WDFW Sport Sampling Results:
January 3, 2006
Salmon/Steelhead -
Kalama River Winter Steelhead Update December 28, 2005
A lot of water and good numbers of fish. This past week (Friday and Tuesday), 200 hatchery winter steelhead were recycled to the lower river, while 27 wild winter and 7 wild summer steelhead was passed upstream of Kalama Falls Hatchery (KFH). Also over 300 hatchery coho were handled. Most fishing is restricted to the deadline and beginner's hole when the river is this high. (source: Chris Wagemann, WDFW Fish Biologist)
Salmon Creek (Clark County) - Good numbers of steelhead are reported present but water is high, muddy, and flowing fast.
Comparison of 2004 and 2005 hatchery winter steelhead returns through December. In general, this year's return is about half of last year to date.
Station
|
2004
|
2005 |
| Grays
River |
300
|
32
|
| Elochoman
|
251
|
115 |
| Cowlitz
Trout |
126
|
416 |
| Cowlitz
Salmon |
2,067 |
554
|
| Kalama
Falls |
727
|
289 |
| Lewis |
263
|
143
|
| Merwin
Dam |
1,016 |
903 |
| Skamania
|
525
|
90 |
Kalama River - lots of water and good numbers of fish. This past week (Friday(12/31) and Tuesday(1/03)), 157 "fresh" and 108 "recapture" hatchery winter steelhead were recycled to the lower river, while 23 wild winter and 7 wild summer steelhead was passed upstream of Kalama Falls Hatchery.
Sturgeon -
No reports are currently available.
Trout -
Klineline Pond - 28 bank anglers kept 42 rainbows. Water is real high - best fishing is using bait in the swimming area. Planted with 1,000 catchable size rainbows on Dec. 27.
Smelt -
Mainstem Columbia near Cathlamet - Commercial fishers landed 485 pounds of smelt from Dec. 28-30. More fish were landed last week than all of the 2005 season (100 pounds).
Sport fishers can dip up to 25 pounds of smelt per day during the season, scheduled daily from Jan. 1 through March 31. However, a scarcity of bank access limits fishing pressure.
Cowlitz River - Starting Jan. 7, the popular fishery on the Cowlitz is scheduled to run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. each Saturday through March 31, with a daily catch limit of 10 pounds per person.
All other tributaries to the Columbia River - Remain closed to smelt fishing until further notice.
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