ARIEL, Wash. — Trout fishermen hoping for some late-season angling at Swift Reservoir on the upper North Fork of the Lewis River appear out of luck.
The 4,500-acre reservoir was stocked in early June with 53,000 rainbow trout to fuel a fishing season that continues through Nov. 30. In September, October and November, the daily bag limit doubles to 10 trout.
However, due to the drought, the boat ramp at Swift Forest Park was out of the water by early July.
The water level at the ramp needs to be at an elevation of 975 feet or more for most boats to launch. The water has been holding at 970 feet, giving anglers hope fall rains might add enough water to make the ramp usable again.
Streamflow in the lower North Fork of the Lewis River downstream of Merwin Dam has been kept low — just 860 cubic feet per second — during summer and early fall to save water for higher flows in late fall when wild fall chinook salmon will be spawning.
The fall chinook in the lower North Lewis is the largest wild-spawning population in the lower Columbia River.
Under the Lewis River Settlement Agreement, flows at Merwin Dam are scheduled to increase to 2,500 cubic feet per second on Oct. 16 and 4,200 cfs on Nov. 1.
Frank Shrier, principal scientist for PacifiCorp, operator of the three hydroelectric dams on the North Fork of the Lewis, said a special committee composed of state, federal and tribal resource agencies convened and is tending toward releasing 1,700 cubic feet per second beginning Friday and 2,000 cfs on Nov. 1.
Only about 480 cubic feet of water has been flowing into the upper end of Swift Reservoir. Increasing the streamflow downstream of Merwin will result in dropping water levels at Swift, Shrier said.
