Streamflow in the lower Columbia River increased this week, but is scheduled to begin dropping today. Spring chinook boaters averaged a fish per 17 rods, so fishing continues to be slow.
Through Sunday, there were 21,101 fishing trips with a catch of 818 spring chinook and 77 steelhead kept plus 204 chinook and 201 steelhead released. Nine percent of the catch guideline had been taken. Eighty-nine percent of the catch has been upper Columbia salmon.
The Willamette has less than a foot of visibility and the Columbia downstream of Longview has about 18 to 24 inches of clarity.
Commercial fishing is likely to begin on Tuesday.
Fishing opened Wednesday at Wind River and Drano Lake with a two-chinook daily limit. With just 49 chinook counted at Bonneville Dam, action is not expected to be fast.
Steelhead fishing is closed in the Washougal, East Fork of the Lewis, Grays, Elochoman and Coweeman rivers, plus in Abernathy, Cedar, Germany, Mill, Salmon and Rock creeks.
The first summer steelhead of the year was sampled in the lower Cowlitz River. The fish separator at Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery recovered 108 winter steelhead and one spring chinook in five days of operation last week.
Battle Ground Lake has been planted with 3,000 rainbow trout, Lacamas Lake got almost 6,400 and Klineline Pond received 2,000. Silver Lake in Cowlitz County got almost 8,000 rainbows.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Cathlamet, 18 boaters and 13 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; three boaters with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Longview to Portland, 288 boaters with eight spring chinook kept and three released; 244 Oregon bank rods with one spring chinook and four steelhead kept plus one spring chinook and 13 steelhead released; one boater with six sublegal sturgeon released. (ODFW)
Longview, 89 boaters wth no salmon or steelhead, 48 bank rods with on steelhead; four boaters with two sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Kalama, 62 boaters and 58 bank rods with no spring chinook or steelhead; two boaters with one legal sturgeon kept and five sublegals released; two bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Woodland, 73 boaters and 96 bank rods with no spring chinook or steelhead, two boaters and two bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Frenchman’s Bar, 496 boaters with 27 spring chinook and one steelhead kept and 13 spring chinook released; 143 bank rods with two steelhead released. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport, 769 boaters with 40 spring chinook and two steelhead kept plus 10 chinook released; three bank rods with no catch; two boaters with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Troutdale, 112 boaters with three spring chinook kept and two released; six boaters with no sturgeon. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, 113 boaters with five spring chinook kept and one released; seven bank rods with no catch; two boaters with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Rooster Rock, 11 boaters with no catch. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 94 bank rods with one spring chinook kept and one released; two bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), seven Oregon bank rods with no sturgeon. (ODFW)
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 27 bank rods with no sturgeon; 14 boaters with two sublegal sturgeon released; seven boaters with one steelhead released; four bank rods with no walleye; 16 boaters with four walleye kept. (WDFW)
John Day pool, 41 bank rods with two sublegal sturgeon released; 65 boaters with three legal sturgeon kept and 24 sublegals released; 77 boaters with 33 walleye kept and eight released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Fifteen bank rods with one steelhead kept; nine boaters with seven steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Kalama — Four bank rods with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Six bank rods with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
Klineline Pond — Twenty-seven bank rods with 29 rainbow trout kept and nine released. (WDFW)
