Cascade River coho fishing goes daily; a Skagit stretch closes Oct. 19–21

The lower Cascade River is open every day for the rest of the coho season. A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife emergency rule posted Oct. 15, 2026, and in effect through Oct. 31, opens the Cascade from the mouth to the Rockport-Cascade Road Bridge seven days a week. The salmon limit there is four coho, minimum 12 inches. All other salmon must be released. Bait is prohibited, and salmon fishing requires single-point barbless hooks. Game fish are open daily on that same reach.

On the Skagit, the stretch from Gilligan Creek east of Sedro-Woolley to the Baker River was closed to all fishing on Oct. 15, is open Oct. 16–18, closes again to all species Oct. 19–21, and reopens Oct. 22–31. When it is open, the salmon limit is two coho, 12-inch minimum, with other salmon released, no bait, and single-point barbless hooks. The Skagit from the mouth to Gilligan Creek, and from the Baker River to the Marblemount Bridge, stays on that two-coho rule without those extra closure dates.

WDFW said weekly closures on the lower Cascade are no longer needed because treaty coho fisheries there are done for the season. Bait and barbed hooks stay off because incidental Chinook encounters have kept adding up. Skagit summer–fall sport fisheries have used more than 80 percent of the available Chinook encounters, and this season’s coho fishery has produced more Chinook than any year since in-season monitoring began on the Skagit in 2021. Dolly Varden and bull trout stay closed to targeting and retention, and a night closure is in effect on both rivers during open periods. The North Puget Sound contact is TeamMillCreek@dfw.wa.gov or (425) 775-1311.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: FishingWA — Cascade River to open seven days per week, Skagit temporary closure (WDFW emergency rule, Oct. 15, 2026). Also: WDFW emergency fishing rules.