WDFW Sport Sampling Results: July 23, 2006 Latest Southwest Washington Sport Sampling Summaries [PDF Format] Salmon/Steelhead - Grays and Elochoman rivers - Monday July 31 is the last day to fish for hatchery spring chinook on both systems and hatchery steelhead on the Grays (including West Fork). Cowlitz River - 2 bank anglers at the barrier dam had no catch while 10 boat anglers at Mission Bar/Blue Creek kept 3 steelhead. During the past week Tacoma Power and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel operated the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator and recovered 1,065 summer-run steelhead adults, 500 adult spring chinook salmon and 31 jacks during five days of separator operations. Tacoma Power employees released 87 spring chinook adults and seven jacks into the upper Cowlitz River at the Day Use Park on Lake Scanewa and they released 129 spring chinook adults and 10 jacks into the Cispus River above the mouth of Yellowjacket Creek. Eighty spring chinook adults and one jack were released into the upper Cowlitz River at the Franklin Bridge site in Packwood, Washington during the week. Tacoma Power employees recycled 381 summer-run steelhead adults downstream to the Olequa boat launch during the week and they recycled 440 summer-run steelhead adults downstream to the Interstate-5 boat launch. They recycled 130 steelhead downstream to the Massey Bar boat launch during the week also. River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately 5,190 cubic feet per second on Monday, July 24. Water visibility is over 12 feet. Drano Lake - 3 boat anglers had no catch. White Salmon River - Reports of some chinook and steelhead being caught at the mouth. Lower Columbia mainstem from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to Bonneville Dam - Last week we sampled 449 salmonid anglers (including 52 boats) with 28 adult chinook and 68 steelhead. Best chinook catches were by boat anglers from Camas to Bonneville that averaged a chinook per every 3 rods based on completed trips. 76% of the chinook were unmarked. Steelhead were caught throughout the lower river although boat anglers from the mouth of the Cowlitz downstream had the best catch with a steelhead kept/released per every 3 rods based on completed trips. Overall 71% of the steelhead caught were kept. Bonneville Pool - Bank anglers are catching some chinook and steelhead. The Dalles Pool - Light effort and no catch observed. John Day Pool - No effort or catch observed. Fall salmon permanent rules which are in effect August 1: Buoy 10 (from the Buoy 10 line upstream to the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line) - Opens to fishing for salmon 7 days per week beginning August 1. Through October 31, the daily limit is 2 salmon, no more than 1 chinook. Any chinook, adipose fin clipped or not, may be retained. Release wild coho, sockeye, and chum. Chinook minimum size 24"; coho 16". Barbed hooks are allowed. Anglers may fish with either a saltwater, freshwater, or combination license. Each anglers aboard a vessel may continue to fish until the daily limit for all licensed and juvenile anglers aboard has been achieved; however, no individual angler may exceed any personal daily bag limit. North Jetty - Open to fishing for salmon 7 days per week when Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) or Buoy 10 areas are open for salmon. Barbed hooks allowed. The daily limit and minimum size restrictions follow the most liberal regulations of either of these areas. The Buoy 10 fishery is intensively managed to ensure that catch guidelines and impacts to listed species are not exceeded. This year, chinook retention at Buoy 10 is expected to continue through at least Labor Day. Total expected catch is 8,500 chinook and 8,300 coho. In 2005, the Buoy 10 sport fishery was open from August 1-Dec 31 with a one Chinook bag limit in effect except Chinook retention was prohibited during Oct 1-19. The fishery produced 55,183 angler trips with catches of 9,223 Chinook and 6,878 adipose fin-clipped coho. Lower Columbia mainstem from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to Bonneville Dam - Effective August 1, the salmon daily limit is 6 fish, no more than 2 adults of which only 1 may be an adult chinook. Any chinook, adipose fin clipped or not, may be retained. Release wild coho, sockeye and chum. The lower Columbia mainstem fishery is intensively managed to ensure that catch guidelines and impacts to listed species are not exceeded. This year, chinook retention is expected to continue through December. The goal is to increase the daily limit to include two chinook if possible. Total expected catch is 13,800 chinook and 300 coho. In 2005, the lower Columbia River sport fishery for fall Chinook opened August 1 with a daily bag limit of two salmon, only one of which could be a Chinook. High angler effort and good Chinook catches in late August through mid-September, combined with a reduced upriver fall Chinook run size, led to a Chinook closure during September 18 through October 19. The 2005 mainstem sport fishery below Bonneville Dam produced 86,594 angler trips with a catch of 18,440 fall Chinook, 586 adipose fin-clipped adult coho, and 2,641 adipose fin-clipped summer steelhead. The lower Columbia fall Chinook catch was the third highest on record despite the retention prohibition. Mainstem Columbia from Bonneville Dam to the Hwy. 395 Bridge at Pasco - The salmon daily limit will remain 6 salmon no more than 2 adults. Any chinook, adipose fin clipped or not, may be retained. Release sockeye and chum. New for 2006: Release wild coho from Bonneville Dam to Hood River Bridge. From Bonneville Dam to The Dalles Dam - All species - Night closure and non-buoyant lure restriction August 1-October 15. Deep, Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, (including North Fork), and Klickitat rivers - Any chinook with or without adipose fin may retained. Green, Toutle (including North Fork), Washougal, Wind, White Salmon rivers plus Drano Lake - Open to fishing for salmon. Any chinook, with or without an adipose fin may be retained. Wild coho must be released. Wind, White Salmon, Klickitat rivers and Drano Lake - Non-buoyant lure restrictions are in effect beginning August 1. Sturgeon - Lower Columbia mainstem from the Wauna powerlines to Bonneville Dam - No legal sized sturgeon were sampled last week. From the Wauna powerlines upstream to Marker #85, sturgeon may be retained only on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through July 31. Effective August 1 through September 30, all sturgeon must be released upstream to Bonneville Dam. Sturgeon may be kept Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays beginning October 1. Bonneville Dam to McNary Dams - The mainstem Columbia and its tributaries are catch-and-release only for sturgeon through the end of the year. Walleye and Bass - Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Some walleye were caught by boat anglers in the gorge. Bonneville Pool - Boat anglers averaged nearly 9 bass kept/released per rod. No effort observed for walleye. The Dalles Pool - Including fish released, boat anglers averaged nearly 3 walleye per rod. No effort was observed for bass. John Day Pool - Boat anglers averaged nearly 6 bass and a walleye per rod when including fish released. No effort was observed from the bank in any of the three pools. Shad - Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - 2 boats/3 anglers in the gorge kept 9 shad. Trout - Riffe Lake - 12 shore anglers kept 7 coho and released 9 and kept 1 chinook and released 8. Odds and Ends You may use forage fish jig gear at Buoy 10. Jig gear may have up to three treble hooks or nine single point hooks, not to exceed 3/8" between the point and shank. Marine Area 1 general bottomfish rules applies to Buoy 10.