Cowlitz River
- Fishing is picking up in the upper river. 12 bank anglers from
I-5 downstream had no catch. From I-5 Bridge upstream, 6 bank anglers
kept 2 steelhead and released 2 others. 22 boat anglers kept 1 spring
chinook, 7 steelhead, and released 5 steelhead. Fish were caught from
Blue Creek and the barrier dam. Good visibility above the mouth of the
Toutle; turbid below.
Last week Tacoma
Power recovered 26 winter-run steelhead and seven coho salmon adults
at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator during five days of operations.
During the week Tacoma Power employees released 18 winter-run steelhead
and five coho adults into Lake Scanewa at the Day Use Site and eight
winter-run steelhead and one coho adult into the Tilton River at Gust
Backstrom Park in Morton, Washington.
River flows at Mayfield
Dam are approximately at 5,380 cubic feet per second on Monday, March
10. River water visibility is 10 feet.
Kalama River
- Light effort and catch. 2 boat anglers released one wild steelhead.
Lewis River -
5 boat anglers at the mouth had no catch. A couple chinook were
reported caught. Austin Point (uplands near mouth of Lewis) is now closed
through July because of dredging.
Wind River and
Drano Lake - Open to fishing for hatchery spring chinook and hatchery
steelhead beginning this Sunday March 16. Fishing will likely start
slow because only 7 spring chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam
through Friday March 7.
Skamania County
has restrictions when vehicles can be parked at the Wind River and Drano
Lake boat launches. In addition, Skamania County will be actively checking
that boat anglers pay for launching at these sites even if they park
along the road/highway.
Lower Columbia
below Bonneville Dam - Opens to fishing for hatchery spring chinook
and hatchery steelhead from the Hayden Island west powerline towers
upstream beginning this Sunday March 16. Though only 7 spring chinook
had been counted at Bonneville Dam through Friday March 7, more spring
chinook may be present in the area based on the half dozen fish caught
during the last sturgeon commercial fishery at the end of February and
recent observations of sea lions eating fish.
Washington Fish
and Wildlife will be using the parking lot at Fort Cascade (near the
entrance to the bank fishing areas just below Bonneville Dam and the
Hamilton Island boat launch) to improve creel sampling during the upcoming
spring chinook sport fishery. When open, anglers will be asked to stop
at the sampling station and provide information including number of
anglers, number of hours fished, and numbers of fish kept and released.
Samplers will also inspect fish kept for presence of coded-wire tags
and collect biological information.
Information collected
at the sampling station will be used to improve effort and catch estimates.
With the one adult hatchery chinook daily limit, some anglers will ultimately
leave after securing their catch. If we sample only anglers actively
fishing, we'll be mainly sampling fishers still looking for their one
fish to take home. We need to include both successful and unsuccessful
anglers in our sample to generate an accurate catch rate. In addition,
information collected will help improve effort estimates by counting
the number of anglers that leave before and arrive after the ariel flights
counts.
The sampling station
will be in operation from March 16th through April 30th. The station
will be operated periodically during this period. WDFW will place sandwich
boards near the exit letting anglers know when the sampling station
is open. Bonneville Pool - Light effort and no catch. Opens to fishing
for hatchery spring chinook from Bonneville Dam to McNary Dam beginning
this Sunday March 16. Fishing will likely start slow because only 7
spring chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam through Friday March
7.
The Dalles Pool
- No effort.
John Day Pool
- Bank anglers are catching some steelhead.
Lower Columbia
below Bonneville Dam - 12 bank anglers from Cathlamet to Longview
had no catch as did 9 bank anglers just below Bonneville Dam. 5 boats/7
anglers at Kalama also had no catch.
In February, an
estimated 3,800 angler trips on the lower Columbia produced another
measly 43 fish kept.
Bonneville Pool
- Boat anglers averaged a legal per every 13 rods. Slow for legal
size fish from the bank. Through February, an estimated 65 (9%) of the
700 fish guideline had been taken.
The Dalles Pool
- Boat anglers averaged a legal kept per every 5 rods while bank
anglers averaged one per every 13 rods. An estimated 54 (54%) of the
100 fish guideline had been taken through February.
John Day Pool
- Boat anglers averaged a legal per every 9 rods. Slow for legal
size fish from the bank.
There has been no
sign of smelt in the Cowlitz and Lower Columbia River for over a week.
No smelt were encountered during Wednesday’s (March 5) test dipping.
Eulachon smelt can continue to enter the Columbia River well into March
but we are past the typical peak of the run and it is unlikely that
any smelt will be present in the Cowlitz this coming Saturday.
The Cowlitz River
flow is 7,100 CFS at Castle Rock today (Monday March 10). Flows are
expected to rise to the long-term mean of 10,800 CFS by mid-week. The
water temperature in both the lower Columbia and Cowlitz rivers is 44ºF.
Catches:
Columbia River commercial: No reported landings for since mid
February. 11,040 lbs cumulative landings since late-December.
Cowlitz River
sport: Sport dipping was unproductive Saturday, March 1st.
Cowlitz River
commercial: No reported landings for Sunday, March 2nd or Wednesday,
March 5th. 5,900 lbs cumulative since January 2nd
