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Quillayute River Reopens With Lower Salmon Limits and No Bait
Fishing resumes today on the short main stem below the Sol Duc and Bogachiel, under tighter rules while the river stays low.
The Quillayute River on Washington's coast reopens to fishing today, October 6, under an emergency rule from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, until further notice. The rule covers the river from the Olympic National Park boundary upstream to where the Sol Duc and Bogachiel rivers meet.
The rules are tighter than usual. Bait is prohibited for all species. For salmon, the daily limit is two, no more than one of them a wild adult, with a 12-inch minimum, and sockeye must be released. Game fish are open under the standard sport fishing rules, except for the bait ban.
The reason is water. Recent rain has improved conditions for salmon moving upriver, the department says, but until more rain keeps the river up, the lower limits and bait ban are meant to stretch the season later into the fall. The rule was set with the Quillayute River's tribal co-managers.
The Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah and Dickey rivers are not affected and stay open under permanent rules. Water inside Olympic National Park follows the park's own fishing rules. WDFW's Coastal Region office is at 360-249-4628.
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