Southwest Washington Fishing Reports
2002 Report Archive
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WDFW Sport Sampling Results for December 2-8, 2002
Sport Sampling Summaries - PDF Format

Salmon/Steelhead

• Lower Cowlitz River - Last week from the I-5 Bridge upstream to the barrier dam, 39 bank anglers sampled had caught 5 coho, 2 chinook, 7 winter steelhead, and 3 summer run steelhead. In addition, 32 boat anglers caught 1 coho, 15 winter steelhead, and 3 summer run steelhead. Boat anglers averaged a fish per every 2.7 hours of effort.
• Lake Scanewa (Cowlitz Falls Reservoir) - Last week, 39 boat anglers sampled kept 22 adult and 3 jack coho kept plus 20 adult coho released. In addition, 13 bank anglers sampled kept 8 adult and 4 jack coho plus released 3 adult and 1 jack coho.
• During the past week Tacoma Power's Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator recovered 4,844 coho salmon, 172 coho jacks, two fall chinook salmon, 65 winter-run steelhead, 16 summer-run steelhead and two cutthroat trout during seven days of separator operations.
  
• Tacoma Power employees released 4,243 coho adults, 143 coho jacks and two fall chinook salmon into the upper Cowlitz River at the Day Use Park on Lake Scanewa during the week.
  
• Tacoma Power employees also released a total of 260 adult coho salmon and 19 coho jacks at the Skate Creek Bridge site on the upper Cowlitz River in Packwood , Washington during the week.
  
• Tacoma Power employees released 508 coho salmon ten coho jacks, three winter-run steelhead and one cutthroat trout into the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton , Washington during the week.
  
• A total of 55 steelhead were recycled downstream to the Barrier Dam boat launch during the week.
  
• River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately 2,930 cubic feet per second on December 9. Water visibility is 11 feet.
• Kalama River - No report on angling success. Through December 4, a total of 50 hatchery and 16 wild winter steelhead had returned to Kalama Falls Hatchery.
• Lewis River - No report on angling success. Through December 4, a total of 18 hatchery and 3 wild winter steelhead had returned to the trap at Merwin Dam.
• Washougal River - No report on angling success. Through December 4, a total of 153 hatchery winter steelhead had returned to Skamania Hatchery.
• Ringold - Boat anglers averaged a steelhead kept per every 2.9 rods last week. Actual checks were: 35 bank anglers with 3 steelhead kept and 1 wild fish released. 29 boat anglers with 10 steelhead kept and 3 released.
• See also: Columbia River fall chinook and coho 2002 preliminary returns and general outlook for 2003.
• Also attached in PDF report are the preliminary steelhead smolt stocking for 2001 (returning as 2-salt adults in winter 2002/2003).
  

Sturgeon

• Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - Some legals were caught off the bank just downstream from Bonneville Dam. Slow for boat anglers in the Kalama area.
• Bonneville Pool - Light effort and catches last week.

Walleye, Bass and other warmwater fish

• No Report
  

Trout

• Kress Lake near Kalama - Received 77 adult steelhead during the last week of November.
• Rainbow trout averaging about ½ pound each were released into the following waters late last week :
• Icehouse near Bridge of the Gods: 2500
• Little Ash near Stevenson: 2500
• Kidney near North Bonneville: 3000
• Klineline in Hazel Dell: 3000
• Lacamas in Camas: 5000
• Battleground: Will get about 3000 rainbow and 100 adult winter steelhead the week of 16th of December.