Wild Coho Season Closes on Washington’s Siuslaw, Yaquina and Nestucca rivers
OutdoorHub 10.06.11
NEWPORT, Ore. ‑ The wild coho salmon season in the Siuslaw, Yaquina and Nestucca rivers will close at the end of the day Sunday, Oct. 9. ODFW fish biologists are predicting that’s when anglers will have caught the wild adult coho quotas of 900, 575 and 200 fish, respectively
The rivers will remain open to adipose fin-clipped hatchery coho under permanent regulations and for chinook salmon under temporary regulations adopted earlier this year.
The three rivers, along with several other coastal river basins, opened to the harvest of wild coho Sept. 15. ODFW opened the fishery to provide harvest opportunity on projected large return of wild coho. The fisheries are guided by a Fishery management and Evaluation Plan previously submitted to and approved by NOAA Fisheries.
“Anglers were looking forward to the wild coho season on these rivers and I think their expectations were met with some great fishing early in the season,” said Derek Wilson, ODFW fish biologist in Newport.
Wilson added that biologists are closely monitoring catch rates on all the wild coho fisheries and that the Alsea could close to wild coho by early next week. Anglers should watch for signs at boat launches or call the Newport district office at (541) 265-8306 ext. 236 or the Tillamook district office (503) 842-2741 for the latest updates.
To see the latest wild coho harvest numbers, visit ODFW’s Web site.
