State fisheries biologists are forecasting a good spring chinook salmon return to Skamania County’s Drano Lake, but a subpar year at the Wind River.
Joe Hymer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said the predictions for 2011 call for 12,600 spring salmon to return to Drano Lake at the mouth of the Little White Salmon River and 4,900 back to Wind River.
A return of 2,100 is anticipated in the Klickitat River.
“These Bonneville pool tributaries kind of match the trend that we’re seeing throughout the upper Columbia,” Hymer said.
A year ago, the run upstream of Bonneville Dam was 315,000, but is predicted to be 198,400 in 2011.
Steve Watrous of Vancouver, who fishes Wind River daily for two weeks each spring, said the runs are large enough to offer decent action.
“Those numbers won’t stop me from taking my vacation up there,” he said. “Timing and water conditions are more important than the size of the run.”
A year ago, the returns were larger, but it was a poor year for catching, partly due to rainy, windy weather.
With sport fishing in the Columbia downstream of Bonneville Dam anticipated to have filled its allocation by early April, Wind River and Drano Lake are likely to see even more anglers than the normal crowded conditions.
Here’s a look at the three mid-Columbia tributaries:
Wind River — The forecast of 4,900 compares to a forecast of 14,000 a year ago and an actual return of 10,000. The average is 11,800.
Among the 4,900 predicted spring salmon would be 600 5-year-olds and 4,300 4-year-olds. The 5-year-olds tend to be larger and return earlier.
Drano Lake — The forecast of 12.600 compares to a prediction of 28,900 a year ago and an actual return of 24,400. The average is 10,300. This year’s return is anticipated to include 1,600 5-year-olds and 11,000 4-year-olds.
Drano is an approximately 300-acre backwater of the Columbia River at the mouth of the Little White Salmon River.
Klickitat River — A run of 2,100 is forecast, very similar to the average return of 2,000. In 2010, a return of 4,500 spring chinook was predicted, but the actual return was 1,900.
Sport fishing rules for the three waters are expected to be announced later this month or in early March.
