The Skykomish River chinook fishery, pretty much a non-event the two summers it’s been in place, could develop into a major happening if state Department of Fish and Wildlife predictions are on the mark. Salmon managers say they expect approximately 15,700 kings to return to the Snohomish River system this summer. If that happens, the run would be three times the size of last year’s run.

The numbers were presented Monday at a meeting in Olympia to discuss preseason forecasts for all major salmon runs around the state, a starting point for the season-setting process called “North of Falcon.”

Region 4 fish biologist Chad Jackson at the state’s Mill Creek office said the department is proposing a Skykomish chinook season identical to last year’s, and that prospects of the proposal making it through the long approval process are good.

But that may not be enough for some fishing clubs and activist anglers who feel the strength of the predicted run should allow for an increase in recreational opportunities on the Skykomish. Many are pushing for a longer season and/or an increase in fishing area. Jackson said he’s not shutting the door on increased opportunity, but that a number of factors would have to be addressed and accepted during the North of Falcon “bargaining” process.

“A season extension, either in time or area, might be possible, but we would need to be able to adequately monitor the fishery,” he said. “The impact on wild-stock chinook must be held within certain acceptable limits, and it’s necessary to monitor the fishery to accomplish that.”

More creel census technicians or more enforcement personnel means more expense to the department, Jackson said.

“If we increase the season to include the river from Monroe to its mouth, for instance, we then have three more ‘takeout’ areas to monitor 16 hours a day,” he said.

Some clubs have expressed interest in supplying volunteer creel census personnel, if that’s what it would take to open up more fishing opportunity. Jackson said that’s a possibility, but again there are caveats.

“I would be open to looking at the possibility of using volunteers,” he said, “but it would involve some training and coordination, and I would have to see how serious the clubs are about providing bodies.”

Another major happening on the salmon scene this summer could be a sockeye season on Lake Washington. Nearly half a million of the highly sought salmon are expected to return to the urban lake this year, well above the 350,000 fish needed for spawning escapement. Sockeye counts are being monitored at the Ballard Locks and fisheries will be announced once a sufficient number of fish have entered the system, state spokesman Doug Williams said. The department is seeking public input on daily bag limits, preferences for fishing days and other components of a possible recreational fishery.

Other predicted bright spots for Washington salmon fishermen this summer: Strait of Juan de Fuca and Skagit River coho (50,000 more fish than last year in the Skagit); a strong chinook outlook for Westport and Ilwaco and at buoy 10 and other lower-Columbia areas; and excellent numbers of upper Columbia chinook for fisheries at Hanford Reach and the Columbia upriver to the Okanogan.

Interested salmon anglers are welcome to attend a local input session at 7 p.m. on March 11 at the Mill Creek office (425-775-1311).

Lots of halibut: Recreational halibut fishermen will be allowed more of the big flatfish this year, although fishing will remain closed in an area off LaPush to protect depleted stocks of yelloweye rockfish. The International Pacific Halibut Commission has set the overall coastal halibut quota at 1.48 million pounds, up from 1.31 million pounds last year. Washington sport fishermen will see their portion increase from 237,739 pounds in 2003 to 278,883 pounds this year – the highest quota ever off the coast.

Phil Anderson, a special assistant to the director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, attributed the increase in quotas to a reduction in halibut bycatch in the commercial groundfish trawl fishery. The commercial decrease, Anderson said, was primarily due to recent depth closures in the trawl fishery.

The Neah Bay season, the state’s best, opens May 11, five days a week, closed Sundays and Mondays, for a quota of 91,337 pounds. It will then reopen June 15 and continue until the remainder of a split quota is taken (basically an opportunity for the Fourth of July weekend).

Westport, another top halibut fishery, opens offshore on May 2, five days a week, closed Fridays and Saturdays, through July 1, then opens seven days per week. A nearshore fishery south of the Queets River will be open seven days per week.

Local blackmouth: Salmon checks over the weekend included the Port of Everett on Saturday (137 anglers, 21 chinook averaging 7 pounds) and Sunday (89 anglers with 17 chinook.) At the Edmonds sling, it was 12 anglers on Saturday with three chinook, averaging 6 pounds.

Walleye: Guide and Brewster resident Rod Hammons (starr@nwi.net; 509-689-2849) said walleye fishing is picking up on the Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam, for a few “eaters” and a scattering of trophy fish.

“I’m averaging four to six fish per trip,” he said, “with a very good possibility that one or more will be over 10 pounds.”

Regulations allow one fish over 24 inches and four over 16 inches, and Hammons cautions that this is not a “fill-the-boat” fishery.

“I do know that there’s a 22-pound fish out there somewhere, because it was caught last year and released,” he said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t weighed on a certified scale, but I can guarantee you that next time, it will be.”

Lower Columbia: There’s been absolutely no smelt action on the lower Cowlitz.

The Spring chinook count over Bonneville as of Feb. 26 was just 12 fish.

State biologist Joe Hymer in the Vancouver office said the Drano Lake/Wind River fisheries probably will open on March 16, along with the mainstem Columbia above I-5, and that regulations for the fisheries should be posted within the next few days. Check the agency Web site, http://wdfw.wa.gov.

Trout: Information from Blackman’s and Flowing lakes, where a coalition of sportsmen’s groups planted a number of triploid rainbow trout running from 15 inches to 8 pounds or better on Monday, is sketchy. Temperatures have been on the low side and it may take a few days for the fish to acclimate. A spokesman at Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood said he wouldn’t get serious about catching some of the trophy trout until perhaps this weekend.

The March 1 “early trout opener” on a number of lakes in the Columbia Basin was excellent, according to state fish biologist Jeff Korth at the Ephrata office. Limits were the rule, most by noon, on Caliche, Martha, Quincy and Burke lakes, Korth said, running from 10 inches to holdovers in the 16- to 18-inch range. Good fishing should hold up through the end of the month, or a couple of weeks longer, he said.

Korth said action on the “quality” lakes, Lenice and Nunnally, was “decent,” with maybe 15 to 20 anglers on each lake for the Monday opener.

Reports from the Yakima River indicate cold water temperatures, but a few rainbows in the 14- to 16-inch range being taken, mostly on rabbit sculpins and other minnow patterns.

It’s still cold at Pass Lake, too, but a few fish on the bite for the persistent angler.