Spring chinook angling in the lower Columbia has dropped off as the river downstream of the Willamette and Cowlitz rivers turned turbid. Weather conditions over the weekend were exactly conducive to enjoyable fishing either.
On Wednesday, the Willamette River at the Morrison Bridge in Portland had just 1.2 feet of visibility. The Columbia River at Bonneville Dam has 5 feet of visibility.
Most of the spring chinook sampled last week were of Willamette, Cowlitz, Kalama or Lewis river origin.
Test netting in the Longview, Cathlamet and Astoria areas on Sunday was limited due to the bad weather. Ten drifts were made with four chinook caught. Half were fin-clipped and half were upper Columbia origin.