Spring chinook fishing is a powerful addiction. Some anglers have it so bad they go prospecting for salmon in January.
Washington and Oregon sampled 65 spring chinook fishermen last weekend although — and this is no surprise — no salmon were checked.
Sturgeon fishing in the Bonneville pool has been good, but the east winds have been ripping at 20 mph or more recently.
Here’s the address for a live webcam at the Stevenson boat ramp to check on wind conditions: http://www.portofskamania.org/webcam.htm.
There are reports of smelt in the Cowlitz River, including some video on www.youtube.com.
Smelt are protected now under the Endangered Species Act and no dipping is allowed in Washington.
Five local lakes have been stocked with rainbow trout.
Klineline Pond got 2,000 trout, while Battle Ground Lake received 2,900. Icehouse and Little Ash lakes each got 1,000 trout and Kress Lake near Kalama received 3,000.
Streamflows are low in the East Fork of the Lewis and Washougal rivers. The flow at Heisson on the East Fork is just 558 cubic feet per second compared to a normal for the date of 831 cubic feet per second.
The North Fork of the Lewis River is at a nice streamflow of 5,520. The Cowlitz remains too high at 17,000 cubic feet per second at Mayfield Dam.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Downstream of Interstate 5, nine bank rods and one boat rod with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
Longview to Portland, 19 boaters with no spring chinook; 36 Oregon bank rods with no spring chinook; 95 boaters with four legal sturgeon kept plus 48 sublegals released; six Oregon bank rods with two sublegals released. (ODFW)
Downstream of Bonneville Dam, 10 boaters with 10 sublegal sturgeon released; three bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), four boaters with no sturgeon and seven Oregon bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, 134 boat rods with 51 legal sturgeon kept plus four legal, and 298 sublegals released; 51 bank rods with three legal sturgeon kept plus one legal and 12 sublegals released; five boaters with one walleye released. (WDFW)
The Dalles pool, 22 boaters with two legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize and 19 sublegals released; 40 bank rods with 17 sublegal sturgeon released; 26 bank rods with two steelhead kept and two released; 10 boaters with nine walleye kept and one released. (WDFW)
John Day pool, 67 bank rods with one legal sturgeon kept plus eight sublegals released; 79 boaters with 11 legal sturgeon kept plus one legal, one oversize and 40 sublegals released; two boaters with no steelhead; one boater with one walleye. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — At Blue Creek, 12 boaters with no steelhead; 27 bank rods with two steelhead kept and one released. The water has about 2 feet of visibility. (WDFW)
Klineline Pond — Ninety-eight bank rods with 100 rainbow trout and one broodstock rainbow kept plus six rainbow released. (WDFW)
