Fishing is good for plus-sized fall rainbow trout in the lakes stocked on Black Friday.
White sturgeon retention is closed from Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia River upstream to the Oregon/Washington Border above McNary Dam, but remains an option for catch-and-release fishing.
Walleye fishing has slowed considerably in the Columbia River.
Crappie are biting in Silver Lake, but most other warm water fisheries are tailing off.
Early winter steelhead should be arriving in Salmon Creek.
Salmon/Steelhead
Columbia River Mainstem — Effective Sept. 13 until further notice, angling for, and retention of, all salmon and steelhead is prohibited.
Cowlitz River — I-5 Bridge downstream: 14 bank rods kept one coho jack and released one steelhead.
Above the I-5 Br: 6 bank rods had no catch.
Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 691 coho adults, 273 coho jacks, 26 cutthroat trout, three fall Chinook adults and four summer-run steelhead adults during five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.
Grays River — Nine bank anglers released two steelhead.
Elochoman River — 38 bank anglers kept six steelhead and released four steelhead, two coho and 11 coho jacks. One boat/two rods had no catch.
Abernathy Creek — Four bank anglers had no catch.
Germany Creek — Six bank anglers had no catch.
Kalama River — No anglers sampled.
Lewis River — Two bank anglers had no catch. 2 boats/4 rods had no catch.
East Fork Lewis River — Seven bank anglers kept one coho. One boat/two rods had no catch.
Salmon Creek — 41 bank anglers released one steelhead.
Sturgeon
Bonneville Pool — Closed for retention. Weekly checking showed five sublegal sturgeon released for one boat (one angler).
Trout
Stacie Kelsey of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Inland Fishes Program reports that fishing in the Black Friday lakes has continued to be good. Anglers are catching chunky rainbow trout in Kress, Klineline, Battle Ground, and Rowland lakes.
Kokanee
Kokanee fishing has been “stellar” in Merwin Lake, according to Kelsey, with fish up to 17 or 18 inches showing up in good catches. Anglers must first find the right depth, which has been changing from day to day.
The best bite has come on the west side of the lake.
Kokanee fishing in Yale Lake has been good all fall, and continues to be good for chunky fish up to 14 inches.
