State fishery managers recently outlined Willapa Bay commercial and recreational salmon options for 2024.

TOKELAND — Over the past two weeks, recreational salmon fishing in Willapa Bay and its tributaries has been lackluster, with decreased angler effort. The catches provide the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife with vital information about the fishery.

Agency officials have monitored the WDFW dock in South Bend along U.S. Highway 101 and at the Tokeland Marina twice a week for sampling data to compare against non-sampled locations.

They are conducting boat surveys as well, and the survey shows 97.3% of the boats are exiting in either South Bend or Tokeland, with only 2.7% exiting elsewhere.

Lots of anglers

According to a weekly update on the fishery provided on Sept. 2, the previous week’s effort decreased approximately 19%, but anglers were able to land more salmon, primarily hatchery Chinook.

“Our dockside staff reported our highest number of landed fish on Sunday, Aug. 29,” WDFW Biologist Barbara McClellan said. “There were afternoon high tides as well as minus low water tides, which typically contributes to less fish biting.”

“By Saturday, Aug. 28, there were fishable high tides first thing in the morning, which many anglers agree are ideal to fish within Willapa Bay,” McClellan added.

Between Aug. 23-29, about 504 boats fished the bay, with an estimated 1,066 anglers tossing in their hooks. WDFW also estimates that about 153 salmon were harvested, excluding wild coho and Chinook that are not allowed.

For the entire month of August, an estimated 1,824 boats with around 3,940 anglers fished the bay, and 460 salmon were harvested. Only 11% of anglers were able to land a fish, according to the monthly data.

The month of September is often regarded as the peak of the salmon season, with it mostly running down by the first week or two of October. The tributaries, including the Naselle and Willapa Rivers, are expected to heat up in the next few weeks.

Commercial catch

The commercial fishery kicked off its season on Aug. 20, and the first data is expected to be released by officials around Sept. 10.

Early data suggests that the fishery has harvested at least 1,092 hatchery Chinook and 35 wild coho. Thirty-six wild Chinook were also impacted, according to the data.

“Hatchery and natural Chinook encounters were higher than predicted preseason for [this week],” McClellan said.