Hatchery escapement reports can be a wonderful resource for determining which rivers have large numbers of hatchery salmon returning each year, and when those salmon return. They are better suited for planning future trips rather than determining where to go this week. These hatchery reports have been available on the WDFW webpage for many years for those anglers savvy enough to find them. Beware however, large numbers of returning hatchery salmon bring out lots of hopeful anglers and fishing conditions can be very crowded downstream of the hatcheries at the peak of the run.

Escapement reports are completed every week and are available at: Hatchery Escapement Reports. Individual reports for the current year are available on the right hand side of the main page. Reports are organized with salmon first, followed by steelhead, and then other trout. Each species and race of salmon has its own category, and every hatchery with salmon returning during the reporting period will be listed under a particular species and race. For example, if you wanted to know how many spring chinook had returned to the Cowlitz Salmon hatchery, you would first find the spring chinook heading, then look through the list of hatcheries until you find the Cowlitz Salmon hatchery.

If the hatchery you are looking for isn’t listed, then no salmon of that species and race returned to the hatchery during the reporting period and none are on hand.

Note that the “adult total” is the total number captured for the year, not the reporting period. So if you wanted to find out how many fish arrived during a particular period, you have to subtract the previous reports adult total from the total you are looking at. By completing these calculations over the course of the return season and for 2 or 3 years, you can determine what is the best time to target a particular river for returning hatchery salmon.

Historical hatchery escapement reports can be found on the lower left hand side of the page under “Report Archives”. Reports from 2000 to 2005 were completed every week or every other week. Prior to that, the reports are annual summary reports.