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Ecology and salmon related articles

Creel Checks Show Trout are Just About
Only Game in Columbia River Region

by Mark Yuasa
Seattle Times, February 8, 2017

WDFW's Joe Hymer nets a spring chinook on the Columbia River near Vancouver. (Mark Harrison/The Seattle Times) Here are the latest state Fish and Wildlife creel checks for sport fishing for the Columbia River regional area:

SALMON AND STEELHEAD

Cowlitz River – 8 boat and 51 bank anglers had no catch.

Last week Tacoma Power employees recovered 48 coho adults, 1 jack, four winter-run steelhead, and one cutthroat trout in five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.

During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released nine coho adults and one winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa behind Cowlitz Falls Dam. Nineteen coho adults and one winter-run steelhead were released on the Cispus River at Yellow Jacket Creek.

Last week, Tacoma employees released 20 coho adults, 1 coho jack, and one winter-run steelhead adult into the Tilton River located at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton.

River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately 9,910 cubic feet per second. Visibility is at eight feet and water temperature 40.6 degrees F.

Lower Columbia mainstem from the I-5 Br. downstream – 7 boats and 27 bank anglers were counted during last Saturday's effort flight count. We sampled a couple bank anglers that had no catch.

Bonneville Pool – No effort for salmonids was observed.

The Dalles and John Day pools – Boat anglers are catching some steelhead.

Hanford Reach – It was another slow month for steelhead fishing in the lower Hanford Reach. Poor weather kept angler numbers down. Only 21 steelhead were caught and harvested in January. This is the lowest catch and second lowest harvest on record (2003-2016). There were an estimated 215 angler trips for steelhead.

For the season (Oct. 1 to Jan. 31) an estimated 389 steelhead have been caught and 252 steelhead have been harvested from 3,126 angler trips. Fishing usually picks up in February with some of the best fishing of the season in March.

STURGEON

Bonneville Pool – Boat anglers are catching some legals.

The Dalles and John Day pools – No legal size fish were observed in the creel.

WALLEYE AND BASS

Bonneville Pool – No effort was found for either specie.

The Dalles Pool – The bank anglers sampled did better than the boat anglers last week. No effort for bass.

John Day Pool – Boat anglers averaged just under a walleye per rod. No effort for bass.

TROUT

Fort Borst Park Lake (Lewis County): 1,500 trout planted on Jan. 31.

Horseshoe Lake (Cowlitz County): 75 trout on Feb. 1.

Klineline Pond (Clark County): 1,500 trout on Jan. 30, and 1,500 trout on Jan. 26.

Kress Lake (Cowlitz County): Five adult steelhead on Jan. 30, and seven adult steelhead on Jan. 26.

Lake Sacajawea (Cowlitz County): 2,500 trout on Jan. 30.


Mark Yuasa
Creel Checks Show Trout are Just About Only Game in Columbia River Region
Seattle Times, February 8, 2017

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