Wait no longer: The main event has begun as spring chinook fishing in the lower Columbia River opened upstream of Interstate 5 on Tuesday.
Just don’t expect much catch for another couple of weeks.
Washington officials sampled 276 salmon anglers with two adult spring chinook and six steelhead last week. Both of the chinook were fin-clipped as were four of the steelhead. Both chinook came off the bank in the Longview area.
Oregon sampled 141 boaters with five adult spring chinook kept plus one adult chinook, one jack chinook and one steelhead released.
Oregon checked 136 bank rods with three adult spring chinook and three adult steelhead kept plus one jack chinook and three wild steelhead released.
Walleye fishing remains good at the upper end of The Dalles pool with boaters averaging more than 2.5 walleye per rod, including fish released.
Smelt have been in the North Fork of the Lewis River for a couple of weeks. All Washington waters are closed to sport dipping for smelt.
Angler checks from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Cathlamet, two bank rods with no catch.
Longview, 54 bank rods with two spring chinook and four steelhead kept plus one steelhead released; 44 boaters with one steelhead released.
Cowlitz River mouth, two boaters with no catch.
Kalama, 14 bank rods and five boaters with no catch.
Woodland, 16 boaters and 51 bank rods with no salmon or steelhead; two boaters with no sturgeon released.
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 36 bank rods and 46 boaters with no catch; two boaters with two sublegal sturgeon released. (WDFW)
Davis Bar to Interstate 5, six boaters with no catch.
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 152 boaters with 327 walleye kept and 60 released; two bank rods with one walleye kept; three boaters with four bass kept; 35 boaters with one legal sturgeon kept plus one oversize and 71 sublegals released; 23 bank rods with 10 sublegals released.
John Day pool, 147 boaters with 77 walleye kept and 138 released; three boaters with three bass kept and 15 released; 40 boaters with two legal sturgeon kept, four oversize sturgeon released and 20 sublegals released.
Cowlitz — Ten boaters with four hatchery winter steelhead kept and two released; 39 bank rods with three hatchery steelhead kept.
Kalama — Thirty-five bank rods with three wild steelhead released; 27 boaters with four hatchery steelhead and one spring chinook salmon kept.
East Fork Lewis — Forty-six bank rods with five wild steelhead released.
Coweeman — Five bank rods with one hatchery steelhead kept.
