Fall chinook fishing in the lower Columbia River continues, but the run size was downgraded again this week.
The Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee on Monday reduced the run down to 713,100. The initial forecast was 960,000.
A year ago, anglers did well in October for chinook around Bachelor Island. At Washougal, trollers were still getting chinook as late as Halloween near Reed Island.
Fall chinook continue to be caught in the lower Columbia, but which each day prospects for success wane. This is the time of year when anglers might want to consider fishing in the tributaries or moving east to the Bonneville or The Dalles pools
The outlook for coho is not great. The early coho run appears weak and the forecast is for a sub-par late coho return.
There are non-salmon options, however.
Swift Reservoir is a no-pressure autumn fishery. The bag limit has increased to 10 fish a day and generally is pretty easy to catch in October.
At Swift, the water elevation on Wednesday as 976 feet. Most boats can launch at Swift Forest Park ramp at 975 feet elevation.
Goose Lake in the southern Gifford Pinchot National Forest got about 2,000 cutthroat trout averaging about 1.25 pounds in late August and 1,500 rainbow trout in mid-September.
Angler sampling by the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) departments of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Buoy 10 to Tongue Point, 69 boaters with 11 coho kept and four released. (ODFW)
Tongue Point to Portland, 234 boaters with 26 adult chinook, six jack chinook, 16 adult coho, two jack coho and one steelhead kept plus one adult coho and one jack coho released. (ODFW)
Longview, 13 boaters with one steelhead released; 25 bank rods with one steelhead kept plus two steelhead and one jack chinook released. (WDFW)
Kalama, 15 boaters with four adult chinook kept and one steelhead released; seven bank rods with one adult chinook kept. (WDFW)
Woodland, 15 boaters with seven adult chinook kept and one adult coho released; four bank rods with one adult chinook kept. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 20 boaters with four adult chinook kept; 16 bank rods with one adult chinook kept. (WDFW)
Troutdale, Ore., 168 boaters with 28 adult chinook, one jack chinook and nine adult coho kept plus one adult chinook and one adult coho released; nine boaters with seven walleye kept. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, eight boaters with no catch. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 14 boaters with three adult chinook and one jack chinook kept plus one jack chinook released; 19 bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge (downstream of Bonneville Dam), 110 boats with 59 adult chinook, three jack chinook and two steelhead kept plus two adult coho and one steelhead released; 17 Oregon bank rods with two steelhead released. (ODFW)
Mid-Columbia — Bonneville pool, 214 boaters with 95 adult chinook, 12 jack chinook, two adult coho, three jack coho and one steelhead kept; 20 bank rods with one adult chinook and three adult coho kept. (ODFW)
The Dalles pool, 122 boaters with 17 adult chinook, two jack chinook, four adult coho and one steelhead kept plus one steelhead released; 30 bank rods with two jack chinook and two steelhead kept; eight boaters with 33 walleye kept and 20 walleye released. (ODFW)
John Day pool, three boaters with three adult coho; three bank rods with no catch; 13 boaters with 15 walleye kept and 11 walleye released. (ODFW)
Cowlitz — Two-hundred-ninety-nine bank rods with 22 sea-run cutthroat trout, 15 steelhead, nine adult chinook, eight adult coho and two jack coho kept plus 42 adult chinook, five adult coho, eight jack coho, one steelhead and one cutthroat trout released; 232 boaters with 18 steelhead, 46 adult coho, 10 jack coho and four adult chinook kept plus 35 adult chinook, one jack chinook, 14 adult coho and one steelhead released.
The coho were caught throughout the lower Cowlitz. Most of the cutthroat trout and steelhead came near the trout hatchery and the chinook near the barrier dam. Most of the chinook were released because they were wild. (WDFW)
Lewis — Four bank rods with one adult coho and one steelhead kept plus two adult coho and a jack coho released; five boaters with one adult coho kept and one released. (WDFW)
North Fork Lewis — Nine boaters with two adult chinook kept; 82 bank rods with six adult coho and two adult chinook kept plus five adult chinook and eight adult coho released. (WDFW)
Drano Lake — Fifty-nine boaters with 19 adult chinook, 17 steelhead and six adult coho kept plus 12 steelhead released. (WDFW)
