March 3, 2008

Latest Southwest Washington Sport Sampling Summaries [PDF Format]

Salmon/Steelhead

Kalama River - 10 bank anglers kept 1 hatchery steelhead and released wild fish. 2 boat anglers had no catch. Effort is generally light.

Lewis River - At the mouth, 5 bank anglers released one wild steelhead. 5 boat anglers had no catch. On the North Fork, 3 bank anglers had no catch. Reports of a couple spring chinook caught.

Bonneville and The Dalles pools - Little to no effort with no catch observed.

John Day Pool - Boat and bank anglers are catching some steelhead.

Ringold - From Paul Hoffarth, WDFW Fish Biologist in Yakima - For the month of February, an estimated 105 steelhead were caught in the Ringold fishery (Hwy 395 to old Hanford town site). Of these, 90 were retained. Catch and harvest were comparable to prior years. For the season, 1,390 steelhead have been caught (718 Adipose + right ventral fin clipped, 456 adipose only fin clipped, and 216 wild) and 925 were retained.

WDFW staff interviewed 68 anglers in February, 19% of the effort. Angler activity continued to decline in February. Harvest is slow and steady. Anglers caught 1 steelhead for every 7.4 hours of angling in February. Roughly 23% of the steelhead retained in February were adipose only clipped fish. No wild steelhead were reported in the catch in February.

Very low numbers of steelhead have returned to the Ringold trap in 2007-08. No steelhead have been collected and transported from there this year.

Sturgeon

Lower Columbia from the Wauna powerlines to Bonneville Dam - Some effort but no catch. 5 bank anglers at Longview had no catch. 2 boats/4 anglers at Vancouver had no catch. 12 bank anglers just below Bonneville Dam also had no catch.

On the Saturday March 1 flight, a total of 62 boats and 23 Oregon and 11 Washington bank anglers were counted. Half the bank effort was found in the gorge; boats were scattered from Longview to the gorge.

Bonneville Pool - Bank anglers are catching some legals.

The Dalles Pool - Slow for legals.

John Day Pool - Boat anglers are catching some legals.

Walleye and Bass

Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day Pools - Boat anglers are catching walleye in all three pools. Bank anglers are catching some walleye from The Dalles Pool. No effort for bass was observed in any of the pools.

Trout

Sacajawea Lake in Longview - Planted with 1,500 catchable size rainbows Feb. 25.

Klineline Pond - Effort and catch have increased. 45 bank anglers kept 60 rainbows and released 75. Fishing is best in the swimming area by anglers using lures, flies, and shrimp. Fishing with other bait is slow. Planted with 1,000 half-pound rainbows Feb. 25. Scheduled to receive weekly plants of rainbows or browns for the next few weeks.

Maryhill Pond in Klickitat County - Planted with 300 catchable size rainbows Feb. 26.

Smelt

Overview: While environmental conditions are favorable and eulachon smelt can continue to enter the Columbia River through the next month we are past the typical peak of the run. It will become increasingly more difficult to encounter smelt. Given the poor pre-season forecast, the prospects for successful smelt dipping in March is poor.

Sport fishers are reminded that it is currently illegal to harvest smelt from Columbia River tributaries other than the Cowlitz River. The run was expected to be poor and the decision was made to operate fisheries at Level One of the Smelt Management Plan. Under that management level fishing for smelt in other tributaries such as the Grays, Elochoman, Lewis, or Kalama rivers is closed.

Cowlitz River - On Wednesday February 27th, WDFW staff test dipped at various sites between Gearhart Park and Lexington. No adult smelt were encountered. No birds or seals were present either. A spurt of fish two to three weeks ago has spawned based on larvae recovered Tuesday February 26th.

No reported commercial landings were reported for Sunday February 24th or Wednesday February 27th. 5,900 lbs cumulative since January 2nd (revised number).

The 9,10 CFS flow at Castle Rock today (Monday March 3) is 2,000 CFS below normal for this time of year. The river is running clear. The water temperature was 44.5ºF last Wednesday. Smelt prefer water temperatures above 40 degrees.

Columbia River - No reported commercial landings for Thursday February 21st or Monday February 25th. 10,308 lbs cumulative landings since late-December (preliminary numbers). Water temperature in the lower Columbia River today (Monday March 3) is 44ºF.