Fishing Report 7/19

Fishing report

Angling is open through July 31 for adipose fin-clipped summer steelhead and adipose fin-clipped chinook jacks from Tongue Point upstream to Bonneville Dam. Summer chinook and steelhead retention is allowed through July 31, from Bonneville Dam upstream to the Oregon/Washington Border.

The Washington Department of Fishing and Wildlife last week sampled 2,039 salmonid anglers (including 166 boats) on the Lower Columbia mainstem below Bonneville Dam. These anglers kept 37 adult and three jack summer Chinook, 681 summer run steelhead and 23 sockeye.

300 (44 percent) of the steelhead were kept. All the adult Chinook, wild jack Chinook, and sockeye were released as required.

In other salmonid results:

nSouth Fork Toutle River — 11 anglers kept 1 steelhead.

nCowlitz River — 96 boat anglers kept 56 steelhead and one cutthroat. A total of 139 bank anglers kept 10 adult and 2 jack Chinook and 23 steelhead, plus released 1 adult Chinook. All the fish were sampled between the hatcheries.

nWhite Salmon River — One angler had no catch.

nThe Dalles and John Day pools — The few salmonid anglers sampled had no catch.

Hatchery summer steelhead returns to lower Columbia traps are a mixed bag — up at some, down or the same at others — compared to the same time last year:

nCowlitz River — 1,756 in 2011; 2,733 in 2012.

nKalama River — 239 in 2011; 157 in 2012.

nLewis River — 1,223 in 2011; 1,056 in 2012.

nWashougal River — 1,223 in 2011; 1,056 in 2012.

Columbia fishing

The following modifications are now in effect for salmon, steelhead and shad for the mainstem Columbia River from Buoy 10 upstream to the Oregon/Washington border above McNary Dam:

nBuoy 10 to Tongue Point/Rocky Point line — This section of the Columbia River is currently closed to angling for salmon and steelhead, but is open to angling for shad.

nTongue Point/Rocky Point line to Bonneville Dam — Through Tuesday July 31, the retention of adult chinook salmon and sockeye is prohibited. The retention of adipose fin-clipped summer steelhead and adipose fin-clipped summer Chinook jacks (12-24 inches) is allowed under permanent regulations.

nBonneville Dam to Oregon/Washington border — Through July 31, this section of the Columbia River is open to the retention of adipose fin-clipped summer chinook, adipose fin-clipped steelhead, and shad. The daily bag limit is two adipose fin-clipped adult summer chinook or adipose fin-clipped summer steelhead in combination and five adipose fin-clipped chinook jacks. The retention of sockeye and chum is prohibited.

Columbia sturgeon

Sturgeon retention is allowed three days a week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) on the Columbia River from Marker 82 downstream to Wauna Powerlines through July 31 with a 38-inch minimum and 54-inch maximum fork length restriction in effect.