Department of Fish and Wildlife Raises Daily Coho Salmon Catch Limit Starting Saturday

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In a Nov. 10 news release, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced it is increasing the adult Coho salmon daily catch limit throughout the Chehalis Basin.

Anglers are now allowed to catch a daily limit of six salmon and can retain two adults at a minimum size of 12 inches.

No more than one of the fish retained can be a wild Coho, and the other must be a hatchery fish. The catch limit change will go into effect on Nov. 12 and end on Nov. 30.

Any Chinook salmon caught must be released. 

According to the WDFW release, hatcheries in Grays Harbor have exceeded pre-season forecasts when it comes to returning Coho salmon.

“Evaluations of commercial catch information and trap counts indicate the returns of both natural-origin and hatchery-origin Coho salmon to the Chehalis basin are sufficient to meet or exceed management goals,” stated the release. “This, coupled with reduced opportunity earlier in the season because of environmental conditions, provides for increased opportunity now.”

The specific locations where the catch limit is being raised are as follows:

• Black River, from the river’s mouth to the bridge on 128th Avenue SE

• Chehalis River, from the Highway 101 Bridge to the high bridge on Weyerhaeuser 1000 line

• Elk River, from the Highway 105 Bridge to the confluence of Middle Branch

• Hoquiam River, including the West Fork, from the Highway 101 Bridge to Dekay Road



• Hoquiam River, East Fork, from the river’s mouth to the confluence of Berryman Creek

• Johns River, from the Highway 105 Bridge to the confluence of Ballon Creek

• Newaukum River, including the South Fork, from the river’s mouth to Leonard Road

• Satsop River and East Fork, from the river’s mouth to the bridge at Schafer State Park

• Satsop River and East Fork, from 400 feet below the Bingham Creek Hatchery Dam to the dam itself

• Skookumchuck River, from the river’s mouth to 100 feet below the outlet for the TransAlta WDFW Steelhead Rearing Ponds

• Van Winkle Creek, from the creek’s mouth to 400 feet below the outlet for the Lake Aberdeen Hatchery

• Wishkah River, from the river’s mouth to 200 feet below the weir at the Wishkah Rearing Ponds as well as both 150 feet upstream and 150 feet downstream of the Wishkah adult attraction channel and outfall structure (fishing boundaries are posted)

• Wynoochee River, from the river’s mouth to the WDFW White Bridge access site

All anglers must have current Washington state fishing licenses. Anglers can also sign up for fishery change notification emails at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/lists.

For more information on fishing seasons and regulations, visit https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations. For more information about the limit increase, contact the WDFW Region 6 office at 360-249-4628.