Even though the rain has stopped, anglers seemed to have a hard time finding the fish over the weekend.
The best reports came from the Green River and Olympic Coast.
Rivers
Columbia: Cold water temperatures have slowed the sturgeon bite on the lower river, although a few anglers have found success in the Portland to Longview area. Steelhead fishing in the Ringold area also has slowed down. Overall, anglers are averaging one steelhead for every 15 hours of fishing. Boat anglers are doing considerably better than bank anglers.
Cowlitz: The action has slowed down, in part because the cold weather has kept anglers indoors, said Karen Glaser at Barrier Dam Campground. Last week, Tacoma Power recovered 685 coho salmon adults and 49 winter-run steelhead at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator during five days of operations. During the week Tacoma Power employees released 51 coho adults and 23 winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa at the day use site. They also released 13 coho adults and three winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton.
Green: The most positive reports have been from the lower river, below the Highway 18 bridge. Anglers are using sand shrimp or jigs.
Kalama: The river is in good shape, which should help improve the fishing, said Wayne Orzel at Pritchard’s Western Angler. The river is still a bit high.
North Sound: A few native steelhead are showing up in the Skagit, Skykomish and Stillaguamish.
Olympic Coast: The rivers are now in good shape and the fishing has improved, said Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods. The Soleduck and Hoh have been the most productive in recent days.
Puyallup/Carbon: The action has been slow in the past few days. There are people out there, just not any fish, said Randy Anderson at Sportco. The flows have dropped over the weekend and are now about 1,000 cfs below normal.
Wynochee: Reports indicate the fishing was slow over the weekend, Anderson said.
Yakima: With single-digit lows, call a fly shop or guide before heading over the mountains. You would hate to make the drive only to find ice floes drifting downstream.
Saltwater
North Sound: There is some good fishing in Marine Area 8-2. The best spot has been between Hat Island and Camano Island, the racetrack. The fish have been weighing 7-9 pounds and some fish into the lower 10s. Jefferson Head and President Point in Marine Area 10 have been good. Marine Area 9 has been a bit slow since it opened last week, said Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center.
South Sound: The action has been very slow the past few days, primarily because of the weather.
Lakes
Chelan: The area above the narrows has been the place to catch lake trout averaging nearly 10 pounds, said Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service. Some fish are topping 13 pounds. Keep your lures within 10 feet of the bottom.
Fish Lake: For anglers looking to try their luck ice fishing, this lake near Conconully in Okanogan County is producing good numbers of perch measuring around 10 inches long.
Rufus Woods: The lower portion of the reservoir is still productive for triploid rainbows, but the fishing is not nearly as easy as it was in November and December. Troll woolly bugger flies from the surface to 30 feet deep or cast 1/2-ounce black Roostertails or Super Roostertails around shoreline points and structure.
Sammamish: Look for birds working the surface to help locate the cutthroat trout.
Washington: The reports for cutthroat have been good, Chamberlain said. The southeast corner of the lake near the Cedar River has been the most productive area as the fish prepare to move upstream to spawn.
JEFFREY P. MAYOR;
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com
253-597-8640
blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure
