It’s time to start fishing for spring chinook in the lower Columbia, but stay upstream of the mouth of the Cowlitz River.
The Columbia is muddy downstream of Longview. The Willamette in Portland only has 18 inches of visibility, but likely will clear enough to fish by Saturday.
Last week’s estimate is 423 spring chinook and 65 winter steelhead caught for 5,243 trips. Of the chinook, 330 were kept and 93 were released. Of the steelhead, 43 were kept and 22 released.
For the season, the numbers are 15,911 angler trips with 391 spring chinook kept and 132 released. Sixty percent of the chinook have been of upper Columbia origin.
Washington’s creel checks were a fish per 15 boat rods, which is poor, but it was only the second week of March.
Angling will be closed on the next three Tuesdays in the lower Columbia to avoid conflict in the event of a commercial fishing opener.
Through Monday, the cumulative count at Bonneville Dam was 285 spring chinook, the most through March 16 since 2003. The 10-year average through March 16 is 34.
Here’s an oddity: An adult coho was caught late last week in the commercial fishery in Deep River.
The catch rate in the Multnomah Channel also was a spring chinook per 15 rods last week.
Wind River and Drano Lake in opened on Monday.
Angler sampling by the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) department of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Tongue Point to Wauna power lines, 29 boaters with one spring chinook kept. (ODFW)
Estuary, 49 boaters with eight spring chinook kept. (WDFW)
Cathlamet, eight boaters with one spring chinook kept and one released; 23 bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Longview, 150 boaters with nine adult spring chinook, one jack chinook and two steelhead kept plus one spring chinook released; 91 bank rods with one spring chinook and four steelhead kept plus four steelhead released. (WDFW)
Westport, Ore. to Portland, 166 boaters with eight spring chinook kept and five released; 100 Oregon bank rods with no catch. (ODFW)
Kalama, 76 boaters with six spring chinook kept and three released; 23 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
Woodland, 180 boaters with 22 spring chinook kept and five released; 38 bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 81 boaters with one spring chinook kept and one released; 41 bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport tower, 67 boaters with two chinook kept; two bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Troutdale, Ore., 15 boaters with no catch. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, eight boaters with no catch; four bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 66 bank rods with one spring chinook kept and one steelhead released. (WDFW)
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 59 boaters with 148 walleye kept and 16 released; six bank rods with three walleye kept; 23 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus 31 sublegals released; 33 bank rods with two sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
John Day pool, 58 boaters with 36 walleye kept and 15 released; nine bank rods with three walleye kept; 35 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize and two sublegals released; 19 bank rods with one legal sturgeon kept plus four sublegals released; nine boaters with one bass kept. (WDFW)
Lower Willamette — Oregon’s estimate for last week was 1,216 angler trips with 65 spring chinook kept and 18 released. (ODFW)
Kalama — Twenty-three bank rods with two spring chinook and two steelhead; 13 boaters with one steelhead released. (WDFW)
Washougal — Closed to all fishing. Reopens April 16 downstream of Mount Norway Bridge under selective gear (no bait) rules for hatchery steelhead. (WDFW)
East Fork Lewis — Closed to all fishing, Reopens April 16 downstream ofthe top Lewisville Park boat ramp for hatchery steelhead under selective gear (no bait) rules. (WDFW)
