Earlier this week Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) actually did a solid for steelhead, designating the Elwha and Nisqually rivers as wild steelhead gene banks. That means these two formidable systems will no longer see hatchery steelhead dumped off the shortbus and into the mix. It also shows that the powers that be are listening and are at least somewhat serious about restoring wild steelhead stocks to improve fishing over time.

Over time is the key consideration here. The Nisqually is currently on option for anglers targeting hatchery steelhead from July 1 through Sept. 30. So swing by and load your YETI. Fishing for wild winter runs, however, remains a closed-until-open deal, one that hinges on healthy future returns. The Olympic Peninsula’s Elwha, of the world’s largest dam removal fame, remains shuttered for steelheading while Ma Nature continues her remodeling job since the river’s concrete curtains were removed in 2012.

So what does any of this have to do with the mighty Skagit? Everything, according to TU’s science director (and wild steelhead freedom fighter) John McMillan.

“The science is rock-solid. Wild steelhead produce more offspring and survive better than hatchery-raised steelhead,” he says. “When you have the habitat and a relatively large wild steelhead population like the Skagit does, managing it exclusively for wild steelhead makes sense both for conservation and fishing.”

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Tom Bie
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Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

Category: Daily Drake
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Author: Tom Bie

Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

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