WDFW Sport Sampling Results: July 16, 2006 Latest Southwest Washington Sport Sampling Summaries [PDF Format] Salmon/Steelhead - Cowlitz River - Julie Henning, WDFW Fish Biologist, reports lots of steelhead were caught last week. Best catches for boat anglers were from Mission Bar to Blue Creek while bank anglers caught fish at Blue Creek and the barrier dam. Drano Lake - The few boat anglers sampled did well on summer run steelhead. Bonneville Pool continues to drop with mid March levels. White Salmon River - The few bank anglers sampled had no catch. Lower Columbia from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line upstream to Bonneville Dam - Last week we sampled 634 salmonid anglers (including 68 boats) with 17 adult and 1 jack summer chinook and 86 steelhead. Chinook were caught throughout the lower river with no particular "hot spot". Steelhead were also caught throughout the lower river. Best catches were by boat anglers in the Cathlamet area that averaged nearly ½ fish per rod when including fish released. Overall. nearly 70% of the steelhead caught were kept. During the Saturday July 15 flight, 300 salmonid boats and 200 WA and 100 OR bank anglers were counted. Highest number of boats (68) were found at the mouth of the Cowlitz. Slightly over 1/3 of the WA bank anglers were found in the Longview area. Hatchery/trap 2005 2006 Cowlitz Salmon 303 1,746 Kalama Falls 459 779 Merwin Dam 3,305 3,508 Skamania (Washougal) 543 913 Hatchery summer run steelhead returns to all Washington lower Columbia hatcheries are ahead of last year, some by nearly 6 times as many fish (Cowlitz). Through mid July, the comparison by hatchery/trap are: However, Group A-run steelhead (those fish returning to tributaries throughout the mid and upper Columbia system plus the Snake Basin) counts at Bonneville Dam from July 1-16 total 16,490 fish (60%) of the recent 10-year average 26,243. Water temperature is above average while flows below average at Bonneville Dam for this date. Water temperature was 70 degrees yesterday. The recent 10-year average is 66 degrees. Flows were 170,000 cfs yesterday, down from the high of 400,000 cfs found at the end of May and below the recent 10-year average of just over 200,000 cfs. Bonneville and John Day pools - Bank anglers are catching some steelhead. The Dalles Pool - No catch was observed from the few anglers sampled. Sturgeon - Lower Columbia from the Wauna powerlines upstream to Marker # 85 - Some legal sturgeon were caught by boat anglers in the Cathlamet area. Slightly over 1/3 of the 140 sturgeon boats were counted in the gorge during the July 15 fight. Bonneville Pool - Boat anglers averaged a legal kept per boat. Sunday July 23 is the last day for catch and keep for the year. John Day Pool - Boat anglers are releasing a few legals from the catch-and-release only fishery. Walleye and Bass - Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - 5 boats were counted from Camas to Bonneville Dam during the Saturday July 15 flight. We sampled 1 boat/2 anglers with no catch at Camas. Bonneville Pool - Boat anglers averaged 5 bass per rod while bank anglers averaged a fish each when including fish released. No effort was observed for walleye. The Dalles Pool - Boat anglers are catching some walleye and bass. John Day Pool - Including fish released, boat anglers averaged nearly 1.5 walleye and 3.5 bass per rod. No effort was observed from the bank. Trout - Riffe Lake - Anglers are catching a mixture of landlocked coho, chinook, and steelhead. Council and Takhlakh lakes - Both were planted with 4,200 catchable size rainbows on July 10. No report on angling success. Shad - Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - The few anglers still fishing for shad are catching a few fish just below Bonneville Dam. Counts at the dam are down to a few thousand fish per day.