Fishing Report 3/10

Spring chinook angling success in the lower Columbia River has been sporadic as fishermen battle wind, rain and higher flows. Still, intermittently there have been decent bites, with most action between Interstate 205 and the BNSF railroad bridge.

Wednesday night’s rain deluge has the tributaries running high and muddy. That’s likely to make conditions worse, particularly downstream of Bachelor Island.

Though Monday, there were 13,452 angler trips with 564 spring chinook kept, 107 chinook released, 52 steelhead kept and 117 steelhead released. More than 90 percent of the spring chinook kept are upper Columbia-origin salmon, which begs the question: Where are the early Willamette fish?

More test gillnetting is scheduled Sunday. So far, the netters have not fished in the main Columbia targeting on salmon this year.

Through Tuesday, the count at Bonneville Dam was 30 spring chinook. That compares with a 10-year average of 209.

Wind River and Drano Lake open for spring chinook on Wednesday. The daily limit is two chinook. With such meager counts at Bonneville, wait a month before heading to Wind or Drano.

Tuesday is the last day to fish for steelhead in the East Fork of the Lewis, Washougal, Grays, Elochoman and Coweeman rivers plus Abernathy, Cedar, Germany, Mill, Rock, and Salmon creeks.

Lacamas Lake has been stocked with 4,000 rainbow trout and Battle Ground Lake got 3,200.

Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:

Lower Columbia — Estuary, 18 boaters with no spring salmon. (ODFW)

Cathlamet, four boaters and three bank rods with no spring chinook or steelhead. (WDFW)

Longview, 62 boaters with two spring chinook released; 32 bank rods with one steelhead kept and two released; five boaters and one bank rod with no sturgeon. (WDFW)

Longview to Portland, 501 boaters with with 25 spring chinook kept and six released. (ODFW)

Cowlitz River mouth, five boaters with no salmon or steelhead; six boaters with one sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)

Kalama, 31 boaters and 32 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; 11 boaters with three sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)

Woodland, 55 boaters and 59 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; four boaters with six sublegal sturgeon released; two bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)

Warrior Rock to Frenchmen’s Bar, 298 boaters with seven spring chinook kept and one released; 96 bank rods with one spring chinook kept; eight boaters with 18 sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)

Davis Bar to Portland airport tower, 477 boaters with 37 spring chinook and one steelhead kept plus eight chinook released; three boaters with one legal sturgeon kept. (WDFW)

Troutdale, 111 boaters with 11 spring chinook kept and three released. (ODFW)

Camas-Washougal, 34 boaters and 13 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)

North Bonneville, 20 bank rods with no salmon or steehead. (WDFW)

Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, two boats with two walleye kept. (WDFW)

The Dalles pool, two boaters and eight bank rods with no sturgeon; seven boaters with four walleye kept and three released. (WDFW)

John Day pool, 62 boaters with two legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize and 14 sublegals released; 23 bank rods with one sublegal released; four boaters with two steelhead kept and eight released; 40 boaters with 18 walleye kept and four released

Cowlitz — Twenty-three bank rods with one steelhead kept plus three steelhead and two cutthroat trout released; eight boaters with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)

Lewis — One bank rod with no catch. (WDFW)

North Fork Lewis — Ten bank rods and two boaters with no catch. (WDFW)

Klineline Pond — Seventeen bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)