REJOICE AND RETAIN once again on the lower stretches of the Hoh River.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife have removed the selective gear restriction and are allowing chinook retention on a portion of the river.
The reopened section of the Hoh stretches from the state Department of Natural Resource’s Oxbow Campground boat launch downstream to the Olympic National Park boundary near the river mouth.
Rule makers made the change after most summer chinook made a move upriver following the onset of wetter and cooler weather over the past few weeks.
This rule change allows anglers to pursue salmon with normal gear, including bait.
Salmon of a minimum 12 inches in size can be retained through Nov. 30.
The daily limit is six, and only one adult may be kept.
The Hoh River remains closed to fishing inside Olympic National Park.
North Coast rivers
Many other segments on North Coast rivers also have been reopened.
On the Quillayute River system:
■ Bogachiel River: Upstream of the U.S. Highway 101 bridge to the Olympic National Park boundary, and Bear Creek— a tributary.
■ Sol Duc River: Upstream of the concrete pump station at the Sol Duc Hatchery to the Olympic National Park boundary, and tributaries Beaver and Bear creeks.
■ Calawah River: Upstream of the U.S. Highway 101 bridge, the North Fork Calawah, the South Fork Calawah to the Olympic National Park boundary, and the Sitkum River — a tributary.
■ East and West Forks of the Dickey River: Upstream of their confluence and on Thunder Creek, a tributary.
On the Queets River system:
■ Clearwater River: Upstream of the Snahapish River, and the Snahapish and Solleks rivers.
■ Matheny Creek: Outside of Olympic National Park.
Anglers meet tonight
Larry Bennett, a scientific technician with Fish and Wildlife’s Puget Sound Sampling Unit, will speak tonight to a meeting of the North Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Puget Sound Anglers.
Working out of Port Angeles, Bennett supervises salt water fish checks on the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Sekiu eastward and for certain stretches of Hood Canal.
The meeting is open to the public and will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave., in Sequim,, at 6 p.m.
Refreshments, fishing reports and a $50 membership drawing (must be present to win) also are planned.
Bennett has more than 30 years of experience with the department after graduating from Peninsula College’s fisheries program in 1976.
He will discuss the duties and responsibilities of his office, sampling techniques, and the importance of the state’s Voluntary Trip Report for salmon anglers.
These forms collect data that the state finds critically important in the evaluation of selective chinook and coho fisheries and planning of future selective fisheries on the Pacific Coast in Marine Areas 1-4, along the Strait in Areas 5-6 and in Puget Sound in Areas 7-13.
The state uses a combination of test boat and Voluntary Trip Report information to estimate the mark rate and encounter rate of legal-sized and sublegal-sized chinook and coho.
I’ve spoken with Bennett recently for other outdoors column items.
Voluntary Trip Reports came up during one chat and he said Fish and Wildlife is trying to develop an electronic system that connects the forms to the submitter’s WILD ID.
Get enough reports from one area over a number of seasons and Fish and Wildlife (and hopefully the public) could have access to more exact catch rate data.
This could help with season setting and it may also help a recreational angler find the best historical window of time to plan a fishing trip.
Of course, those fish still have to show up for those anglers — and getting them to show is the hardest part of the whole fishing equation.
For more information on the North Olympic Peninsula chapter of Puget Sound Anglers, visit www. psanopc.org or www.facebook.com/psanopc.
Commission meets
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will receive a briefing on proposed changes to sportfishing rules in the freshwater areas of Puget Sound and the Washington coast during its public meeting Saturday and Sunday in Spokane.
Proposals include implementing selective gear rules on some North Olympic Peninsula rivers and prohibiting the harvest of wild steelhead in several rivers including the Calawah, Bogachiel, Hoh and Sol Duc.
Fish and Wildlife is working with an advisory group to refine options for the commission’s consideration.
To review and comment on the proposed rules, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-WDFWProposals15.
Comments will be accepted through Nov. 4.
The public also will have the opportunity to provide testimony on the proposed rule changes during the commission’s meeting in November.
Crab cards due
All sport fishers licensed to fish for Dungeness crab anywhere in Puget Sound have through Oct. 1 to submit summer catch reports to Fish and Wildlife.
“Catch reports play a major role in determining how much crab is still available for harvest during the winter season,” said Rich Childers, Fish and Wildlife’s shellfish policy lead.
“It’s important that we receive reports from everyone licensed to fish for crab in Puget Sound — whether or not they caught crab this year.”
Childers said Fish and Wildlife will announce winter crab seasons for Puget Sound in early October, after completing its assessment of the summer fishery.
Crabbers can submit catch record cards to Fish and Wildlife by mail at CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.
They can also report their catch online at tinyurl.com/PDN-CrabReport2015 from Sept. 8 through Oct. 1.
Crabbers who fail to file their catch reports on time will face a $10 fine when they purchase a 2016 Puget Sound crab endorsement.
Winter catch record cards are free to those with crab endorsements, and are available at sporting goods stores and other license vendors across the state.
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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.
