WDFW Sport Sampling Results:
February 27, 2005
 |
Latest
Southwest Washington |
Salmon/Steelhead -
Kalama River- From Chris Wagemann, Kalama River fish biologist on Feb. 23:
River is cold, very low, and clear. No fish moving- no fish handled.
Lower Columbia from the I-5 Bridge downstream- Salmonid effort continues to build. Nearly 200 boats were counted during the Saturday Feb. 26 flight. Effort was fairly evenly spread throughout the lower river. No fish were found in the sample and only a few spring chinook were reported caught.
Bonneville Pool- No effort.
The Dalles Pool- Light effort and no catch observed.
John Day Pool- Bank anglers were catching some steelhead.
Ringold- From Paul Hoffarth, WDFW fish biologist on Feb. 28:
The Ringold steelhead fishery opened October 1. Angler activity picked up slightly in February. Angler activity (pole hours), catch, and harvest were down compared to the 2003-04 fishery. The estimated catch for February was 114 steelhead (80 harvested), 78% of the catch were Ringold origin steelhead (adipose + right vent clipped). An estimated 8 wild steelhead were caught and released. Recycled steelhead (fish transported from the Ringold Rearing Facility and released in the Columbia River in the Tri-cities) comprised only 4% of the steelhead harvest.
Overall this season, 1,987 steelhead have been caught, 1,666 harvested, and 83 wild steelhead have been caught and released (4% of the catch).
Sturgeon -
Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam- Very slow for bank anglers just below Bonneville Dam. Only a few sublegals were caught by anglers in the Kalama to Longview area.
Bonneville Pool- Boat anglers averaged a legal kept per every 10 rods. Bank anglers were also catching a few legals.
The Dalles Pool- Boat anglers were catching a few legals. Slow from the bank.
John Day Pool- Continues to be slow for legal sized fish.
Walleye and Bass -
Bonneville Pool- Little to no effort observed for either specie.
The Dalles Pool- Boat anglers averaged nearly 3/4 walleye kept per rod. Bank anglers were also catching some fish. No effort observed for bass.
John Day Pool- Including fish released, boat anglers averaged a walleye per every 4 rods. No effort observed for bass.
Trout -
Riffe Lake- 6 boat anglers had 1 coho. 5 bank anglers had 2 brown bullheads.
Klineline Pond- 47 bank anglers kept 26 rainbows and 12 browns plus released 247 browns.
Smelt -
No new reports of any fish.