Fishing report for SW Washington

SW Washington - District streams are beginning to get their first coho returns back to the hatchery. Although a large portion of coho return to these systems in October, opportunity will exist on several tributaries in the coming weeks.

Check local listings for recently changed fall chinook regulations. Additional protections are now in place for sensitive wild stocks of chinook.

Steelhead are available on several systems but anglers will turn their focus to salmon. Drano Lake remains a strong option for steelhead even though dam counts are beginning to wane at Bonneville. Fall chinook will become available near the river mouths in the coming weeks.

The White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers should produce both salmon and steelhead near the river respective river mouths in the coming weeks.

Event

EVENT - NSIA proudly invites you to join us for the Buoy 10 Salmon Challenge 2010 August 26-27, 2010. Proceeds from this derby go to NSIA's non-stop commitment to preserve, restore and enhance sportfisheries.

For more information and a registration form go here: http://www.theguidesforecast.com/2010Buoy10Registration.pdf or contact NSIA at 503.631.8859.

Fishing report for SW Washington

SW Washington – Although brief periods of productive fishing have been experienced at the mouth of the Cowlitz, overall action remains fair at best. Anglers working the area should begin to shift focus to fall chinook although peak catches won’t happen for another 3 weeks.

The Lewis remains an option for summer steelhead seekers but catches remain light, even for persistent anglers.

Bonneville counts continue to inspire Drano Lake trollers and with “B” run steelhead soon to migrate, quality fish to 20 pounds are a possibility.

SW Washington fishing report

SW Washington - In a time when steelhead fishing should be peaking, most district streams are producing poorly for no apparent reason. The Cowlitz and Lewis Rivers are poor in the upstream areas and even the mouth of the Cowlitz is poor, even though thousands of fish per day are likely passing by. An encroaching sandbar has changed the hydro-dynamics here.

The Drano Lake fishery is producing good catches of steelhead. Nearly 80% of the anglers fishing here reported catch here last week although a significant number of the fish being caught are wild, requiring release.

The White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers are also fair options this time of year with fair numbers of returning hatchery steelhead expected back to these watersheds.