Fishing for wild coho opens Sept. 15 on coast

Statesman Journal Sep. 7, 2011

Anglers will enjoy expanded wild-coho fishing opportunities on Oregon’s coastal rivers when the season opens on Sept. 15.

For the third straight year, predicted runs are robust enough to open some rivers and lakes to catching and keeping non-hatchery fish.

Those include the Nehalem, Nestucca, Siletz, Yaquina, Alsea, Siuslaw, Umpqua, Coos and Coquille rivers, Tillamook Bay and rivers, and Tenmile Lakes.

Established wild-coho fisheries will continue in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the seasons in June but, because coastal coho are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, fishery managers also needed approval from NOAA Fisheries, which came on Aug. 24.

The daily bag limit for wild coho will be one fish on all water bodies, but seasonal limits, harvest quotas and fishing deadlines will vary with each river.

For a complete description of the 2011 wild coho seasons, click here.

In order to allow you to catch and keep wild coho while allowing enough fish upriver to spawn, biologists have set conservative catch caps for each river basin of between 200 to 1,300 fish.

According to Mike Gray, a Fish and Wildlife biologist in Charleston, the wild-coho fisheries have been gaining in popularity.

“When that first season opened in 2009, the fishery was relatively new, and anglers didn’t even catch the quota on the Coquille,” he said.

By the second year, he added, anglers had started to figure things out, and the fish were cooperative, so the quota was reached quickly, and the season closed early.

“By now, people up and down the coast are excited about being able to keep wild coho and look forward to the season,” Gray said.

In addition to providing fishing, biologists also see the wild-coho seasons as a sign that salmon recovery efforts are paying off.

Agencies, watershed councils and private landowners have put significant effort and resources into restoring watersheds and salmon habitat, and the momentum is paying dividends for fish.

“We may not be exactly where we want to be in removing the coastal coho from the threatened and endangered species list,” Gray said. “But the fact that we can now fish for wild coho means many local populations have made a significant comeback.”