Washington releases smelt dipping days ahead of first season with license requirement

By Henry Brannan / Murrow News 
Posted 1/21/25

Smelt’s annual return from the ocean has long drawn thousands of dip-netters up and down the Cowlitz River. This year, however, the prized tradition will be different.

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Washington releases smelt dipping days ahead of first season with license requirement

Posted

Smelt’s annual return from the ocean has long drawn thousands of dip-netters up and down the Cowlitz River. This year, however, the prized tradition will be different.

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife is implementing a new fishing license requirement, schedule and harvest philosophy.

The new strategy aims to make it easier for the agency to enforce harvest rules while also giving anglers more notice about when they may be allowed to fish, according to the agency.

The shift comes after the yearly harvest was called off in 2018, 2019 and 2023 due to low numbers.

Last year’s run arrived in mid-February. About 8,000 anglers pulled 54,000 pounds of the silver fish out of the Cowlitz in just five hours. A second day of fishing was allowed in March, but it only yielded about 1,000 pounds.

The changes allow the department to adjust fishing schedules based on smelt run sizes and data from the commercial smelt fishery on the mainstem Columbia River, said Laura Heironimus, the department’s Columbia River smelt lead.

Columbia River smelt, also known as eulachon, are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. That means fishery managers must monitor the run size.

And Fish & Wildlife data shows those runs have varied wildly over the last 15 years.

Numbers rose from 2011 to 2014 landing at about 17 million pounds. Then fell to less than a half-million in 2018, before rising again to a high in 2022. They have declined again in the years since, landing at about 10 million pounds.

All those numbers are a fraction of their historical abundance.

The department expects two to four days of dip-netting this year, though it cautioned that could be impacted by outside factors.

“We may also find that even when the run size appears large enough for sustainable harvest, natural factors like water conditions, timing and unpredictable migration patterns could mean smelt are not present in large numbers during days open to recreational dip-netting,” Heironimus said.

Tentative schedule

“Recreational smelt dip opportunities are proposed for Wednesdays and Saturdays, beginning Feb. 5 and continuing through March 22,” according to a Fish & Wildlife news release.

The department will now announce the coming week’s fishing opportunities by 3 p.m. the Friday before.

For example, the agency will announce on Friday, Jan. 31 if fishing will be allowed on Wednesday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb. 8.



That information, along with rules and educational material, will be posted at wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/smelt.

The department emphasized, however, that everything depends on run size information collected on the mainstem Columbia River by commercial fishers. The department will likely limit fishing to between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Another change is that while the river could be open to smelt netting more frequently, there may be less fish in the river when it’s allowed. That’s because the harvest days have previously been picked by testing and occurred on days when there were lots of fish in the river. Now, there will be less testing, and there may be less fish in the river on harvest days as a result.

During approved days, fishers may net up to 10 pounds, or about one-fourth of a 5-gallon bucket. Fishers may only net from shore and only at approved sites.

The department also said it expects commercial fishing to be allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between Jan. 20 and March 13.

Confusion

While knowledge of the season may be near-universal around Cowlitz County, the same can’t yet be said about the new license requirement.

Pam Underberg runs the sporting goods section at Ace Hardware in Woodland, one of the most popular places to get fishing licenses in the area. She said no one has come in looking for a license allowing them to net the fish.

“That might be a case that they have their freshwater or their combination (fishing license), and they feel that that’s covering it, which it does,” she said. “But maybe the people that just smelt dip aren’t aware you need a license, or they’re from another state or country that aren’t aware that we need a license.”

Underberg said if the department got the word out more, it’s likely more people would have a license and fewer people would end up being fined. No one from the department has come in to distribute literature or raise awareness of the change, Underberg said.

Regional department spokesperson Britton Ransford said the agency has worked to get the word out about the change, but it can take time for “complex seasonal fisheries like Cowlitz River smelt.”

The agency is intensifying its outreach efforts, he added.

“For those planning to dip for smelt this season, having a WILD ID — a free account used to purchase Washington fishing licenses — can make the licensing process smoother and quicker,” he said. “It’s a small step that can help make things easier once tentative dates are approved.”

Commercial and recreational fishers can get licenses online, in person at sites around the state or by calling the department at 360-902-2464.

Henry Brannan covers the Columbia River for The Daily News and The Columbian through Washington State University's state-funded journalism project, The Murrow News Fellowship.