Southwest Washington Fishing Reports
2002 Report Archive
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WDFW Sport Sampling Results for June 10-16, 2002
Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format

Salmon/Steelhead

• Cowlitz - Bank anglers caught a few spring chinook jacks this last week. The steelhead catch continues to improve with boat anglers averaging close to a steelhead per angler and the bank anglers averaging a steelhead for every six anglers. As of June 16 the hatchery salmon daily limit increased to six fish, no more than two of which may be adults, on the lower Cowlitz. In addition, three hatchery steelhead may be retained as part of the trout daily limit. River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately 10,700 cubic feet per second on Monday June 17.
• Lewis River - Anglers continue to catch some spring chinook and some steelhead. As of June 16, up to three hatchery steelhead may be retained as part of the trout daily limit on the mainstem and North Fork of the Lewis River. In addition, the North Fork Lewis River from Colvin Creek upstream to the overhead power lines below Merwin Dam will open to fishing for hatchery spring chinook. Flows below Merwin Dam were 3,900 cfs as of Friday June 14.
• Wind River - Spring chinook continue to be caught up in the river. The catching continues to be very good in the coffer dam to upper Wind area, averaging about 3/4 chinook per rod. Effort at the mouth has dropped to almost nothing with no fish being caught.
• Drano Lake - No checks were conducted at Drano Lake this past week due to very low effort.
• Klickitat River - As of June 16 adult spring chinook salmon may be retained from the boundary markers just below the salmon hatchery downstream. The river continues to produce some very nice bright chinook and some steelhead.
• Lower Columbia from the I-5 Bridge downstream to the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line - Bank anglers are catching fairly good numbers of hatchery summer-run steelhead. Best fishing has been from Longview downstream, with the Puget Island area averaging about a summer steelhead kept for every two anglers. As of June 16, the mainstem Columbia from the I-5 Bridge upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco opens to fishing for trout (including hatchery steelhead) plus chinook jacks. Adult chinook (greater than 24 inches in length) must be released.

Sturgeon

• Ports of Chinook/Ilwaco - Private boat anglers averaged a little over a legal kept for every two anglers this past week out of Ilwaco and Chinook. Charter boats averaged almost a legal for every fisher.
• Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Boat anglers in the estuary averaged a little better than one legal for every three anglers, while bank anglers averaged closer to a legal for every eight anglers. Boat and bank anglers just below Bonneville Dam were catching a few legals.
• Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day Pools - Bank anglers in The Dalles Pool caught a few legal sturgeon this past week. Boat anglers in Bonneville Pool and The Dalles Pool produced a few legals also. John Day Pool boat and bank anglers have been catching some sub-legals and some over-sized, but not any legal sturgeon.
  

Walleye, Bass and other warmwater fish

• Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day Pools - Boat anglers in all pools are seeing a lot of bass ranging between 5 - 20 bass per angler. Walleye fishing in John Day Pool produced a few walleye.
  

Trout

• Klineline Pond - Bank anglers averaged close to a trout per rod last week.
• Mayfield Lake - The lake is producing some rainbow trout for bank and boat anglers.
• Riffe Lake - Bank and boat anglers are catching primarily landlocked coho with a few steelhead. The reservoir was reported 2.2 feet below full pool today. The boat ramps at Mossyrock, Kosmos, and Taidnapum parks are usable.

Shad

• Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Last week bank anglers just below Bonneville Dam averaged 6.7 shad per rod. The boat anglers in the Bonneville area averaged 29 shad per rod, including released fish, while boat anglers in the Camas/Washougal area averaged 5.8 shad per rod, including released fish. At Steamboat Landing in Washougal, bank anglers fishing off the dock averaged almost four shad per rod.
• As of June 13 over 1.6 million shad had been counted at Bonneville Dam.