Fish the lower Columbia hard now through Sunday because there are a lot of spring chinook around and the season is expected to be closed beginning Monday.
Washington and Oregon officials will meet at 1 p.m. today to review the sport catch, Bonneville Dam count and other factors.
The river remains high, yet the catch on Monday was almost a chinook per boat. The streamflow at Bonneville Dam on Wednesday was 318,000 cubic feet per second. There’s about 3.5 feet of visibility.
Assuming the Columbia closes, the lower Willamette is the next obvious choice. The streamflow was 48,500 cubic feet per second in Portland on Wednesday, compared to an average of 32,000. Water clarity at the Morrison Bridge was about 3.5 feet.
The Willamette is forecast to get higher and dirtier later this week.
Catches will increase at the mouth of Wind River as Bonneville Dam counts improve. Tuesday’s count of 235 might have been the biggest of the year to date, but is a poor number for April 17. The first spring chinook of the season was sampled at Wind River last weekend.
Kokanee fishing is very hit-and-miss at Merwin Reservoir and not very good overall.
Battle Ground Lake was stocked this week with 5,600 rainbow trout averaging about a half pound.
Walleye catches remain excellent at the upper end of The Dalles pool.
Angler checks and related information from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Estuary, 199 boaters with 63 spring chinook and two steelhead kept plus seven adult spring chinook, one jack and one steelhead released. (WDFW)
Tongue Point to Wauna power lines, 113 boaters with 45 spring chinook adults, two chinook jacks and one steelhead kept plus seven spring chinook released. (ODFW)
Cathlamet, 46 boaters with 10 adult spring chinook kept plus one chinook and one steelhead released; 31 bank rods with one spring chinook kept. (WDFW)
Longview, 345 boaters with 63 spring chinook and 10 steelhead kept plus 10 spring chinook and one steelhead released; 86 bank rods with two spring chinook and three steelhead kept plus two spring chinook and three steelhead released. (WDFW)
Longview to Portland, 311 boaters with 58 spring chinook kept and nine released. (ODFW)
Kalama, 185 boaters with 25 spring chinook kept and four released; 46 bank rods with four spring chinook kept. (WDFW)
Woodland, 127 boaters with 21 spring chinook and one steelhead kept plus two spring chinook released; 279 bank rods with four spring chinook and one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 220 boaters with 37 spring chinook kept plus one sublegal sturgeon released; 95 bank rods with three spring chinook kept and one released. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport tower, 35 boaters with one spring chinook; seven bank rods with eight sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Camas-Washougal, 77 boaters with 13 spring chinook kept and four released; 26 bank rods with one spring chinook kept; seven boaters with four sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Troutdale, 57 boaters with six spring chinook kept and three released; six boaters with five sublegal sturgeon released. (ODFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Beacon Rock), 43 boaters with 12 spring chinook kept. (ODFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Beacon Rock), 19 boaters with six spring chinook kept and four released. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 92 bank rods with seven spring chinook kept and one released. (WDFW)
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 15 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize and 19 sublegals released; 51 bank rods with one oversize and 37 sublegals released; 54 bank rods with one spring chinook kept; 51 boaters with 62 walleye kept and one released; eight bank rods with one walleye kept and one released; nine boaters with 14 bass kept and eight released. (WDFW)
John Day pool, 90 boaters with four legal sturgeon kept and 35 sublegals released; 53 bank rods with one oversize and one sublegal released; four bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; 53 boaters with 10 walleye kept and four released; 18 boaters with seven bass kept and 130 released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Sixty-two boaters with 37 steelhead and one spring chinook kept plus one steelhead released; 118 bank rods with 20 steelhead and eight spring chinook kept plus one steelhead and one sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Kalama — Six bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Lewis — Eight boaters and two bank rods with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Twelve boaters with one spring chinook and one steelhead kept plus two spring chinook released; 21 bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Wind — Nine boaters with one spring chinook kept. (WDFW)
Drano Lake — Two bank rods with no spring chinook. (WDFW)
