The late winter and early spring catch-and-release season on the famed Skagit River may not happen in 2026, and not because of too few wild steelhead returning to the river. In fact, the numbers support a limited catch-and-release fishery with no retention of wild fish allowed. Roughly 4,557 wild steelhead are estimated to return to the Skagit, which is above the minimum needed to hold a season.
Instead, the season might not happen due to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) not receiving enough funding.
According to PNW Daily, to hold a season for Puget Sound steelhead, the Endangered Species Act requires state fisheries officials to conduct in-season monitoring that includes creel sampling, population surveys, and real-time run tracking. This ensures the projected wild fish return to the river, and will close the season if too few fish return. It’s one of the many tools fisheries managers can use to help these struggling fish.
But without the funding to conduct that real-time data tracking, WDFW can’t justify opening the Skagit River season. This happened because of budget quirks at Washington’s state legislature. According to NW Sportsman Mag, the budget that was passed last spring (to fund this year’s operations) completely eliminated the potential for a Skagit fishery this winter. To compound the problem, WDFW hasn’t proposed a budget that would allow for a 2027 season, either.
These fisheries are already suffering from the myriad of problems facing wild steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. Changing ocean conditions and habitat degradation have been major culprits, along with dam construction in the latter part of the 20th century. There is some hope in the steelhead community that no 2026 season will be a net gain for the fish, as they won’t be bothered by any anglers. But there is worry that, without sufficient ground-level support, the fishery won’t receive funding in the near future.