It’s early winter, and simply not a lot of good angling options are available in Southwest Washington.
Steelhead catches have been minimal in the Columbia tributaries, which is to be expected this early in the month.
Streamflows on Wednesday afternoon were 12,200 cubic feet per second on the Cowlitz,2,640 cubic feet per second on the North Fork of the Lewis, 1,350 cfs on the East Fork of the Lewis and 1,800 on the Washougal River.
The best fishery continues to be trolling for walleye in the Columbia River at the upper end of The Dalles pool, although that can be pretty cold during winter and difficult if the wind is blowing.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, two bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; two bank rods with two sublegal sturgeon released. (ODFW)
• The Dalles pool, nine boaters with three steelhead kept and two released; six boaters with 39 walleye kept. (ODFW)
• John Day pool, three bank rods with no catch; 25 boaters with seven steelhead kept and five steelhead released; one boater with five walleye kept and seven walleye released. (ODFW)
• John Day River arm, 14 boaters with one steelhead kept and four released. (ODFW)
• McNary pool, 13 bank rods with no catch; 13 boaters with no catch. (ODFW)
Lewis — One bank rod with no catch. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Two bank rods with no catch; three boaters with two adult chinook and one adult coho kept plus one adult chinook and one adult coho released. (WDFW)
East Fork Lewis — Sixteen bank rods with one wild steelhead and one wild coho released. (WDFW)
Kalama — Forty-one bank rods with two hatchery coho and two wild steelhead released; three boaters with no salmon or steelhead. (WDFW)
Coweeman — Four boaters with no catch. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Nine boaters with three adult coho kept; 80 bank rods with five adult coho kept plus one adult chinook, one adult coho and one jack coho released. Four winter steelhead were collected at the hatchery last week. (WDFW)
