| February 10,
2008
Salmon/Steelhead
Cowlitz River
- Light effort and catches. 3 bank and 5 boat anglers had no catch.
Last week, Tacoma
Power recovered 301 coho salmon adults and five winter-run steelhead
at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator during five days of operations.
During the week Tacoma Power employees released 63 coho adults and one
winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa at the Day Use Site and 11 coho
adults and one winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom
Park in Morton.
River flows at Mayfield
Dam are approximately at 11,400 cubic feet per second on Monday, February
11. Water visibility is over seven feet.
Lower Columbia
from the I-5 Bridge downstream - Effort and catches are light. During
the Saturday Feb. 9 flight, 13 Washington and 40 Oregon bank anglers
plus 5 boats were counted. 5 Washington bank anglers from Longview to
Vancouver had no catch.
A final decision
on spring chinook fishing seasons is scheduled Feb. 15 during a meeting
of the Columbia River Compact, which represents fish and wildlife agencies
from both states.
Bonneville Pool
- No effort was observed.
The Dalles Pool
- The few boat anglers are doing well on steelhead with an average
of two fish per rod including fish released. Light effort and no catch
observed from the bank.
Sturgeon
Lower Columbia
from the Wauna powerlines upstream to Bonneville Dam - Effort and
catches are light. A total of 12 Washington and 8 Oregon bank anglers
plus 34 boats were counted during the Saturday Feb. 9 flight. Between
Vancouver and Bonneville Dam 10 bank anglers had no catch.
In January, an estimated
1,200 angler trips produced as measly catch of 37 legal sturgeon kept
from the mainstem Columbia below Bonneville Dam.
Bonneville Pool
- Light effort and no legals were found in the catch.
The Dalles Pool
- Boat anglers are catch some legals. Slow for legals from the bank.
Walleye and Bass
Bonneville Pool
- No effort observed for either specie.
The Dalles Pool
- Light effort but no catch observed for walleye. No effort observed
for bass.
Trout
Battleground
Lake - Planted with 1,000 half-pound rainbows February 5.
Klineline Pond
- Before 1,000 half-pound rainbows were planted February 5, eleven
bank anglers had no catch.
Smelt
Mainstem commercials
landed more smelt on Monday night (3,411 lbs) than the entire season
to date through last week (2,444 lbs).
Another WDFW test
dipper was at the same spot earlier in the morning - no fish. The other
dippers found no fish at the Kelso Bridge. They ended up with 30 fish
total including one dip of 8 fish. Not much sign of seals/birds. Fish
may have just started moving in.
They're here!
Test dipping today
confirmed smelt are present in the lower Cowlitz. Bank dipping near
the Longview Bridge produced about 15 fish in a dozen dips. Up to 3
fish per dip. Mixture of size including some large specimens. A more
complete report will follow.
Reminder - WA
Tributaries - Sport dipping is only allowed on the Cowlitz River,
from 6 AM to 10 PM Saturdays through March 31st. The daily limit is
10 lbs per person per day. This is equivalent to ¼ of a 5-gallon
bucket.
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