JEFFREY P. MAYOR; jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com Published: March 26th, 2008 01:00 AMThe spring chinook fishery on the Columbia River is attracting plenty of anglers. There were 900 boats and 103 bank anglers counted during a flyover Saturday. Slightly more than half the boats were between the Hayden Island power lines and the Portland International Airport tower.
This year's boat count is twice as many as the same time the past couple years. During the flight and creel sampling March 24, 2007, a total of 421 boats were counted from the Interstate 5 bridge downstream. There were 510 boats counted during the March 26, 2006 flight.
This year's boat count is twice as many as the same time the past couple years. During the flight and creel sampling March 24, 2007, a total of 421 boats were counted from the Interstate 5 bridge downstream. There were 510 boats counted during the March 26, 2006 flight.
A fund-raiser for Peninsula fishing guide Gordy Gracey will be at 4:30 p.m. April 4 at the Forks Elk's Club, 941 Merchant Road, Forks. Gracey was injured last summer when he fell off a 30-foot cliff while hiking and suffered serious injuries. The benefit will help with some of his medical bills. There will be a live silent auction with a lot of fishing and hunting items, fishing trips and other gifts. For more information, call 360-374-6330.
Rivers
Columbia: A state check from the Hayden Island west power lines upstream to Bonneville Dam last week sampled 1,818 salmonid anglers who had 246 chinook and one steelhead. Including fish released, boat anglers averaged a chinook per every 6.9 rods while bank anglers averaged one per every 16.6 rods. The Bonneville pool is producing some legal-sized sturgeon.
Cowlitz: The fishing was fair to good in the past few days. Last week, Tacoma Power recovered 75 winter-run steelhead and one coho salmon adult at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator during five days of operations. Employees also released 14 radio-tagged winter-run steelhead into the Cispus River, three steelhead into the upper Cowlitz River at the Franklin Bridge in Packwood, 42 steelhead adults into Lake Scanewa at the Day Use Site and 16 winter-run steelhead and one coho salmon into the Tilton River in Morton.
Kalama: River conditions continue to improve, and anglers are starting to get some steelhead, said Wayne Orzel at Pritchard's Western Angler.
Lewis: Some spring chinook are reported being caught from the mainstem. Few people have been fishing the North Fork.
North Sound: The Skagit and Sauk are producing some steelhead in the catch-and-release fishery, but not a lot.
Wind: The state said there were no reports of any success.
Yakima: Cold water temperatures have slowed the fishing, said Jack Mitchell of The Evening Hatch. He said fly anglers are having some luck with dry flies, but they are having to cover a lot of water. The lower stretch of the river seems to be best right now.
Lakes
American: The dock fishing has been fair to good, depending on the weather. The rainbows have been hitting Power Bait.
Drano: A spring chinook was reported caught Saturday and Sunday, according to a state report.
Eastside: Lenice has been fishing well in recent days, with anglers using chironomid patterns. Other lakes, such as Nunnally, have been off and on for trout, typical of early spring fishing.
Klineline: Bank anglers averaged nearly 11/2 trout per rod when including fish that were released. They were catching mostly browns. Some 1,500 half-pound browns were planted March 17.
Stevens: The lake is starting to produce some rainbow trout as the water warms up.
Tapps: There are reports of anglers hooking up with smallmouth bass, some topping 2 pounds.
Saltwater
Fly fishing: Anglers are catching some sea-run cutthroat trout, but the resident silvers seem to have sought deeper water.
Hood Canal: The action has been very slow the past week, said Gary Florek at G&M Hardware.
North Sound: The blackmouth fishing has been OK, but it's been fairly slow, said Mike Chamberlain at Ted's Sports Center. Better reports are coming out of the Port Angeles area.
Tacoma: Fishing continues to be tough in the waters around the city. Last week, 25 anglers were checked by the state at four locations, and only one chinook was recorded. Anglers are finding some fish off the clay banks and slag pile, as well as Point Dalco and Quartermaster Harbor.
Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640
blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure
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