Feeling crowded out of the prime fishing spots in the Clearwater Basin, the Nez Perce Tribe will experiment with gill nets and drift nets during the spring chinook fishing season.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Thomas L. (Les) Purce to serve on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the Tribal Ceremonial and Subsistence fishery for coho salmon on the Elwha River will be open for a limited time during fall 2023. Additionally, the Tribe, ONP, and WDFW agreed to extend the closure of other recreational and commercial fisheries in the Elwha River for another year.

One hunter-harvested mule deer, a buck from El Dorado County, was confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. The deer was harvested in 2021 and sampled by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for chronic wasting disease surveillance. It was negative for CWD and did not show any outward signs of illness.

Earlier this month, Ryan Mejaski and Joe Wilhite were fishing for kokanee on the Deschutes arm of central Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook without much luck when they decided to move spots. After casting into a group of small kokanee that were jumping to the surface, his secret lure sank to about five feet when he got a big strike that took off screaming.