Sturgeon retention opens Wednesday in the Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day pools of the Columbia River Gorge.
Bonneville pool will be open daily through Jan. 19, except the harvest will be assessed in mid-month and retention could be extended.
The goal is to split the catch guideline of 1,100 sturgeon roughly equal between the winter portion of the season and a summer portion in mid- to late June.
Catches in the Bonneville pool in January can be awful, or very good. In past years, the catch rate has varied widely in January. The Dalles and John Day will stay open until their catch guidelines are met.
Boaters continue to catch steelhead in Washougal and Cowlitz rivers and some fall chinook from the North Fork of the Lewis.
Tuesday is the final day to fish for steelhead in Mill Creek, west of Longview.
Angler checks from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Cowlitz — Sixty-four boaters with 20 steelhead kept plus one steelhead and one adult coho released; 223 bank rods with 25 steelhead and one adult coho kept plus one trout released.
Kalama — Forty-three bank rods with two steelhead kept plus one steelhead, one adult chinook, one adult coho and four jack coho released; 11 boat rods with one adult coho released.
Lewis — Seven bank rods with no catch.
North Fork Lewis — Thirty-three bank rods with two trout released; 37 boaters with 10 adult chinook, two adult coho and four steelhead kept plus four steelhead, three adult chinook and one adult coho released.
Washougal — Thirty-two boaters with 13 steelhead kept and six released; 74 bank rods with nine steelhead kept.
