Chehalis watershed and Grays Harbor

September 25, 2023September 30, 2023

Are you ready for more Washington Steelhead drama prior to the 2023-2024 season?

Hopefully you are right in the middle of a great run of salmon on your local river as chinook, pinks and coho all steam into streams all over Western Washington.

While, summer seems to have just ended (emphatically) with the latest edition of the atmospheric river arriving this weekend and continuing into next week, it’s never too early to start previewing what we can expect during the 2023-2024 winter steelhead season.

July 24, 2023July 26, 2023

Chehalis River Salmon Fishing 2023

The Chehalis River is the most significant coastal river in the state of Washington not named the Columbia River.

The Chehalis River has also been the subject of significant controversy over the past few years revealing the fault lines between user groups, conservation objectives and a variety of other concerns.

One dynamic that does seem to be clear for the 2023 season is that in-river fisheries will once again bear the brunt of the conservation concerns, being the lowest on the totem pole of perceived value and having the smallest voice. Let’s dig in!

July 23, 2023July 24, 2023

Satsop River Salmon Fishing 2023

The Satsop River is considered the “middle tributary” of the Chehalis River sandwiched between the Wynoochee River and the Skookumchuck River in terms of major Chehalis Tributaries.

Draining the southern slopes of the Olympic Mountain range, the Satsop River emerges as 3 distinct forks: West, Middle and East.

July 23, 2023July 26, 2023

Skookumchuck River Salmon Fishing 2023

The Skookumchuck river emerges below the dam which creates the boundary for Skookumchuck Reservoir. Most of the salmon fishing is done in the roughly 1 river miles below the dam, though there are some other access points as well.

July 10, 2023July 10, 2023

Wynoochee River Salmon Fishing 2023

The Wynoochee River originates from the south slopes of the wild and rugged Olympic mountains and winds its way south until it dumps into the Chehalis near Montesano. The often overlooked cousin of the Satsop River when it comes to salmon fishing can still provide decent fishing for coho and chum salmon.

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023

Coastal rivers and tributaries fishing rules update

Nice king caught near Forks a few years ago

April 27, 2023

Coastal rivers and tributaries fishing rules update

March 17, 2023March 26, 2023

2023 Washington Coast Salmon Forecast

Chinook fish box caught on the Washington coast

The Washington coast salmon forecast for 2023 has just been released and this blog post unpacks what we should expect in the coastal rivers and marine waters.

January 16, 2023January 27, 2023

Washington State Steelhead update January, 2023

steelhead 15 lb buck — Steelhead 15 lb buck

We are about half-way through the month of January, and for many folks, the steelhead season in the state of Washington has been predictably frustrating. However, there are some bright spots you should certainly be aware of and some updates to the content here that I want to highlight.

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022

Chehalis River Winter Steelhead 2022-2023

What’s really going on with the Chehalis River winter steelhead season of 2022-2023? Why are recreational anglers being denied access to consume hatchery steelhead and coho which have been raised for the purpose of consumption via the license fees we’ve spent?

Is this all to protect and conserve the vital wild stocks of steelhead whose numbers have dipped precipitously over the last decade and haven’t shown signs of recovery?

Some of the answers may surprise you…

November 30, 2022December 1, 2022

WDFW announces 2022-2023 coastal fishing season

Nov. 30, 2022
Contact: Region 6 – Montesano, 360-249-4628
Media contact: Mark Yuasa, 360-902-2262

WDFW announces 2022-2023 coastal fishing season

Below is the full WDFW News release, but feel free as well to head over to our 2023 coastal winter steelhead page for more analysis of the now announced rules.