Southwest Washington Fishing Reports
2002 Report Archive
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WDFW Sport Sampling Results for March 25-31, 2002
Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format

Salmon/Steelhead

• Cowlitz River - Anglers are catching late stock hatchery winter steelhead, primarily from Blue Creek upstream to the barrier dam. No spring chinook have been found in the sample yet. Flows below Mayfield Dam were 5,150 cfs this afternoon.
• Lewis River - Light effort and catches. Flows below Merwin Dam were 5,110 cfs this afternoon.
• Wind River - Effort continues to be light with a few spring chinook being caught. About a dozen boats on the water Saturday morning.
• Drano Lake - Light effort and catches. Also about a dozen boats here on Saturday morning.
• Klickitat River - Opens to fishing for salmon and hatchery steelhead today below the Fisher Hill Bridge. Open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays only through May 29. River flows were 1,910 cfs this afternoon, compared to a historical mean of 2,470 cfs.
• Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Effort and catch is building. On last Saturday's flight, nearly 1,500 salmonid boats were counted. Highest effort was from the I-205 Bridge upstream to Washougal with 300 boats. Over 200 boats were counted in both the Woodland and Vancouver areas. In addition, 673 salmonid bank rods were found on the Oregon side plus another 453 on the Washington shore.
• Spring chinook catches increased, especially for boat anglers from Woodland downstream. Including fish released, boat anglers averaged a chinook per every 4.8 rods while bank anglers averaged one per every 22.3 rods based on complete and incomplete trips, respectively.
• On Saturday March 30, a total of 32 spring chinook were counted at Bonneville Dam. In comparison, on the same day last year, 1,200 fish were counted.
• Through March 30, a total of 2,280 spring chinook had been counted at Bonneville Dam. Last year, 8,038 fish had been counted through the same date.
• Flows below Bonneville Dam were 130,000 cfs this morning. Water temp was 44.5 degrees and visibility 6 feet. Conditions are similar to last year.
• Bonneville Pool - Closed to fishing for trout and salmon.
• The Dalles Pool - Some spring chinook are beginning to appear in the catch.
• John Day Pool - Bank anglers continue to catch some steelhead. No spring chinook have been sampled to date.
  

Sturgeon

• Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Slightly over 300 sturgeon boats were counted during last Saturday's flight. On Sunday, a non-retention day but also a holiday, effort dropped to 22 boats.
• Boat anglers are catching some legals in the Kalama to Woodland area. Bank anglers are catching some fish in the Longview area.
• Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day pools - Slow for legal size fish.

Walleye and Bass and other warm water fish

• Bonneville Pool - Light effort for walleye but boat anglers are catching some bass.
• The Dalles Pool - Bank and boat anglers are catching some walleye. No in-sample effort for bass was found there last week.
• John Day Pool - Slow for walleye. However, boat anglers averaged over 4 bass per rod last week.
  

Trout

• Klineline Pond - Fishing is good. Last week, 115 bank anglers caught 94 rainbows and 26 browns.
• Kress Lake near Kalama - Reported to be good for steelhead. Twenty-seven more steelhead were put into the lake last week.
• Horseshoe Lake near Woodland - Fishing is improving with the recent plant. 4,000 catchable size rainbows were planted there last week.
• Other recent trout plants:
  • Silver Lake near Castle Rock - 3,300 catchable size rainbows
  • South Lewis County Pond - 3,100 catchable size rainbows
• Youngsters ages 5-12 can get in on the fishing action in special kids' fishing events Saturday (April 6) in Longview and April 20 in Vancouver. For a $5 registration fee young participants will receive a Zebco rod and reel and a T-shirt. Kids can choose one of six half- hour fishing sessions. The Longview fishing sessions begin hourly from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., and youngsters may catch and keep two fish. The Vancouver fishing sessions begin at 8 a.m. and repeat hourly until 1 p.m.; youngsters may catch and keep four fish. Registration forms may be obtained and turned in until April 4 at the Longview Parks and Recreation Office. The registration deadline for the Vancouver event is April 14. Both events offer netted areas for fishing and an on-site fish cleaning station. For additional information contact Stacie Kelsey at (360) 906-6706. Click here for a complete schedule of 2002 kids' fishing events is posted.