Southwest Washington
Fishing Reports
2002 Report Archive
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[ 2002 Archive ]
WDFW Sport Sampling Results:
March 24 - 30, 2003
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Southwest Washington |
Salmon/Steelhead -
Lewis River - Some hatchery spring chinook are being caught at the mouth of the river.
Wind River - Some spring chinook are being caught at the mouth. About 25-35 boats per day there this past weekend.
Drano Lake - Some chinook are reported being caught though no in-sample fish were found there last week.
White Salmon River - Light effort.
Klickitat River from mouth upstream to Fisher Hill Bridge - Opens to fishing for spring chinook and hatchery steelhead beginning April 2. Open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays only through March 31. Daily limit 2 salmonids. Any chinook, with or without an adipose fin present, may be kept.
Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Effort and catch is increasing. Over 1,500 boats were counted from Bonneville Dam downstream to Longview last Saturday (March 29). Included in the count were 452 boats (30% of the total) in the Camas/Washougal area. In addition, approximately 1,000 bank anglers were counted along the Washington and Oregon shores from Bonneville Dam downstream to Longview.
We sampled over 2,400 salmonid anglers last week. Including fish released, bank anglers averaged a chinook per every 9.6 rods while boat anglers averaged one per every 7.0 rods. 60% of the catch were hatchery fish. 75% of the hatchery fish kept were of upriver origin.
Nearly 2,000 adult spring chinook per day were counted between March 27-29 at Bonneville Dam. Through March 29, a total of 14,917 adult spring chinook had been counted. More fish have been counted to date than the entire 1995 return.
Through March 23, there has been an estimated 48,338 anglers trips with 2,836 chinook kept and 1,589 released from the mainstem Columbia downstream from Bonneville Dam. Based on the allocated 1.11% upriver impact, an estimated 23.6% of the impacts had been taken.
The Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife will meet tomorrow to discuss possible modifications to the lower mainstem Columbia sport fishery to reduce upriver spring chinook impacts to prolong the fishery. Possible options include: No changes, close I-5 Bridge upstream to Bonneville Dam, or close the entire lower river some days of the week.
Bonneville Pool - Slow for salmonids.
The Dalles Pool - Catch has shifted to hatchery spring chinook. Including fish released, bank anglers averaged a spring chinook per every 5.7 rods last week. Boat anglers are also catching some fish.
John Day Pool - Last year's summer run steelhead are still the primary catch here. Including fish released, bank anglers averaged 1.4 steelhead per rod last week. Boat anglers were also catching some fish.
Sturgeon -
Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Closed for retention from Bonneville Dam downstream to the Wauna power lines. Most of the effort in that area is focused on spring chinook.
Bonneville Pool - Slow for legal sized fish.
The Dalles Pool - A few legals are being caught.
John Day Pool - Slow for legal sized fish.
Walleye and Bass -
Bonneville Pool - Boat anglers are catching some walleye and bass.
The Dalles Pool - Including fish released, boat anglers averaged a walleye per rod last week. Bank and boat anglers were catching bass.
John Day Pool - Boat anglers averaged a walleye per every 3 rods last week. Some bass are also being caught.
Trout -
Klineline Pond - Including fish released, bank anglers averaged 2 trout per rod last week. Catch is a mixture of rainbows and browns. Lake was planted with 3,000 brown trout averaging ½ pound each last week.