Cowlitz River
- Catch has slowed some. 191 bank anglers kept 3 spring chinook
and 5 steelhead plus released 3 steelhead. 96 boat anglers kept 25 steelhead
and released 1. Most of the steelhead catch was found from the trout
hatchery upstream; spring chinook catch was scattered.
17 hatchery and 1 wild adult spring chinook have returned to the Cowlitz
Salmon Hatchery through April 8. In addition, just over 1,000 late winter
hatchery steelhead have returned. This compares to no spring chinook
and just under 200 steelhead at the same time last year.
Kalama River - Anglers are releasing some wild and dark hatchery
steelhead. 7 bank anglers released 2 steelhead and 14 boat anglers released
4.
Late winter run hatchery and wild steelhead returns (a couple hundred
fish each) to Kalama Falls Hatchery are slightly less than the same
time last year.
Until further notice, only 1 adult may be kept as part of the chinook
daily limit.
Lewis River - Slow. 4 bank anglers 5 boat anglers had no catch
on the mainstem. On the North Fork, 12 bank anglers released one spring
chinook. Until further notice, only 1 adult may be kept as part of the
chinook daily limit.
East Fork Lewis from mouth to top boat ramp at Lewisville Park and Washougal
River from mouth to Mt. Norway Bridge open to fishing for hatchery steelhead
Thursday April 16. Selective gear rules will be in effect; no bait may
be used.
Wind River - Light effort. 2 boats were observed here Saturday
(April 11) morning.
Drano Lake - 1 boat angler had no catch. Only three boats here
on Saturday morning. Closed each Wednesday through May.
White Salmon River - 3 bank anglers had no catch.
Klickitat River - 3 bank anglers had no catch. From Fisher Hill
Bridge downstream, open to fishing for hatchery spring chinook and hatchery
steelhead Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays only through May.
Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Last week we sampled 3,795
private boat anglers (1,595 boats) with 643 adult and 14 jack chinook
plus 7 steelhead. We also sampled 577 bank anglers with 40 adult chinook
and 6 steelhead. Overall, 589 (86.2%) of the adult chinook caught were
kept (note: does not include 1 wild fish kept; released fish includes
1 hatchery jack). Based on Visual Stock Identification, 517 (92.8%)
of the 557 adult chinook sampled were upriver stock.
Effort was down slightly from the record high the previous week. 2,935
salmonid boats and 1,094 bank anglers were counted during the Saturday
April 11 flight. On Thursday April 9, a total of 1,942 boats and 643
bank anglers were counted.
Through April 11, an estimated 110.965 angler trips have produced 12,009
adult spring chinook kept and 2,181 released. The pre-season projection
(for the entire season) was 141,966 angler trips with 17,470 kept and
5,866 released.
The recreational salmonid and shad fishery downstream of Hayden Island
is currently open 3 days per week (Thu-Sat) and is scheduled to remain
open through April 18. The area from Hayden Island upstream to Bonneville
Dam is open 4 days per week (Wed-Sat) and is scheduled to remain open
through April 22.
Through April 13,
just 1,184 adult spring chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam.
Last year, 5,604 fish had been counted by that time. The recent 10-year
average is 27,532. Daily counts should be increasing dramatically this
week based on recent year timing curves and this year's pre-season forecast.
Water temperatures have been gradually increasing (now 47 degrees) and
water clarity remains high (around 5.5 feet). Flows have increased to
over 200 kcfs since April 10 compared to the average flows of around
125 kcfs during March and an average of 160 kcfs during April 1-9. The
higher flows are the result of spill for juvenile fish passage.
Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day pools - Light effort and
no catch observed. Scheduled to remain open to fishing for hatchery
chinook, hatchery steelhead, and shad daily through April 30.
Bonneville Pool
- Including fish released, the few boat anglers sampled averaged
over a dozen bass and a walleye per rod. No effort was observed from
the bank.
The Dalles Pool
- Boat anglers averaged about 2/3 walleye kept per rod. Some bass
were also caught.
John Day Pool
- Boat anglers averaged nearly 3 bass and a walleye per rod when
including fish released.
