Northwest Fishing Reports

WDFW FISHING RULE CHANGE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

June 11, 2014

Fishing rules change June 12
on Cle Elum and Cooper lakes

Actions:

1) Eliminates the 16 kokanee daily limit on Cle Elum Lake, and implements the statewide daily limit for trout, including kokanee, to five fish.

2) Adopt a minimum size limit of 9 inches and a maximum size limit of 15 inches for retention of kokanee in Cle Elum Lake and Cooper Lake.

Effective date: June 12, 2014.

Species affected: All trout, including kokanee.

Locations: Cle Elum Lake (Reservoir) and Cooper Lake in Kittitas Co.

Reason for action: The Yakama Nation and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are continuing the reintroduction of anadromous (sea-going) sockeye salmon in the upper Cle Elum basin. Eliminating the 16 kokanee daily limit in Lake Cle Elum and implementing the statewide lake daily limit for TROUT of 5 fish, including kokanee, is necessary to protect juvenile sockeye needed for this reintroduction effort. This is expected to reduce harvest of juvenile sockeye and increase harvest of other trout including non-native lake trout (mackinaw), eastern brook trout and brown trout.

Very few, if any, anadromous adult sockeye released by the Yakama Nation will be smaller than 16 inches, therefore a 15-inch maximum size limit will allow kokanee fisheries in both lakes to proceed without inadvertently harvesting adult sockeye dedicated to the reintroduction effort and needed for natural spawning in the fall. The 9-inch minimum size for retention will protect most juvenile anadromous sockeye rearing in the two lakes from being inadvertently harvested before they smoltify and migrate to the ocean.

Other information: The 12” minimum size for other trout species remains unchanged.

Information contacts: Eric Anderson, District 8 Fish Biologist, (509) 457-9301 (Yakima); or John Easterbrooks, Regional Fish Program Manager, (509) 457-9330.

Fishers must have a current Washington fishing license, appropriate to the fishery. Check the WDFW "Fishing in Washington" rules pamphlet for details on fishing seasons and regulations. Fishing rules are subject to change. Check the WDFW Fishing hotline for the latest rule information at (360) 902-2500, press 2 for recreational rules. For the Shellfish Rule Change hotline call (360)796-3215 or toll free 1-866-880-5431.


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For those of you not familiar with the regs, that means you only get to keep 2 (two). Hardly seems worth it Koke fishing. So pretty much no Koke fishing in Cle Elum if you have a conscience as they have a very morbidity rate upon being caught and released.

PS Thanks for keeping everyone up to date, AMX.

Mike Carey wrote:

Bodofish wrote:For those of you not familiar with the regs, that means you only get to keep 2 (two). Hardly seems worth it Koke fishing. So pretty much no Koke fishing in Cle Elum if you have a conscience as
PS Thanks for keeping everyone up to date, AMX.

Ok, I'm confused. Where do you come up with two koks?
Also, interesting, I mentioned to the fisheries biologist it would have been nice to see the size limit upped to 15". They do listen to us. :-)

Mike Carey wrote:

Mike Carey wrote:

Bodofish wrote:For those of you not familiar with the regs, that means you only get to keep 2 (two). Hardly seems worth it Koke fishing. So pretty much no Koke fishing in Cle Elum if you have a conscience as
PS Thanks for keeping everyone up to date, AMX.

Ok, I'm confused. Where do you come up with two koks?
Also, interesting, I mentioned to the fisheries biologist it would have been nice to see the size limit upped to 15". They do listen to us. :-)

I guess it is a little bit contradictory, they say goes back to the trout limit which is 2 for Cle Elum but then says 5 at the end of the sentence. Not very clear but, sure, 5, still not much for a trip to the lake. The kokes I've seen come out of there almost rival some of the herring used for salmon bait. Regardless of how many you catch not a show stopper, in all the times I've been to Cle Elum I've only seen a Warden once and he was checking parking passes at the dam, not fish. And it still stands if you don't have a conscience about killing a whole bunch of Kokes to get a few above 15" it's a great fishery. I don't have the numbers but talking to the State Biologist at Sammamish and the koke population there, I was told pretty much any Koke that gets hooked is dead. Young Socks/Kokes are very fragile.

At any rate I stand corrected.

Timing is everything, I am sure it was because of the Mack derby but when Mike and I were on Cle Ellum a couple weeks ago we got checked on the water 1st by the sherrif's dept. (safety check), then later by WDFW (license check). My 1st time on that lake, I wondered if it was a normal thing, obviously not

Gringo Pescador wrote:Timing is everything, I am sure it was because of the Mack derby but when Mike and I were on Cle Ellum a couple weeks ago we got checked on the water 1st by the sherrif's dept. (safety check), then later by WDFW (license check). My 1st time on that lake, I wondered if it was a normal thing, obviously not

Oh far from. I'm sure it was because of the derby. Many days spent being the only boat on the water or one other. This time of year, more people out on the weekend, just playing boat. I can honestly say I've never seen it busy there. On a wild day packed with people you'll see, 5 or 6 trailers parked on the beach at the State Park by the dam and maybe that many at Wishpush. Then there's the few campers at the WDFW site by the inlet with a couple jet ski's. For the most part, really quiet. I think the afternoon wind chases a lot of people away.

In my experience the "koks" which I'm told by the WDWF fisheries biologist are actually sockeye that didn't find the exit pipe or decided to stay in the lake and become "kokanized" are quality fish, ranging 12-14" was all we caught last year, no dinks whatsoever. The couple we caught this year were 13", a bit on the skinny side, but filleted up very nicely.

I'd much rather drive to Cle Elum and catch koks than American lake, and it isn't that much farther. The scenery is incredible, the lake is much more peaceful, and bonus, there are the lakers to troll for.

Mike Carey wrote:In my experience the "koks" which I'm told by the WDWF fisheries biologist are actually sockeye that didn't find the exit pipe or decided to stay in the lake and become "kokanized" are quality fish, ranging 12-14" was all we caught last year, no dinks whatsoever. The couple we caught this year were 13", a bit on the skinny side, but filleted up very nicely.

I'd much rather drive to Cle Elum and catch koks than American lake, and it isn't that much farther. The scenery is incredible, the lake is much more peaceful, and bonus, there are the lakers to troll for.

I agree with the drive although you're going to burn twice the gas going over the hill but, time wise and location a much nicer place than American. Not to mention the traffic factor!!! I think they go out of their way to make the regs confusing so now I guess the trout limit has been raised to five from two? No longer a separate limit for Kokes? So I guess that means I can keep 5 of those nice big Bows and Browns or a mix of those and Maks and toss in a Koke of two.

no, I believe (I haven't checked yet), the limit is 5 fish, two of which may be trout. And I think there is a size limit on the trout. The reason I'm fuzzy on the trout is I'm only interested in the kokanee, and maybe 1-2 big lakers if we get lucky.

So best case scenario for JoAnn and I would be two days of fishing, ten koks daily between us, twenty total.
That's well worth it. But we just like fishing on the lake, limits or not.