Southwest Washington Fishing Reports

2003 Report Archive
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WDFW Sport Sampling Results for January 19, 2003
Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format

Salmon/Steelhead -

Cowlitz River - Last weekend, sampling showed 65 bank anglers caught 10 winter steelhead and released 1 coho. In addition, 73 boat anglers caught 13 winter steelhead and released 1 sea-run cutthroat. On Saturday, most of the fish were caught near Blue Creek.

• Tacoma Power's Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator recovered 3,446 coho salmon, 84 coho jacks, 256 winter-run steelhead, 10 summer-run steelhead and one sea-run cutthroat trout during five days of separator operations between January 13-January 18.
• During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released 2,239 coho adults, 46 coho jacks and two steelhead into the upper Cowlitz River at the Day Use Park on Lake Scanewa.
• Tacoma Power employees also released a total of 260 adult coho salmon and nine coho jacks at the Skate Creek Bridge site on the upper Cowlitz River in Packwood , Washington during the week.
• Tacoma Power employees released 889 coho salmon, 23 coho jacks and 43 winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton , Washington during the week. A total of 255 steelhead were recycled downstream to the Massey Bar boat launch during the week.
• River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately 5,570 cubic feet per second on Tuesday, January 21. Water visibility is 11 feet.
• Through Jan. 15, a total of 985 and 550 hatchery winter steelhead had returned to the trout and salmon hatcheries. In comparison, 4,122 and 1,673 fish had returned to each hatchery through the same time last year.

Kalama River - From Jan. 5-11, a check revealed 139 bank anglers had kept 5 hatchery steelhead and released 1 hatchery steelhead. In addition, 85 boat anglers had kept 10 hatchery steelhead and released 8 hatchery and 8 wild steelhead. Also, 1 spring chinook was caught on a non-sample day.

• 100 hatchery winter steelhead were recycled to the lower river on January 13. Total hatchery winter-run recycled to date is 620 fish. So far, hatchery winter run returns are 50% above average. However, 1,933 hatchery winter steelhead had returned at approximately the same period last year.
• Kress Lake near Kalama has been planted with 500 adult hatchery steelhead, the majority being summer-run fish.

Lewis River - No report on angling success. Through Jan. 15, a total of 356 hatchery winter steelhead had entered the Lewis River Salmon Hatchery and 765 fish were trapped at Merwin Dam. This compares to 2,940 and 868 fish that returned to the facilities about the same time last year.

Washougal River - No report on angling success. Through Jan. 15, a total of 346 hatchery winter steelhead had returned to Skamania Hatchery. This compares to 1,037 fish at the same time last year.

Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day pools - Producing good numbers of summer-run steelhead.

Sturgeon -

Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - No report.

Bonneville Pool - Boat anglers averaged a legal kept per every 2 boats last week.

The Dalles Pool - Boat anglers averaged a legal kept per every 3 boats last week. Bank anglers were also catching a few legals.

John Day Pool - Light effort and catches.

Walleye and Bass -

Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day pools - A few boat anglers were fishing for walleye with some catch in The Dalles Pool.

Trout -

Klineline Pond - 76 bank anglers kept 2 broodstock rainbows and released 3 others last week. The pond is scheduled to be planted with 2,000 catchable rainbows this week.

Southwest Washington lakes planted with catchable size rainbows last week -

• Sacajawea Lake in Longview - 1,700
• Silver Lake near Castle Rock - 4,000
• Northwestern Lake near White Salmon - 3,400
• Spearfish Lake near Dallesport - 1,100
• Maryhill Pond in Klickitat County - 500
• Fort Borst Pond near Centralia - 3,000

Smelt -

Tributaries - Smelt have disappeared from the Cowlitz River since the middle of last week. Commercial fishers are no longer catching any fish. Some smelt were reported in the Lewis River early last week but abundance never increased. Smelt were reported in the Grays River late last week.

Columbia River - Smelt have been reported up to the mouth of the Sandy River and possibly further upstream. Lots of birds were observed this weekend upstream from the I-205 Bridge. Sturgeon with smelt in their bellies/mouths have been reported downstream and large numbers of sea lions/seals are present in the lower river.

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