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Fishing Report, April 5 by Terry Otto The Columbian, April 5, 2018

Spring Chinook angling is open through Saturday to both boat and bank anglers from Buoy 10 upstream to Beacon Rock. Beacon Rock to Bonneville Dam is open to bank angling only.

Spring Chinook angling is open from Tower Island powerlines upstream to the Oregon/Washington border above McNary Dam, plus the banks between Bonneville Dam and Tower Island powerlines.

White sturgeon retention is closed from Buoy 10 upstream to McNary Dam but remains an option for catch and released fishing.

The McNary Pool is open to the retention of legal white sturgeon through July 31.

Southwest Washington lakes continue to produce good trout fishing.

Salmon/Steelhead

Catch picked up a little though effort has increased substantially. Last Saturday's count of 1,450 salmonid boats was almost identical to the 1,468 salmonid boats observed on Saturday March 26, 2017.

The 26 adult spring Chinook counted at Bonneville Dam through April 1 are the third lowest on record (since at least 1938). The lowest are the 11 fish counted at the dam through April 1, 1949 and the second lowest are the 17 fish observed just last year.

On Saturday's flight, 1,450 salmonid boats and 281 Oregon bank anglers were counted from the Columbia River estuary to Bonneville Dam. Gorge boat anglers averaged 0.20 adult spring Chinook caught per boat while boat anglers in the Troutdale area averaged 0.13 adult spring Chinook caught per boat. In the Portland to St. Helens area, boat anglers averaged 0.29 adult spring Chinook caught per boat and 0.01 steelhead, while boat anglers fishing the area from Goble to Beaver (Clatskanie) averaged only 0.03 adult spring Chinook per boat. The best success was found in the area from Westport to Buoy 10, where boat anglers averaged 0.54 adult spring Chinook per boat and 0.03 steelhead. Bank anglers in the Gorge had no success while those fishing the area from Portland to Westport caught 0.02 adult spring Chinook per angler.

Gorge Bank -- No catch for four bank anglers.

Gorge Boats (below Beacon Rock) -- Two adult spring Chinook kept for 10 boats (28 anglers).

Troutdale Boats -- Five adult spring Chinook kept for 40 boats (85 anglers).

Portland to Westport Bank -- One adult spring Chinook kept, plus one adult spring Chinook released for 114 bank anglers.

Portland to St. Helens Boats -- Sixty-one adult spring Chinook kept, plus eight adult spring Chinook released for 240 boats (649 anglers).

Goble to Beaver (Clatskanie) Boats -- One adult spring Chinook kept for 39 boats (93 anglers).

Westport to Buoy 10 Boats -- Thirty-nine adult spring Chinook kept and one steelhead kept, plus six adult spring Chinook released for 84 boats (240 anglers).

Cowlitz River -- From the I-5 Bridge downstream: 78 bank and 4 boat rods had no catch. Above the I-5 Bridge: 39 bank rods kept two adult spring Chinook and one steelhead and released one steelhead. Eighty-one boat rods kept one adult spring Chinook and 21 steelhead and released four steelhead and one cutthroat.

Kalama River -- 28 bank anglers had no catch. Six boat anglers kept two steelhead.

North Fork Lewis River -- 23 bank anglers released one steelhead. Five boat anglers kept one steelhead.

Drano Lake -- Two bank and two boat anglers had no catch.

Related Pages:
Fisheries Managers Forecast 'Unprecedentedly Low' Summer Steelhead by George Plaven, East Oregonian, 5/22/17