Salmon fishing at Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia River is — in a word — good.
Anglers have been average almost a salmon per rod in the past several days, although windy conditions can be an issue at times. Fishing pressure has been pretty heavy.
The best tides of the season are this weekend, with high water in the morning and soft ebb tides.
Interest in picking up in the lower Columbia. Saturday’s flight counted more than 400 boats and 500 bank rods. Not surprisingly, almost a third of the boats were near the mouth of the Cowlitz River.
Boaters did well last week trolling for steelhead at the mouth of Wind River. Most of the fish were wild, however.
Drano Lake averaged more than a steelhead per rod, but more than 60 percent were wild and had to be released.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Downstream of Puget Island, four boaters with eight steelhead kept and one released; six bank rods with on steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Westport, Ore., to Portland, 320 boaters with 70 adult fall chinook, two jack chinook and 50 steelhead kept plus one adult chinook and 24 steelhead released. (ODFW)
Cathlamet, two boaters with one steelhead kept; 15 bank rods with 10 steelhead kept and two released. (WDFW)
Longview, 139 boaters with eight adult fall chinook and 16 steelhead kept plus five steelhead released; 210 bank rods with one adult chinook and 46 steelhead kept plus eight steelhead released, one boater with one legal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz River mouth, 62 boaters with eight adult fall chinook and 16 steelhead kept plus five steelhead released. (WDFW)
Kalama, 55 boaters with three adult fall chinook and 12 steelhead kept plus three steelhead released; 131 bank rods with 10 adult chinook and seven steelhead kept plus three steelhead released; two boaters with four legal and 11 sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Woodland, 70 boaters with 12 adult chinook and four steelhead kept plus one adult chinook and one steelhead released; 82 bank rods with three adult fall chinook and 11 steelhead kept plus four steelhead released. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 22 boaters with three adult chinook and 10 steelhead kept plus seven steelhead released; 134 bank rods with 11 adult chinook and five steelhead kept plus seven steelhead released; five boaters with four legal and one sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport tower, 84 bank rods with one adult fall chinook and 15 steelhead kept plus two steelhead released. (WDFW)
Troutdale, Ore., 82 boaters with six adult chinook and one steelhead kept plus two steelhead released; five boaters with three sublegal sturgeon released; 17 boaters with 32 walleye kept and two released. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, 13 boaters with no catch. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 18 bank rods with two steelhead kept and six released. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), seven boaters with no catch. (ODFW)
Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, (mostly outside Drano Lake) 21 boaters with 10 adult chinook kept and one steelhead released. (WDFW)
The Dalles pool, two boaters with no catch; one boater with six walleye released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Sixteen boaters with two adult fall chinook and 14 steelhead kept plus 16 steelhead released. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Ten bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Wind — Nine boaters with seven steelhead kept and 18 released; nine bank rods with two steelhead released. (WDFW)
Drano Lake — Two-hundred-twelve boaters with 16 adult fall chinook and 101 steelhead kept plus one adult chinook and 159 steelhead released. (WDFW)
