Fishing report Jan. 25

Weekend Fishing Opportunities:

• White sturgeon retention is closed from Buoy 10 upstream to Bonneville Dam, and in The Dalles Pool but remains an option for catch-and-release fishing.

• Bonneville and John Day pools are open to retention of white sturgeon until quotas are reached (under permanent regulations). See 2018 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations for size, daily, and annual bag limits. We advise that anglers check weather conditions before driving to the gorge.

• Walleye angling is good in The Dalles and John Day pools.

• A few winter steelhead should be available for anglers plunking from the beaches on the lower Columbia River.

• Trout are available in many of Washington’s Region 5 lakes

Salmon/Steelhead

The salmonid creel program on the lower Columbia has ended for the year and will resume next month.

Cowlitz River — From I-5 bridge downstream: 7 bank rods had no catch. Upstream from the I-5 bridge: 5 bank rods released 1 adult coho and 8 cutts. No boats were sampled.

Bonneville Dam to McNary Dam — Light effort and no steelhead catch was observed. (WDFW)

Steelhead fishing in local streams has slowed as the early run is now past the peak. Late run steelhead should start to show in area streams in February. The best late-run action will be in the Cowlitz and Kalama rivers.

Columbia River Endorsement creel surveys Jan 15 through Jan 21:

Salmon Creek: 39 bank anglers kept 2 hatchery steelhead

East Fork Lewis River: 15 bank anglers and 2 boat anglers released one native steelhead.

Elochoman River: 17 bank anglers and 5 boat anglers had no catch

Abernathy Creek: 8 bank anglers had no catch

Germany Creek: 7 bank anglers had no catch

Gray’s River: 3 bank anglers had no catch (WDFW)

Sturgeon

Lower Columbia River (below Bonneville Dam): Closed for retention. No report.

Bonneville Pool (Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam): Weekly checking showed three sublegal and one oversize white sturgeon released for 17 bank anglers; and six legal white sturgeon kept, plus 134 sublegal and two legal white sturgeon released for 14 boats (39 anglers).

The Dalles Pool (The Dalles Dam upstream to John Day Dam): Closed for retention as of Jan. 20. Weekly checking showed no catch for 14 bank anglers; and six legal white sturgeon kept, plus 22 sublegal and two legal white sturgeon released for 11 boats (26 anglers).

John Day Pool (John Day Dam upstream to McNary Dam): Weekly checking showed one legal white sturgeon kept, plus five sublegal sturgeon released for 32 bank anglers; and five legal white sturgeon kept, plus 17 sublegal and three oversize sturgeon released for 24 boats (56 anglers).

Walleye

Bonneville Pool: Weekly checking showed three walleye kept, plus two walleye released for three boats (five anglers).

The Dalles Pool: Weekly checking showed no catch for two bank anglers; and 20 walleye kept, plus three walleye released for three boats (six anglers).

John Day Pool: Weekly checking showed 61 walleye kept, plus 16 walleye release for 17 boats (37 anglers). (ODFW)

Trout

Recent plants of catchable size rainbows into Southwest Washington waters. No report on angling success.

Fort Borst Park Lake (Lewis County), Jan. 16: 1,600 rainbow at 2.7 per pound

Silver Lake (Cowlitz County), Jan. 16: 3,000 rainbow at 2 per pound

Little Ash Lake (Skamania County), Jan. 17: 1,450 rainbow at 2.3 per pound (WDFW)