The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife now has a new set of “Fish Washington” logos designed to help symbolize the state’s many great fishing opportunities.

WDFW tallied more than 1,800 votes on new logo design via the department website and Facebook page.  Now, with a few tweaks based on public suggestions, the winning set of logos has been chosen. The logos selected depict trout and bass with backgrounds of Washington state waters and wilderness.

Visitors to Olympic National Forest may now use the National Recreation Reservation System at www.recreation.gov to reserve a campsite at Coho Campground.  The campground, located at the Wynoochee Reservoir, is 35 miles north of Montesano.  It offers a boat launch, a day use site on the lake, and an RV dump station.  In addition, standard campsites, group sites, walk-in sites, and three yurts are available to overnight guests.  Standard sites and yurts can be reserved up to six months in advance.  Loop A will remain open to visitors on a “first come first served” basis. 

“The yurts at Coho Campground will allow us to extend camping seasons through late autumn and meet the needs of visitors who desire higher levels of development at our campgrounds,” said Dean Yoshina, Recreation Staff Officer.  The reservation system is especially convenient for those travelling long distances to get to Coho since their site will be guaranteed.  “The campground tends to fill up quickly on weekends or when temperatures warm up,” said Jennifer Fujii, Special Use Administrator, “but now visitors will be able to reserve their yurt or campsite ahead of time so that they do not have to worry about the campground being full upon their arrival.”  

The direct link to reserve a site at Coho Campground.

The fishing season for halibut will be shorter in Puget Sound this year, but anglers fishing off the southern coast of Washington will have an extra weekend day to fish for the big flatfish under catch quotas for 2013 adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. This year's recreational catch quota for all of Washington's areas is 214,110 pounds. The quota for the spot fishery in Puget Sound is the same as it was last year, but fishing time will be curtailed to compensate for exceeding last year's quota, said Heather Reed, coastal policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).