WHEN THE LAST names of area fishing guides are easy to spot on the high school basketball roster, you know Forks is a town with a passion for the finned set.
Such is the case for this year’s Spartans with names like Kratzer and Leons part of the team.
Bob Kratzer of Anglers Guide Service (360-374-3148) in Forks is part of the North Coast Steelhead Advisory group.
That group, comprised of a diverse range of fishing interests, met in person in Poulsbo on a weekly basis from late July through the fall to whittle down a list of publicly sourced rule change proposals.
They eventually offered three multi-faceted changes to North Coast river fishing that were approved by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission earlier this month.
“There were 147 rules proposals just for the North Olympic Peninsula,” said Kratzer.
Kratzer has guided anglers on the West End, the Columbia River and in Alaska for 31 years, and also serves as a member of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Steelhead/Cutthroat Policy Advisory Group.
“They formed the committee to do two things: look at all the rules, narrow them down from the 147, and the long-term process is it’s still an existing group to look at long-term management.”
Kratzer was relieved to find some common ground on the North Coast Steelhead Advisory Group.
“Nobody wanted to shut everything down, but we were far apart when we started,” Kratzer said.
“Some of the people wanted some really, really heavy major restrictions.”
Kratzer said the easiest decision was prohibiting fishing from floating devices equipped with internal combustion engines.
“Essentially, this makes it a drift-boat only fishery,” Kratzer said.
“The terrain of these rivers doesn’t really support jet boats, but we also wanted to limit the number of encounters from those who use a kicker motor and fish some spots and then run back up through the holes.”
Requiring the use of barbless hooks on North Coast rivers had more debate but also was quickly agreed upon.
So, too, was the proposal to end wild steelhead and rainbow trout retention on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“I have a really good relationship with the Quileute tribe, and I went to them with the idea, and their recommendation was not to do that,” Kratzer said.
“They thought there was plenty of fish for harvest, so I personally did not recommend it as it might screw up the management, might screw up the allocations, and things could go in either direction.”
Recreational anglers have voiced concern since the adoption of the rule changes that tribal harvesters may feel less of a need to abide by their previous share.
At least one North Olympic Peninsula tribe appears willing to hold back.
“The Quileute tribe did not tell me that,” Kratzer said of increasing their harvest.
“They did not say they would take those fish if you don’t.”
Another Forks-based guide and member of the North Coast Steelhead Advisory Group said he’s heard positive comments from his customers since the changes were approved.
“They are taking things pretty well,” said Mike Zavadlov of Mike Z’s Guide Service (360-640-8109 or Mike@mikezsguideservice.com.
“That rule really doesn’t impact my guys because I’ve trained them or educated them to release their [wild] fish.
“I’m hoping the tribes see us offering these changes and welcome them. If the tribes do their part and do some catch-and-release I think it will help.”
Restricting the use of bait to certain times on North Coast rivers, essentially from Oct. 1 through Feb. 15, required much back-and-forth, Kratzer and Zavadlov said.
“There was a lot of give- and-take with the no-bait proposals,” Zavadlov said.
“I think going with barbless hooks would have been good to start out with.”
Some members of the group wanted to eliminate bait year-round.
After arguing against that sweeping change, bait use from Oct. 1 to Feb. 15 became the compromise.
“This provides for fall salmon, all your hatchery steelhead and a bit of the beginning of the wild population,” Kratzer said.
“One little hiccup is spring chinook in the Sol Duc opens Feb. 1 and those are hatchery fish that are there to be caught.
“We may have to do some more work on the Sol Duc rules, or there may not be no-bait rules on the Sol Duc.”
Kratzer said discussions focused on reducing fish encounters.
“You catch more fish using bait, and if you do that it’s part of the problem,” Kratzer said.
“We had to focus on decreasing encounters since we’re catching too much of the run.”
Catch and release methods take a toll as well, an issue compounded by the sheer number of guides and anglers on West End rivers.
“The more times we hook and release the fish and they swim away normal and have good productivity [spawning] is reduced with each encounter,” Kratzer said.
“You might have a hen that can produce 5,000 eggs at a time that only ends up producing 2,500 eggs because they are stressed from the number of times they’ve been caught and released.”
Other arguments against bait focused on bait’s impact on increased mortality for juvenile steelhead and trout.
“Use of bait is negatively impacting our juvenile fish,” said Beaver-based guide JD Love.
“Those fish just don’t live through it. They get caught and killed.”
Kratzer said the elimination of bait would have an impact.
“For those guides who do use bait exclusively, this is a huge sucker punch,” Kratzer said.
“I took a punch but it didn’t kill me. I’m going to have to adapt to do some different things.”
Holiday digging
Razor clam diggers can fill their limits at Copalis Beach over the Christmas holiday.
Elevated levels of domoic acid, a natural toxin produced by certain types of algae, have previously forced Fish and Wildlife to close all Washington’s beaches to clam digging.
Clams from Copalis Beach have been cleared by state public health officials after several rounds of testing, said Dan Ayres coastal shellfish manager for Fish and Wildlife.
The Copalis Beach digs are set for the following dates and low tides:
■ Today: 5:47 p.m., -1.2 feet.
■ Friday: 6:30 p.m., -1.3 feet.
■ Saturday: 7:12 p.m., -1.1 feet.
Under state law, diggers can take 15 razor clams per day and are required to keep the first 15 they dig. Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container.
All diggers age 15 or older must have an applicable 2015-16 fishing license to harvest razor clams on any beach.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
