 miles of the river.

A Fish and Wildlife Department manager says a correction is set to be posted on the agency’s emergency rules web page this week to require mandatory release of steelhead in the lower river through Dec. 31.

The confusion comes from proposals last year to require anglers to keep more fin-clipped steelhead in the Snake River and tributaries to reduce the number of hatchery-produced fish competing with native fish at spawning areas.

The proposed rule changes were modified at a Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting in January following an outcry primarily from fly fishers. The regulations the panel adopted were a compromise between science and social issues simmering among anglers.

Chris Donley, the department’s regional fisheries manager, said Wednesday that he was ushering a rule correction through the system to reflect the commission’s January action. The correction will refer to the Grande Ronde from its mouth at the Snake River upstream 2.5 miles to the county road bridge.

Essentially, the corrected rules will say:

• Sept. 1-Dec. 31 – Selective-gear rules (which include single, barbless hooks), catch and release for steelhead. (This is the same as it’s been in previous years.)

• Jan. 1-April 15 – Selective- gear rules, mandatory steelhead retention, up to three steelhead a day harvest limit. (Mandatory retention and a daily limit increase from two to three steelhead a day is a change from previous years.)

Until this year, many fly fishers enjoyed the mandatory catch-and-release rules from Sept. 1 through May 31 on the lower Grande Ronde. In comments to the agency, they said the catch-release rules thinned the pressure, by deterring anglers who wanted to keep steelhead for eating.

In some cases, the fly fishers pointed out, the catch-release rules deterred steelheaders who use spinning gear and lures in the lower Ronde. Thus, catch-release reduced tensions between fly fishers and gear casters, they said.

Spin fishermen can angle in a wide range of stream flows while the lower Ronde is especially well-suited for wading and fly casting, fly fishers said.

As a fisheries manager, Donley said he hears from all sides on the issue.

“We’re getting flack from everybody, so maybe we’re just about on the mark,” he said.

Mandatory retention rules are a tool used to avoid genetic dilution (and prevent possible lawsuits) by reducing the number of hatchery fish competing with wild fish at spawning areas.

But mandatory hatchery steelhead retention means an angler must stop fishing after catching a daily limit of fish. The limit was raised from two fish a day to three so successful anglers could enjoy an extra fish-worth of time on the water when a good bite is on.

“A Washington coast fisherman would chew his arm off for a chance at three hookups a day,” Donley said.

“But we’ve had such success with hatchery fish in East Side rivers that some anglers can have days when they catch and release 20 steelhead.”

Every steelheader has put in long, cold days of casting for no fish. That’s part of the game. But when timing is right, a good angler can have a big day.

“The problem is that anglers can do more to help us manage the fishery,” Donley said. “And they could be more respectful to other fishermen when the fishing is good.

“If we went to mandatory fish retention as first proposed from Sept. 1-December, the good fishermen would be off the water by 7:30 in the morning. They would be helping the fishery by removing three hatchery fish and they’d be freeing up spots for other anglers.”

Oregon anglers join Washington fly fishers in favoring catch-release in Washington’s lower Ronde Sept. 1-Dec. 31 because that means more fish will continue upstream into Oregon waters.

“So the compromise works in that regard,” Donley said.

“But I was proponent of changing to mandatory retention for the entire Grande Ronde starting Jan. 1 because I think fly fishers should be active participants in removing some of the hatchery fish as well. The gear guys shouldn’t be the only ones doing it.”

Crowding is the simmering issue among anglers on the Grande Ronde as well as other top steelhead tributaries to the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Some anglers will get out at 4 a.m. on a sweet spot like the Turkey Run or the Shadow Hole and stay there.

“Crowding wouldn’t be such a problem if anglers, including fly fishermen, hadn’t lost the etiquette of casting and moving through a run,” Donley said.

If an angler starts at the head of a run and casts, retrieves, takes a few steps downstream and repeats, anglers can rotate through a run and everybody gets a shot, he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing with a spinner, bobber or fly,” he said. “You need to move through the water so everybody gets a fair chance to fish.

“But some guys want to keep fishing in the best spot. And they don’t want to stop if they catch three fish.”

It’s difficult to write tickets to counter rudeness, he said.

“We’re managing hatchery fish harvest pretty well at this point,” he said. “Where we think we may have more hatchery fish than we want is at the Cottonwood Creek (a spawning facility on the Grande Ronde south of the Oregon border). We’ll see if the new rules ease that situation.

“We don’t want hatchery fish overwhelming wild fish, and we hope we can still get anglers to help manage the fishery regardless of what they cast.”

Contact Rich Landers at (509) 459-5508 or email richl@spokesman.com.