- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 70,011
- Reaction score
- 1,003
DFG Press Release
9/14/02
Contact: Paul Wertz (530) 225-2362
FISHING HOT; QUOTA SAFE
REDDING—Fishing for fall king salmon has been hot on the Klamath-Trinity river system, but state biologists predict anglers will complete the season without triggering quota-induced closures, the Department of Fish and Game said today.
"This year's liberal quota and the delayed arrival of fall fish will probably mean a second year of fishing without the imposition of closures anywhere within the Klamath basin," said Neil Manji, senior fishery biologist in the DFG's Region 1.
The mouth of the Klamath--known as the spit area--was temporarily closed last year when anglers landed 15% of the basin quota below the Highway 101 bridge prior to Dec. 1. The spit area is not expected to close this year and data projections predict no quota closures anywhere in the basin, Fish and Game said.
On recommendation of the DFG, the state Fish and Game Commission last spring set a Klamath-Trinity quota on the sport take of adult, fall-run king salmon at 20,500 fish, the second highest limit since quotas were introduced more than 20 years ago.
Sara Borok, fishery biologist in Arcata, said the latest creel surveys show that anglers have landed 4,568 adult king salmon below Coon Creek, compared with 3,493 at about the same time last year. Fishing pressure has been higher this year, she said.
Borok said creel checkers are consistently seeing large salmon, many of them four-year-olds that have enjoyed favorable ocean feeding conditions for the past three years. She said one 51-pound chinook was seen, the largest that checkers can remember noting.
The huge river salmon came on the heels of a reported 65-pound king salmon landed in late August by a retired Fish and Game warden, Frank Cox, who was fishing in ocean waters off Crescent City.
Borok said Klamath-Trinity anglers also have run into a third year of improved steelhead fishing, landing 173 adult hatchery steelhead and four hatchery "half-pounders" while releasing 2,525 adults--most of them wild fish--and 3,475 half-pounders.
Anglers are prohibited from keeping wild steelhead they catch from any north coast stream except the Smith River. Hatchery steelhead may be identified by the absence of the adipose fin.
Fish and Game said anglers face excellent odds this season that they will be permitted to continue fishing the mid and upper reaches of the Klamath and Trinity rivers for adult king salmon over 22 inches without the interference of quota closures. They can check current catch data by calling a fishing hotline at 1-800-564-6479.
Regulations call for closures at the mouth of the Klamath when anglers land 15% of the entire basin's "impact quota" below the Highway 101 bridge; on the Klamath below Coon Creek when anglers land 50% of the basin quota below Coon Creek; and, on the remainder of the Klamath and Trinity system when anglers have landed 50% of the basin quota above Coon Creek.
This year's daily bag limit is three king salmon, two of which may be adults over 22 inches, and one hatchery trout or steelhead. Anglers may retain six adult king salmon within any seven consecutive days.
Biologist Borok said the official tally of fall-run king salmon landings this year did not begin until Aug. 20, a decision that is annually based on the arrival of hatchery fish bearing a fin clip that alerts biologists to the presence of a tiny coded wire tag in the salmon's nose. Fish caught prior to Aug. 20 were logged as spring-run salmon and are not part of the fall-run landings count, she said.
According to Borok, computer modeling projections predict that the total Klamath-Trinity basin catch of adult salmon this season will come in at around 16,600 fish, about 4,000 below the quota.
9/14/02
Contact: Paul Wertz (530) 225-2362
FISHING HOT; QUOTA SAFE
REDDING—Fishing for fall king salmon has been hot on the Klamath-Trinity river system, but state biologists predict anglers will complete the season without triggering quota-induced closures, the Department of Fish and Game said today.
"This year's liberal quota and the delayed arrival of fall fish will probably mean a second year of fishing without the imposition of closures anywhere within the Klamath basin," said Neil Manji, senior fishery biologist in the DFG's Region 1.
The mouth of the Klamath--known as the spit area--was temporarily closed last year when anglers landed 15% of the basin quota below the Highway 101 bridge prior to Dec. 1. The spit area is not expected to close this year and data projections predict no quota closures anywhere in the basin, Fish and Game said.
On recommendation of the DFG, the state Fish and Game Commission last spring set a Klamath-Trinity quota on the sport take of adult, fall-run king salmon at 20,500 fish, the second highest limit since quotas were introduced more than 20 years ago.
Sara Borok, fishery biologist in Arcata, said the latest creel surveys show that anglers have landed 4,568 adult king salmon below Coon Creek, compared with 3,493 at about the same time last year. Fishing pressure has been higher this year, she said.
Borok said creel checkers are consistently seeing large salmon, many of them four-year-olds that have enjoyed favorable ocean feeding conditions for the past three years. She said one 51-pound chinook was seen, the largest that checkers can remember noting.
The huge river salmon came on the heels of a reported 65-pound king salmon landed in late August by a retired Fish and Game warden, Frank Cox, who was fishing in ocean waters off Crescent City.
Borok said Klamath-Trinity anglers also have run into a third year of improved steelhead fishing, landing 173 adult hatchery steelhead and four hatchery "half-pounders" while releasing 2,525 adults--most of them wild fish--and 3,475 half-pounders.
Anglers are prohibited from keeping wild steelhead they catch from any north coast stream except the Smith River. Hatchery steelhead may be identified by the absence of the adipose fin.
Fish and Game said anglers face excellent odds this season that they will be permitted to continue fishing the mid and upper reaches of the Klamath and Trinity rivers for adult king salmon over 22 inches without the interference of quota closures. They can check current catch data by calling a fishing hotline at 1-800-564-6479.
Regulations call for closures at the mouth of the Klamath when anglers land 15% of the entire basin's "impact quota" below the Highway 101 bridge; on the Klamath below Coon Creek when anglers land 50% of the basin quota below Coon Creek; and, on the remainder of the Klamath and Trinity system when anglers have landed 50% of the basin quota above Coon Creek.
This year's daily bag limit is three king salmon, two of which may be adults over 22 inches, and one hatchery trout or steelhead. Anglers may retain six adult king salmon within any seven consecutive days.
Biologist Borok said the official tally of fall-run king salmon landings this year did not begin until Aug. 20, a decision that is annually based on the arrival of hatchery fish bearing a fin clip that alerts biologists to the presence of a tiny coded wire tag in the salmon's nose. Fish caught prior to Aug. 20 were logged as spring-run salmon and are not part of the fall-run landings count, she said.
According to Borok, computer modeling projections predict that the total Klamath-Trinity basin catch of adult salmon this season will come in at around 16,600 fish, about 4,000 below the quota.
