Hatchery chinook season delayed in waters around Whidbey Island

Salmon anglers will have to wait to fish for hatchery chinook in Admiralty Inlet. That season, which was supposed to start Sunday, Nov. 1, in Marine Area 9 was postponed to protect a large number of juvenile chinook in those waters, according to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife release Friday.

November 3, 2015 5:50 pm

Salmon anglers will have to wait to fish for hatchery chinook in Admiralty Inlet.

That season, which was supposed to start Sunday, Nov. 1, in Marine Area 9 was postponed to protect a large number of juvenile chinook in those waters, according to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife release Friday.

Starting Sunday, chum will be the only salmon that anglers will be allowed to keep in Marine Area 9. The daily limit will be two.

The department will continue to monitor Marine Area 9 and could open the area for a brief hatchery chinook fishery around Thanksgiving, Warren said.

Admiralty Inlet is scheduled to close to salmon fishing Nov. 30 and then will be open Jan. 16 through April 15.