Sturgeon fishing in the Bonneville pool is open through Sunday, then closes. State officials will review catches through Jan. 19 before making a decision whether to reopen the winter portion of the season.
Anglers last week averaged a legal sturgeon per 6.4 boat rods and per 11.7 bank rods, including fish released. The water temperature is 41 degrees at Bonneville Dam.
Streamflows are dropping quickly in most of the local steelhead waters. In the East Fork of the Lewis, the flow peaked at 4,500 cubic feet per second on Monday morning and was down to a little less than 2,000 cubic feet per second on Wednesday. The Washougal peaked at 5,000 cubic feet per second on Sunday night and was flowing at 2,500 on Wednesday.
Streamflow at Mayfield Dam on the Cowlitz River on Wednesday was 9,500 cubic feet per second and the North Fork of the Lewis at Ariel was 10,500, both typical winter flows.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Mid- Columbia — Bonneville pool, 58 boaters with nine legal sturgeon kept and 305 sublegals released; 35 bank rods with one legal sturgeon kept plus two legal sturgeon, one oversize sturgeon and 10 sublegals released. (WDFW)
The Dalles pool, two boaters with no sturgeon; 10 bank rods with six sublegal sturgeon released; three bank rods with no steelhead; two boaters with one wild steelhead released. (WDW0
John Day pool, 13 bank rods with no sturgeon; nine boaters with two sublegals released; one boater with no walleye. (WDFW)
John Day River arm, one bank rod with no steelhead. (ODFW)
Cowlitz — Thirty-five boaters with 15 steelhead and one cutthroat trout kept; 48 bank rods with 11 steelhead kept. All the fish were sampled near Cowlitz Trout Hatchery. (WDFW)
Washougal — Twenty bank rods with one steelhead kept; one boater with no catch. (WDFW)
