Angling for hatchery steelhead generally peaks between about Christmas and mid-January, so this is the time for sportsmen who like their fishing on the frigid side.
The East Fork of the Lewis River at Heisson was 1,000 cubic feet per second on Wednesday afternoon. Streamflows of 1,100 to 1,400 cubic feet per second are best for the drift between Lewisville and Daybreak parks.
The North Fork of the Lewis River was a nice 5,370 cubic feet per second on Wednesday.
The Washougal River had dropped to 1,250 cubic feet per second. The Cowlitz was 12,900 cubic feet per second at Mayfield Dam, but had seven feet of visibility.
Last week, 215 winter steelhead were recovered at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery fish separator along with 2,047 adult coho and two cutthroat trout.
Hatchery steelhead returns are ahead of the same time as last year in Southwest Washington. The numbers (with 2013 in parenthesis) are: Washougal 205 (57); Lewis 107 (54); Kalama 227 (40) and Cowlitz 660 (349).
Klineline Pond was stocked with 120 large brood stock rainbow trout last week, while Rowland Lake in western Klickitat County got 160 of the lunker trout.
Angler sampling from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Cowlitz — Twenty-five boat anglers with eight steelhead and three coho kept; 96 bank rods with six steelhead and six adult coho kept plus one adult coho released. (WDFW)
