Tribal and Sport Fishers Both Look Towards Spring Chinook Fishing

Tribal and Sport Fishers Both Look Towards Spring Chinook Fishing

Submitted By Bob Tuck

Yakima Fish and Wildlife Biologist

An ancient ritual will be renewed this spring near Sunnyside Dam as Yakama Tribal fishers, standing on their hand-crafted fishing platforms, sweep their dip nets through the cold waters of the Yakima River, as their ancestors have done since long before the Pyramids were built.  Sensing the slightest change in currents or smallest bump through the long wooden handles, they seek an honored gift from the river for their families and longhouses; Spring Chinook salmon are back.

Meanwhile, sport anglers at Fairbanks Outfitters on West Yakima Avenue look over the latest high tech angling gear, eager to match their fishing skills against 25 pounds of silver and muscle.  Spring Chinook are one of the most highly prized sport fishes in North America, and the opportunity to fish for these leaping beauties almost in the shadow of the Chinook Tower is a result of faith and hope, planning and building, compromise and accommodation, as well as the indomitable spirit of the salmon.

Salmon runs in the Yakima Basin followed the same downward spiral as runs in the Columbia River, a result of a over a century of habitat degradation, water resource development, overfishing, and other factors.  By the middle of the 20th century the runs passing Valley towns were tiny remnants of their former abundance, with sockeye extinct and summer Chinook and Coho headed for the same fate.  By the late 1970’s the future looked bleak for the tiny runs of spring and fall Chinook and steelhead that still fought their way to historic spawning areas.  But some people refused to let these fish, that have nurtured and inspired people for thousands of years, slip into oblivion.

Restoration efforts over the last 30 years by the Yakama Nation, state and federal agencies, local governments, private entities and landowners, have borne results. Following a small test sport fishing season in 2000, in May, 2001 the fisheries co-managers (Yakama Nation, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) opened the first regular sport fishing season for spring Chinook in the Yakima River since 1964.  Once again, a fisher living in Terrace Heights could greet the rising sun on a gravel bar downstream of the Terrace Heights Bridge, fishing vest festooned with multi-colored lures, and be at his desk in the Larson Building in time to start the workday.  If he was lucky, he enjoyed the thrill of a fighting spring Chinook, rainbow sparkling in the spray of its leap, on the end of his fishing line.

Over 2,000 spring Chinook were caught in the 2001 sport season, creating increased business for locale sporting goods stores, motels, restaurants, and other businesses.  Sport fishing seasons were opened in 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2009, with an average harvest of approximately 525 fish.  The 2010 spring Chinook run is forecast to be approximately 16,000, which will make it the largest run since the 2001 run, when over 23,000 returned.  Sport anglers are already oiling their fishing reels, while Tribal fishers fashion new hoop nets.

If you are a sport angler, stop by Fairbanks Outfitters and talk to Gary.  He’ll be glad to show you the latest tackle, or discuss the best places on the river to catch one of the greatest treasures the river has to offer.  Anyone, fisher or not, can visit the Cle Elum Supplementation and Research Facility near Cle Elum, where juvenile spring Chinook are reared for release into the Yakima River.  In mid-September, you can view spawning wild spring Chinook in the Cle Elum River, near Ronald.

Down near Sunnyside Dam, several Tribal fishers gather up their gear and the several salmon that they have caught.  These fish will be prepared for use in Longhouse ceremonies, or for family gatherings.  Salmon stories will be passed down from grandparents to children, continuing an unbroken tradition that stretches back to the morning of time.  And in the river, the salmon continue their own cycle of life, as they have since time immemorial.