Anglers continue to catch some fresh winter steelhead on the North Fork of the Lewis River at the hatchery near Woodland. On a recent morning about a dozen anglers landed 6 hatchery steelhead.
Some updates from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. (WDFW)
Salmon Creek
This walk-in Vancouver fishery continues to be a good bet for winter steelhead. Effort has been high, and some anglers are having success. This is the first return from the heavier stockings of steelhead smolts that were started in the spring of 2016.
The creek is easily accessed along the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail. Parking can be found at the Vancouver Girls Softball Association fields or the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail parking lot. (WDFW)
Hanford Reach
Steelhead fishing continues to be slow to fair in the lower Hanford Reach. Effort has been light. WDFW staff interviewed 123 anglers in December. Bank anglers averaged a steelhead for 13.5 hours of fishing in December.
Boat anglers are doing a bit better at nine hours per fish. An estimated 115 steelhead were caught in December and 92 were harvested. Since the fishery opened on Oct. 1, 286 steelhead have been harvested plus an additional 154 steelhead were caught & released from 1,814 angler trips.
Effective Jan. 1 any hatchery steelhead may be harvested. Daily limit is one steelhead per day. This year’s return to Ringold Springs Hatchery is estimated at about 900 steelhead. (WDFW)
McNary Reservoir
The Columbia River from McNary Dam to the Tri-Cities reopened for the harvest of hatchery steelhead on Dec. 1.
Angler effort has been steady averaging 9 boats and 16 bank anglers per day. There were 1,588 angler trips for steelhead in December. WDFW staff interviewed 303 anglers in December. Anglers averaged 14 hours per steelhead, unfortunately most of the fish caught were wild. 321 of the 407 fish caught were wild and had to be turned back.
For the fishery (Aug. 1 – Dec. 31) 120 steelhead have been harvested and 346 wild steelhead have been caught and released from 3,779 angler trips.
Effective Jan. 1 the daily limit will increase to two hatchery steelhead per day. (WDFW)
Waterfowl Report
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge — Hunters at the refuge took 1.5 ducks per hunter last week, which was a drop from the 2.0 ducks per hunter from the week before. The harvest of geese stayed steady at 0.2 geese per hunter for the second week.
In all, 137 hunters harvested 201 ducks and 23 geese.
Blind No. 18 was the best for ducks, and it produced 21 ducks. Blind No. 6 was the best for dark geese, but hunters also did well in blinds No. 19, 1A, and 2.
