Salmon fishing at Buoy 10 has gotten off to the expected slow start.
There was a spurt of good chinook catches upstream of the Astoria bridge late last week, but that has died out.
A slow bite on Monday turned into a slower bite on Tuesday. No information was available for Wednesday.
Ocean salmon fishing off the Columbia River mouth also has been poor. The catch average for last week was just 0.34 salmon per rod between Cape Falcon, Ore., and Leadbetter Point, Wash.
Salmon angling has been slow in the lower Columbia, as runs are in the transition from summer to fall chinook. Steelhead returns and catches have been disappointing this summer.
Merwin Reservoir has been producing kokanee for trollers with downriggers who can fish effectively at 50 to 55 feet deep.
Steelhead fishing has been good at Drano Lake.
Angler sampling from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Astoria Bridge to Wauna power lines, 148 boaters with four chinook adults and two jack chinook kept plus 16 adult chinook and three jack chinook released. (Weekend check prior to Buoy 10 opening) (ODFW)
Cathlamet, five boaters and 11 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
Westport, Ore., to Portland, 57 boaters with three jack chinook and 14 steelhead kept plus two adult chinook and five steelhead released. (ODFW)
Longview, 77 boaters with 28 steelhead kept plus two steelhead and one jack chinook released; 212 bank rods with one adult chinook and 20 steelhead kept plus five steelhead and one adult chinook released; five boaters with six legal, two oversize and 19 sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz River mouth, 27 boaters with eight steelhead kept and one released. (WDFW)
Kalama, 50 boaters with one adult chinook and one steelhead kept plus one steelhead released; 151 bank rods with three adult chinook and one steelhead released; five boaters with three legal and 11 sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Woodland, 62 boaters with eight steelhead kept plus one steelhead and seven adult chinook released; 191 bank rods with 14 steelhead kept plus two steelhead and two adult chinook released. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 25 boaters with four steelhead kept; 118 bank rods with three steelhead kept plus four steelhead and a jack chinook released; four boaters with no sturgeon. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Portland airport tower, two boaters with no catch; 15 bank rods with one steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Troutdale, Ore., 24 boaters with two steelhead released; seven boaters with 19 walleye kept. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, 26 boaters with four steelhead kept and two released; two bank rods with no catch; nine boaters with five legal sturgeon and 14 sublegals released; 17 boaters with eight walleye kept and four released. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 83 bank rods with 12 steelhead kept plus 10 steelhead and one adult chinook released. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), two boaters with no catch; 59 Oregon bank rods with seven steelhead kept and five released. (ODFW)
Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, 16 bank rods with two steelhead kept plus one jack chinook released. (WDFW)
The Dalles pool, 12 boaters with 54 walleye kept and 20 walleye released. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Ninety-nine boaters with 85 steelhead kept; 82 bank rods with one adult spring chinook and seven steelhead kept plus one adult spring chinook released. Almost all the catch was between Mission Bar and the barrier dam. (WDFW)
Drano Lake — Twenty-four bank rods with two steelhead kept and two released; 191 boaters with 10 adult chinook and 74 steelhead kept plus four adult chinook and 98 steelhead released. (WDFW)
