January 6, 2008

Salmon/Steelhead

Cowlitz River - No report on angling success. Last week, Tacoma Power recovered 304 coho salmon adults and 45 winter-run steelhead at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator during four days of operations. Tacoma Power employees released 17 coho adults and five winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa at the Day Use Site and 111 coho adults, one jack, and three winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton, Washington during the week.

River flows at Mayfield Dam are approximately at 6,730 cubic feet per second on Monday, January 7. Water visibility is nine feet.

Kalama River - From Chris Wagemann (WDFW Biologist) - The Kalama River has been getting some nice steelhead back to the hatchery. To date about 700 hatchery winter steelhead have been handled and about 600 of those have been recycled to the lower river boat ramp. Today (Monday Jan. 7) 150 fish were handled at the Kalama Falls Hatchery (KFH) with 10 wild winters(60 for the year) and a couple of wild summer (310 for the year) fish being passed upstream of KFH. About 40 fresh and about 30 "recap" hatchery steelhead were taken back downstream.

The river has been pretty high but good color with all the snow at the lower elevation. It has been hit and miss with the best action coming from the Beginners Hole at hatchery creek and at the deadline up in the canyon. Boat anglers have been scratching a fish here and there with the occasional winter king being hooked. Anglers are reminded that only adipose fin clipped salmon and steelhead may be retained.

Lower Columbia from Buoy 10 to the I-5 Bridge - Per permanent regulations, hatchery spring chinook may be kept while wild chinook must be released beginning January 1.

Mainstem Columbia from the I-5 Bridge upstream - Closed to fishing for salmon beginning January 1 per permanent regulations.

Bonneville and The Dalles pools - Boat anglers in The Dalles Pool are catching some steelhead. No effort was observed in Bonneville Pool.

Ringold - For the month of December, an estimated 169 steelhead were caught in the Ringold fishery (Hwy 395 to old Hanford town site). Of these, 120 were retained. Catch and harvest were comparable to prior years. For the season, 1,222 have been caught (617 adipose + right ventral fin clipped, 394 adipose clipped only, and 212 wild). Of the fish caught in December, 48% were Ringold origin (adipose + right ventral fin clipped).

WDFW staff interviewed 151 anglers in December (28% of the effort). Angler activity dropped off considerably in December with the cooler weather. Harvest is slow and steady. Anglers caught 1 steelhead for every 11 hours of angling in December. Roughly 37% of the steelhead retained in December were adipose clipped only fish. The percentage of wild steelhead in the catch was 15.7% in December and is 17.4% overall for the season.

Sturgeon

Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam - No report on angling success.

Buoy 10 to the Wauna powerlines- Retention of white sturgeon is allowed seven days per week from Jan. 1 to April 30 and from May 10 to June 24. From Jan. 1 to April 30, retained sturgeon must be a minimum of 42 inches and a maximum of 60 inches. From May 10 to June 24, retained sturgeon must be a minimum of 45 inches and a maximum of 60 inches. Catch-and-release fishing is allowed May 1 to May 9 and June 25 to Dec. 31.

Wauna powerlines to Bonneville Dam- Retention of white sturgeon is allowed four days per week (Thursday through Sunday) Jan. 1 through July 31 and Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. Retained sturgeon must be a minimum of 42 inches and a maximum of 60 inches. Catch-and-release fishing is allowed Aug. 1 through Sept. 30 and on days when retention is prohibited.

Bonneville Pool - Bank anglers are catching some legals.

The Dalles Pool - Bank and boat anglers are catching some legals.

Walleye and Bass

Bonneville and The Dalles pools - The few boat anglers sampled in The Dalles Pool had no catch. No effort was observed there for bass. No effort for bass or walleye was observed in Bonneville Pool.

Trout

Recent plants of brood stock rainbows:

• Lake Sacajawea in Longview - 125 averaging 6 1/4 pounds each and 40 ten pounders Jan. 2;
• Rowland Lake near Lyle - 83 averaging 6 1/4 pounds each and 100 ten pounders Dec. 31;
• Spearfish Lake in Dallesport - 77 averaging 6 1/4 pounds each and 40 ten pounders Dec. 31.

Kress Lake near Kalama - Will receive about 50 surplus hatchery steelhead tomorrow. These are the first steelhead of the year to be planted into Kress Lake. It will continue to receive about 50 to 100 hatchery steelhead every week for the next month or so depending upon returns. It will also receive some fish from the Cowlitz and possibly the Lewis.

Smelt

Columbia River - The temperature of the lower Columbia River is about 42º today (Monday Jan. 7). Smelt prefer water of at least 40º or warmer. A small number of smelt were reported commercially caught both Monday December 31 and Thursday January 3 near Skamokawa (35 miles downstream of the Cowlitz) and also during the last week of December. A preliminary estimate of 126 lbs have been caught since late-December.

Effective through March 31, 2008, sport smelt dipping is open from the mouth to Bonneville Dam 7 days per week/24 hours per day. Limit is 25 pounds per person per day.

Cowlitz River - On Wednesday January 2nd, there were no signs of significant bird or marine mammal activity in the vicinity of the Cowlitz to indicate smelt presence. WDFW will begin test dipping this week (tentatively scheduled for January 9th). No commercial landings were reported for January 2nd.

Effective through March 31, 2008 sport smelt dipping is open from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM Saturdays only. Daily limit is 10 pounds per person. No other Washington Columbia River tributary is open to fishing for smelt.