OLYMPIA – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fishery managers this week announced regulations for the state’s 2024-25 coastal steelhead season.

Most major steelhead fishing areas are scheduled to be open from Dec. 2 through March 31. Notable exceptions include:

• Queets River within Olympic National Park (upstream of Clearwater Road bridge/Quinault Indian Nation boundary) will close Dec. 16.

• Humptulips River upstream of Highway 101 including all forks will close Jan. 2. Humptulips River (mouth to Highway 101 bridge) will close Feb. 3.

• Willapa River section from mouth (City of South Bend boat launch) to the WDFW access site at the mouth of Ward/Wilson creeks will close Feb. 1.

• Clearwater River (Quinault Indian Nation boundary to Snahapish River) and Salmon River (mouth to Quinault Indian Nation boundary) will close March 1.

• Chehalis River (mouth to confluence with Skookumchuck River), Wynoochee River (mouth to 7400 Road bridge), Satsop River (mouth to Schafer State Park bridge on East Fork Satsop), and Skookumchuck River will close March 1. All other Grays Harbor and Chehalis Basin tributaries will close Jan. 2.

See below for a summary of additional regulations, closure dates, and areas.

Emergency fishing rule changes will be published Dec. 2 as well as available on the Fish Washington© mobile app. Areas not listed in the emergency fishing rule changes will remain as described in the 2024-25 Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet.

“It’s great to see increased wild steelhead forecasts for most coastal rivers, although we still have work to do to rebuild these runs for current and future generations,” said WDFW Fish Program Director Kelly Cunningham. “Our balanced approach this season includes earlier closures than initially proposed while providing meaningful fishing opportunities.”