Southwest Washington Fishing Reports
2002 Report Archive
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WDFW Sport Sampling Results for January 21-27, 2002
Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format

Salmon/Steelhead

• Cowlitz River - Last week, 46 bank at Blue Creek kept 24 steelhead and released 9 others. The 2 bank anglers at the barrier dam, 4 boat anglers at Blue Creek and 1 angler at Mission Bar had no catch. Flows below Mayfield Dam were 14,000 cfs this morning.
• The 3 hatchery steelhead daily limit on the lower Cowlitz plus Blue and Mill creeks being open to fishing for trout remain in effect through January 31.
• Bonneville pool - Boat anglers were catching some steelhead there last week.
• The Dalles Pool - No in-sample effort for salmonids was found there last week.
• John Day Pool - Boat and bank anglers continue to catch summer-run steelhead.
• Ringold - Effort was light at Ringold the past two weeks. Fishing was fair for bank anglers with a fish per every 16.7 pole/hrs and boat anglers reporting a fish per every 7.6 pole hours. Last week, 12 bank anglers kept 2 steelhead while 11 boat anglers kept 6 and released 1.
  

Sturgeon

• Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - No report.
• Bonneville Pool - Boat anglers released a large number of legal size fish last week. Fishing for sturgeon was slow from the bank.
• The Dalles and John Day pools - Slow for legal sized fish.
  

Walleye and Bass and other warm water fish

• Bonneville Pool upstream to John Day Pool - Boat anglers in John Day Pool released a few walleye. Otherwise, effort for walleye and bass was low to non-existent.
  

Trout

• Recent releases of nearly ½ pound rainbows:
  • Kress Lake near Kalama - 2,000
  • Horseshoe Lake near Woodland - 2,000
  • Silver Lake near Castle Rock - 4,000
• Recent releases of 4 pound rainbows:
  • Kress Lake - 89
  • Klineline Pond West near Hazel Dell - 89

Smelt

• Cowlitz River - Last Saturday (January 26), best dipping was near the mouth and was slower progressing upstream. At Gearhart Park near Longview, dippers averaged 0-10 smelt per dip. At Kelso catches were 0-6 fish dip; Carnival Market 0-3 fish dip, and Lexington Park 0-1 fish dip. Catches were heavy to males.
• The Cowlitz River was high and muddy but dropping last Saturday. Flows at Castle Rock were nearly 35,000 cfs last Friday. Today, flows were 20,000 cfs.