1999 Creel Survey Archive [ CURRENT REPORT ] [ 2006 Archive ] [ 2005 Archive ] [ 2004 Archive ] [ 2003 Archive ] [ 2002 Archive ] [ 2001 Archive ] [ 2000 Archive ] [ 1999 Archive ] WDFW Sport Sampling Results for December 27, 1999 - January 2, 2000 Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format Salmon/Steelhead Cowlitz River - Boat anglers averaged nearly a steelhead kept per every 2 rods last week while bank anglers averaged one kept per every 4.4. Crowded angling conditions were reported at Blue Creek. Water is high but fishable - will be better for boat anglers when the river drops a bit more. Mostly 2-salt fish in the catch. Should be good fishing for another couple weeks. Flows below Mayfield Dam were expected to be 13,700 cfs today. Lewis River - Produced a steelhead kept per every 9 bank anglers and every 4 boat anglers. Flows below Merwin Dam were expected to be 8,200 cfs today. John Day Pool - Anglers continue to catch some steelhead. Sturgeon Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Catch and effort is generally light off the Washington shore. John Day Pool - Light effort and catches. Walleye and Bass John Day Pool - Light effort and catches. Water levels have been fluctuating. Surface temperatures are in the low to mid 40s. Trout Riffe Lake - Continues to produce some fish. Smelt During the 12 hour commercial test fishery on Wednesday December 29, catches ranged from a few fish to a few pounds per drift in the Cathlamet area. Water temperature was 44 degrees at Bonneville Dam today. WDFW Sport Sampling Results for December 20-26, 1999 Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format Salmon/Steelhead Cowlitz River - Last week, bank anglers averaged a steelhead kept per every 3 rods. Lewis River - Bank anglers averaged a winter steelhead kept per every 7 rods last week. John Day Pool - Bank anglers continue to catch some hatchery steelhead. Updated winter steelhead hatchery returns and Lewis/Cowlitz stream flows were not available today. Sturgeon Lower Columbia below Bonneville - Bank angling is generally slow. John Day Pool - Light effort and catches. Walleye and Bass John Day Pool - Effort and catches are light although the few boat anglers sampled last week averaged ½ legal walleye per person. Trout Riffe Lake - Anglers are catching some fish. Merwin Reservoir - The bank anglers sampled there last week had no catch. Smelt No updated report on commercial catches. Look for a WDFW news release this week for possible limited recreational fishery opportunities. WDFW Sport Sampling Results for December 13-19, 1999 Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format Salmon/Steelhead Elochoman River - No angling or escapement reports. The Elochoman River remains open to fishing for salmon through December 31. Cowlitz River - The river is high and out of shape. Flows below Mayfield Dam were expected to be 18,500 cfs today. Through Dec. 16, a total of 64 winter steelhead had returned to the salmon hatchery and 376 fish to the trout hatchery. Through February 29, 2000, bank anglers on the north side of the river may fish up to the newly placed markers located approximately 125 feet below the barrier dam. Effective January 1, 2000, the salmon daily limit on the Cowlitz River downstream from the barrier dam reverts to 6 fish, no more than 2 adults. Kalama River - No angling report. Through December 16, a total of 32 hatchery and 3 wild steelhead had returned to Kalama Falls Hatchery. Lewis River - Steelhead anglers plunking near the salmon hatchery are catching some fish despite the high water. Through December 16, a total of 86 winter steelhead had returned to the Lewis River facilities. Flows below Merwin Dam were expected to be reduced to 11,000 cfs effective today. The North Fork Lewis River from Colvin Creek upstream to the overhead powerlines below Merwin Dam is open to fishing for trout and steelhead. This area will open to fishing for hatchery coho January 1, 2000. The entire Lewis River, including North Fork, will remain closed to chinook retention through January 31, 2000. Effective January 1, 2000, the Lewis River (including North Fork) salmon daily limit reverts to 6 fish, no more than 2 adults. Washougal River - No angling report. Through December 16, a total of 32 winter steelhead had returned to Skamania Hatchery. John Day Pool - Effort is steady but steelhead catch rate remains low. Sturgeon Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Effort and catches are light off the Washington bank. Bonneville and The Dalles pools - Will re-open to sturgeon retention effective January 1, 2000. John Day Pool continues to be open for sturgeon retention. John Day Pool - Sturgeon angling was so slow that most anglers had given up. Water levels were high last week. Walleye and Bass John Day Pool - No walleye or bass effort was observed last week. Water temperatures were in the high 40s. Trout Riffe Lake - Effort and catches were light last week. Last weeks trout plants of catchable size rainbows: Klineline Pond near Vancouver - 7,000 Lacamas Lake near Camas - 3,000 Ice House Lake near Bridge of the Gods - 2,000 Little Ash Lake near Stevenson - 2,000 Smelt Commercial gillnetters were catching up to 150 pounds/day near Cathlamet early last week. Fish were reported to be large (8 to the pound). There is a Compact meeting at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife headquarters office at 2501 SW First Ave., Portland, OR at 10:00 A.M. on December 21, 1999 to discuss commercial and recreational smelt fishery options. Washington recreational fishers should be reminded the Columbia and its tributaries are currently closed to fishing for smelt. WDFW Sport Sampling Results for December 6-12, 1999 Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format Salmon/Steelhead Cowlitz River - Bank anglers averaged one steelhead kept per every 4 rods last week. Fishing from boats was slow. Flows below Mayfield Dam were expected to be 13,900 cfs today. Lewis River - Anglers are catching a few coho and steelhead. Flows below Merwin Dam were expected to be 11,000 cfs today. John Day Pool - Anglers are catching fair numbers of steelhead. Sturgeon Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Bank angling is slow. John Day Pool - Sturgeon effort and catch is light. Water levels are high. Walleye and Bass John Day Pool - Effort and catches were light for walleye and non-existent for bass. Water temperatures are near 50 degrees. Trout Riffe Lake - Anglers are catching some landlocked salmon and trout.

Files formatted in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print. You can download the free reader directly from Adobe. Windows versions are approximately 4MB in size.

---

Find a bug or error in the system? Let us know about it!
© 1999-2001 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
E-mail <webmaster@dfw.wa.gov>