The huge sockeye run heading up the Columbia River will have anglers scrambling to tackle shops to invest on bare red or black hooks and chrome dodgers for the Lake Wenatchee for sockeye salmon fishery that opens Aug. 5.
The fishery, which will be open for the second consecutive summer, will get underway that day one hour before official sunrise that day, and will close once the harvestable number of fish have been caught.
The return is expected to exceed the 23,000 sockeye needed for spawning escapement, and additional fish will be present to provide for sport fishing opportunity. The run is predicted to be robust this summer.
The daily limit per angler is two sockeye of 12 inches or longer. Only single pointed barbless hooks are required. No more than three hooks may be used on one line. No bait or scent may be attached to the hooks. Knotless nets are required.
A night closure will be in effect. Legal fishing hours each day are one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. Bull trout, steelhead and chinook must be released without removing them from the water.
Also release sockeye with one or more holes (round, approximately ¼-inch in diameter) punched in the tail of the fish (caudal fin). These fish are part of a study and have been anesthetized; the FDA requires a 21 day ban on consumption of these fish.
As part of the Lake Wenatchee Fire Department's Silent Benefit Auction the highest bidder can win a Lake Wenatchee fishing trip with Rollie Schmitten, former director of state fisheries and recently appointed as a state Fish and Wildlife commissioner. Details: www.lakewenatcheeinfo.com.
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