Fishing has turned serious again in the Columbia River with the arrival of August and the chance to keep chinook.
While it will be a couple of weeks before the salmon catch builds, summer steelhead still will offer plenty of opportunity. The best boat catches have been near Kalama, while bank anglers have done best for steelhead recently near Bonneville Dam.
The gillnet fleet will fish from Beacon Rock to the coast on Sunday night. They then will fish from Warrior Rock to Beacon Rock the nights of Aug. 12, 14, 16, 19, 21 and 23.
Steelhead catches are improving at Drano Lake in the Columbia Gorge.
Takhlakh and Council lakes near Mount Adams have been planted with 5,000 and 3,200 rainbow trout, respectively.
Bass fishing has been good in the Columbia Gorge for the small sample of anglers questioned.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Tongue Point to Wauna power lines, 11 Oregon bank rods with one steelhead kept and two released. (ODFW)
Estuary, 43 boaters with 19 steelhead kept and eight released; 45 bank rods with seven steelhead kept and two released. (WDFW)
Cathlamet, 95 boaters with 35 steelhead kept with 15 steelhead and one summer chinook released; 121 bank rods with 19 steelhead kept and 17 released; 17 boaters with 51 sublegal sturgeon released, two bank rods with no sturgeon; two boaters with no walleye. (WDFW)
Longview, 156 boaters with 32 steelhead kept and 15 steelhead and one sockeye released; 652 bank rods with 74 steelhead kept plus 33 steelhead, one adult chinook and one jack chinook released; 96 boaters with 10 legal sturgeon kept plus two legals and 206 sublegals released; 19 bank rods with three legal sturgeon kept and three sublegals released. (WDFW)
Longview to Portland, 167 boaters with 25 steelhead kept plus 18 steelhead and one chinook released; 55 Oregon bank rods with five steelhead kept plus three steelhead and one chinook released; 16 boaters with three legal sturgeon kept plus 21 sublegals released. (ODFW)
Cowlitz mouth, 57 boaters with eight steelhead kept and eight released; three bank rods with three steelhead kept and five released; 15 boaters with six legal sturgeon and 28 sublegals released. (WDFW)
Kalama, 68 boaters with 23 steelhead kept and 34 steelhead and one summer chinook released; 356 bank rods with 62 steelhead kept plus 76 steelhead, one sockeye and six summer chinook released; 88 boaters with 20 legal sturgeon kept plus 205 sublegals released; four bank rods with one legal sturgeon kept and three sublegals released. (WDFW)
Woodland, 73 boaters with 12 steelhead kept and one released; 281 bank rods with 40 steelhead and two jack chinook kept plus 45 steelhead and three adult chinook released; eight boaters with one legal sturgeon kept and 14 sublegals released. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 52 boaters with four steelhead kept plus seven steelhead and one summer chinook adult released; 223 bank rods with 38 steelhead kept and 26 released; nine boaters with two legal sturgeon kept, one legal released and 10 sublegals released; five bank rods with one sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport tower, 56 bank rods with eight steelhead kept and four released; three boaters with five sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Troutdale, six boaters with two steelhead kept; six boaters with eight sublegal sturgeon released; 22 boaters with 10 walleye kept. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, 34 boaters with three steelhead kept plus seven steelhead and one adult summer chinook released; 69 bank rods with one steelhead kept and nine released; 14 boaters with 12 sublegals released; one boater with two walleye kept. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, four boaters with no catch; 303 bank rods with 62 steelhead kept plus 123 steelhead and four jack chinook released. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), four boaters with no steelhead; 51 Oregon bank rods with 13 steelhead kept plus 15 steelhead and one chinook released; four boaters with no walleye. (ODFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Marker 82), 23 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus two oversize and 12 sublegals released. (ODFW)
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 16 boaters with two oversize and 40 sublegals released; nine bank rods with 17 sublegals released; 87 bank rods with 12 steelhead kept and 49 released; eight boaters with four walleye kept; two boaters with five bass kept and 30 released. (WDFW)
John Day pool, six boaters with no sturgeon released, 59 boaters with 56 walleye kept and two released; two boaters with two bass released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — One-hundred sixteen boaters with 73 steelhead kept and one sockeye released; 129 bank rods with six adult spring chinook, three jack chinook and 12 steelhead kept. (WDFW)
South Fork Toutle — Twelve bank rods with no steelhead. (WDFW)
Wind — Three bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Drano Lake — Nineteen boaters with 12 steelhead kept and six released; two bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
White Salmon — Thirteen bank rods with four steelhead kept. (WDFW)
