Spring chinook catches in the lower Columbia remain slow, although about on the same pace as a year ago.
Through Sunday, there had been 32,800 angler trips with 693 spring chinook kept plus 271 released. The early-season sport allocation is 12,700 kept chinook, plus release mortalities. The run will be updated in early May.
The catch also included 367 steelhead kept and 271 released. Sixty-one percent of the chinook catch has been upper Columbia-origin salmon.
Sport fishing in the lower Columbia is closed on the next three Tuesdays — March 20, March 27 and April 3 — to allow for commercial fishing.
Several fishing rules change on Friday.
o The Washougal, Coweeman, Grays, Elochoman and East Fork Lewis rivers close for steelhead fishing as do Abernathy, Cedar, Germany, Mill, Rock and Salmon creeks.
o Wind River and Drano Lake open for hatchery spring chinook and hatchery steelhead. The Wind will be open from the mouth to 400 feet downstream of Shipherd Falls.
With only 12 chinook counted at Bonneville, don’t expect much at the two mid-Columbia spots.
o Fishing for hatchery spring chinook and hatchery steelhead in the mid-Columbia from Bonneville Dam to the Washington-Oregon border opens. Boat fishing is not allowed in Bonneville pool from the dam to the Tower Island power lines, six miles downstream of The Dalles Dam.
The bag limit is two hatchery chinook or hatchery steelhead or one of each in the mid-Columbia.
Kokanee fishing is improving at Merwin Reservoir.
Battle Ground Lake and Klineline Pond each were stocked with 3,000 trout on Monday.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Estuary, 38 boaters with five adult spring chinook kept; two bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Cathlamet, 12 boaters and 10 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead;. (WDFW)
Longview, 224 boaters with six adult spring chinook kept and one steelhead released; 43 bank rods with two steelhead kept, one steelhead released and one spring chinook released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz, six boaters with no salmon or steelhead; 15 boaters with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Kalama, 126 boaters with two adult spring chinook kept and one released; 56 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; 21 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize sturgeon released; five bank rods with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Woodland, 95 boaters with two spring chinook kept and one released; 144 bank rods with one steelhead released; five boaters with two sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 532 boaters with 23 spring chinook kept and seven released; 107 bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport, 285 boaters with 11 spring chinook kept, six released plus one steelhead released; four boaters with three legal sturgeon kept plus seven sublegals released. (WDFW)
Camas-Washougal, 39 boaters with three spring chinook kept and one released; five bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; 23 boaters with two legal sturgeon kept, one legal, eight oversize and 52 sublegals released. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, five boaters with no salmon or steelhead; 26 bank rods with one steelhead kept and one released; 10 boaters with four legal sturgeon kept plus 10 oversize and 10 sublegals released. (WDFW)
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 17 boaters with 19 sublegal sturgeon released; 20 bank rods with one legal sturgeon kept plus two sublegals released; four boaters with two wild steelhead released; six bank rods with one steelhead kept and five released; nine boaters with six walleye kept and eight released; two bank rods with no walleye. (WDFW)
John Day pool, 70 boaters with two legal sturgeon kept plus 12 sublegals released; 32 bank rods with two sublegal sturgeon released; 10 bank rods and two boaters with no steelhead; 67 boaters with 42 walleye kept and 15 released. (WDFW)
Kalama — Thirteen bank rods with two hatchery steelhead kept plus one hatchery and one wild steelhead released; four boaters with one spring chinook kept. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Eight bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Washougal — Thirty-five bank rods with two hatchery steelhead kept and one wild fish released; 10 boaters with one hatchery steelhead kept plus one hatchery and seven wild steelhead released. (WDFW)
