Thursday,  December 12 , 2024

Linkedin Pinterest
News / Sports / Outdoors

Fishing report 5/30

By Al Thomas, Columbian Outdoors Reporter
Published: May 29, 2013, 5:00pm

Sturgeon angling is decent in the lower Columbia between Portland and Longview as the big fish move from the Willamette River to the estuary. Catches in the estuary are improving, too.

Spring chinook fishing isn’t anything to get excited about, with the better catches in the Beacon Rock area.

The commercial fleet fished from the coast to Beacon Rock from 7 p.m. Wednesday until 7 a.m. today. State biologists predict the catch will be about 300 chinook salmon.

Several angling regulations change on Saturday with the arrival of June.

Among them:

o The East Fork of the Lewis from the mouth to 400 feet downstream of Horseshoe Falls and the Washougal from the mouth to Salmon Falls Bridge open to the use of bait for hatchery steelhead.

Several angling regulations change on Saturday with the arrival of June.

Among them:

o The East Fork of the Lewis from the mouth to 400 feet downstream of Horseshoe Falls and the Washougal from the mouth to Salmon Falls Bridge open to the use of bait for hatchery steelhead.

o The Klickitat River from the mouth to Fisher Hill Bridge is open daily. The salmon limit is six fish, but no more than two adults. Two hatchery steelhead may be retained. Wild chinook must be released.

The Klickitat from 400 feet upstream of Fishway No. 5 to boundary markers downstream of Klickitat Salmon Hatchery will open for hatchery chinook jacks and hatchery steelhead. Wild chinook must be released.

o The Elochoman from the mouth to the West Fork open for hatchery spring chinook and hatchery steelhead.

o The Grays from the mouth to the South Fork and the West Fork Grays from the mouth to the hatchery intake footbridge are open for hatchery chinook and hatchery steelhead.

o The Kalama from Summers Creek upstream to road No. 6429 is open for two hatchery steelhead, although fly-fishing only.

o The North Fork of the Lewis River from Johnson Creek upstream to the powerlines downstream of Merwin Dam will open for hatchery steelhead but stay closed for spring chinook.

o Lake Scanewa, the reservoir behind Cowlitz Falls Dam, opens to fishing for hatchery rainbow trout. About 20,000 rainbow will be planted from June through August.

o Rainey Creek from the mouth to U.S. Highway 12 will be open for five fin-clipped rainbow trout. All cutthroat must be released. The stream is scheduled to be planted with 2,000 rainbow this summer.

o The Klickitat River from the mouth to Fisher Hill Bridge is open daily. The salmon limit is six fish, but no more than two adults. Two hatchery steelhead may be retained. Wild chinook must be released.

The Klickitat from 400 feet upstream of Fishway No. 5 to boundary markers downstream of Klickitat Salmon Hatchery will open for hatchery chinook jacks and hatchery steelhead. Wild chinook must be released.

o The Elochoman from the mouth to the West Fork open for hatchery spring chinook and hatchery steelhead.

o The Grays from the mouth to the South Fork and the West Fork Grays from the mouth to the hatchery intake footbridge are open for hatchery chinook and hatchery steelhead.

o The Kalama from Summers Creek upstream to road No. 6429 is open for two hatchery steelhead, although fly-fishing only.

o The North Fork of the Lewis River from Johnson Creek upstream to the powerlines downstream of Merwin Dam will open for hatchery steelhead but stay closed for spring chinook.

o Lake Scanewa, the reservoir behind Cowlitz Falls Dam, opens to fishing for hatchery rainbow trout. About 20,000 rainbow will be planted from June through August.

o Rainey Creek from the mouth to U.S. Highway 12 will be open for five fin-clipped rainbow trout. All cutthroat must be released. The stream is scheduled to be planted with 2,000 rainbow this summer.

There are plenty of shad in the lower Columbia with catches coming from various locations and counts at Bonneville Dam ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 a day now.

Walleye fishing has been good in The Dalles pool. Kokanee fishing at Merwin Reservoir is spotty, fair one day and poor the next.

Angler checks from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. No Washington sampling is available this week:

Lower Columbia — Buoy 10 to Puget Island, 246 boaters with 48 legal sturgeon kept plus one legal, eight oversize and 208 sublegal sturgeon released.

Tongue Point to Westport, 15 boaters with one adult spring chinook, two jack chinook and one steelhead kept; 149 Oregon bank rods with two adult spring chinook, two jack chinook and six steelhead kept plus two adult chinook and one steelhead released.

Westport to Portland, 101 boaters with two adult spring chinook, two jack chinook and one steelhead kept plus one steelhead released; 16 boaters with 80 shad kept.

Longview to Portland, 61 boaters with 16 legal sturgeon kept plus three oversize and 96 sublegals released.

Troutdale, 78 boaters with one jack chinook kept and three adult chinook released; 34 boaters with 84 shad kept; four boaters with six sublegal sturgeon released.

Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), 14 boaters with three adult spring chinook and one jack chinook kept; 25 boaters with 363 shad kept; 26 Oregon bank rods with two adult spring chinook kept and one released; 215 Oregon bank rods with 1,213 shad kept.

Stay informed on what is happening in Clark County, WA and beyond for only
$99/year

Columbia Gorge (downstream of Marker 82), five boaters with one sublegal sturgeon released.

Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, six boaters with one oversize and 23 sublegal sturgeon released; 15 bank rods with 19 sublegal sturgeon released; seven boaters with 16 walleye kept.

John Day pool, 13 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize and eight sublegals released; 15 bank rods with one legal sturgeon released; 17 boaters with three walleye; three bank rods with four walleye.

Merwin Reservoir — Two boaters with five kokanee.

Support local journalism

Your tax-deductible donation to The Columbian’s Community Funded Journalism program will contribute to better local reporting on key issues, including homelessness, housing, transportation and the environment. Reporters will focus on narrative, investigative and data-driven storytelling.

Local journalism needs your help. It’s an essential part of a healthy community and a healthy democracy.

Community Funded Journalism logo
Loading...
Columbian Outdoors Reporter