Winter steelhead have returned to the Kalama and Lewis rivers.
A hatchery fish returned last week to the trap at Merwin Dam, while one hatchery and four wild fish returned to Kalama Falls Hatchery.
Trout fishing is exceptional at Swift Reservoir. The season continues through the end of November. Among trout, only fin-clipped rainbow can be caught, so any incidental cutthroat or bull trout must be released.
The maximum size for the coho, chinook and steelhead smolts that get caught incidentally is 15 inches.
Those fish do not need to have a clipped adipose fin to be retained. The reservoir is 17 feet below full pool. The boat ramp is usable down to 25 feet below full.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, 11 boaters with four adult coho kept. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Twenty-three boaters with one adult coho, one cutthroat trout and 13 steelhead kept plus one adult coho, three jack coho and 16 cutthroat released; 132 bank rods with five adult chinook, one jack chinook, 11 adult coho, 19 jack coho, six steelhead and two cutthroat trout kept plus 113 adult chinook, seven adult coho, 35 jack coho and seven cutthroat released. (WDFW)
Kalama — Forty-one bank rods with four adult coho and one steelhead kept plus one steelhead released. (WDFW)
Lewis — Two bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Twenty-six bank rods with one steelhead kept plus five adult chinook, one jack chinook and two adult coho released; seven boaters with six adult coho and four jack coho kept. (WDFW)
East Fork Lewis — Six anglers with no steelhead. (WDFW)
Coweeman — One angler with two wild steelhead released. (WDFW)
