SW WA, Lower Columbia, Hanford Reach Fishing Reports (7-26-22)

THE FOLLOWING FISHING REPORTS WERE FORWARDED BY BRYANT SPELLMAN AND PAUL HOFFARTH, WDFW

Preliminary Washington Columbia River mainstem and tributary sport sampling summary July 18-24, 2022

Fishery Reports: 

Lower Columbia River Megler-Astoria Bridge upstream to Bonneville Dam – 146 salmonid boats and  166 Washington bank rods were tallied during Saturday’s (7/23) flight count. 

Mainstem Columbia River 

Salmon/Steelhead: 

Sec 1 (Bonneville) – 70 bank anglers kept one Chinook, nine steelhead, one sockeye and released two  Chinook and seven steelhead.  

Sec 2 (Camas/Washougal) – 3 boats/3 rods had no catch. 

Sec 3 (I-5 area) – 11 bank anglers released one steelhead. 1 boat/2 rods had no catch.  

Sec 4 (Vancouver) – 82 bank anglers kept two Chinook, four steelhead, two sockeye and released two steelhead. 16 boats/29 rods kept one steelhead and released three Chinook.

Sec 5 (Woodland) – 139 bank anglers kept four Chinook, six steelhead, two sockeye and released three Chinook and 21 steelhead. 9 boats/20 rods kept one Chinook, three steelhead and released four  Chinook and three steelhead. 

Sec 6 (Kalama) – 91 bank anglers kept one Chinook, 12 steelhead, two sockeye and released two Chinook and eight steelhead. 13 boats/25 rods kept one steelhead and released one Chinook. 

Sec 7 (Cowlitz) – 1 boat/2 rods had no catch. 

Sec 8 (Longview) – 87 bank anglers kept five steelhead, one sockeye and released two steelhead. 5  boats/10 rods had no catch. 

Sec 9 (Cathlamet) – 25 bank anglers kept five steelhead and released five steelhead. 11 boats/21 rods  kept 15 steelhead and released one steelhead.  

Sec 10 (Cathlamet) – Nine bank anglers kept one Chinook. 1 boat/3 rods kept three steelhead and  released two steelhead. 

Sturgeon: 

Sec 1 (Bonneville) – Three bank anglers released one oversize sturgeon. 

Columbia River Tributaries 

Salmon/Steelhead: 

Cowlitz River I-5 Br downstream – Six bank rods kept four steelhead.  

Cowlitz River Above the I-5 Br – 10 bank rods kept one steelhead and released one jack. 33 boats/105 rods kept 123 steelhead and released one Chinook. 

Kalama River – Seven bank rods kept one steelhead. 

Lewis River – Seven bank rods kept one steelhead. 1 boat/1 rod kept one Chinook and released one  Chinook. 

Drano Lake – No report. 

Klickitat River below Fisher Hill Bridge – No report. 

Klickitat River above #5 Fishway – No report.

Hanford Reach Summer Chinook & Sockeye Sport Fishery

Sockeye passage through Bonneville peaked in late June. Sockeye counts are currently less than 5,000 per day.  Chinook counts have also dropped off.  Sockeye counts at McNary Dam are still above 5,000 per day but will continue to decline through the week. Fishing, both effort and harvest, continued to decline during the week. Boats still averaged a salmon per boat, ~12 hours per salmon.

WDFW staff interviewed 509 anglers this past week, 294 boat anglers and 215 bank anglers.  For the week, 476 sockeye, 40 hatchery adult chinook, and 6 hatchery jack chinook were harvested.

Based on the data collected through July 17, there have been 12,855 angler trips for salmon in the Hanford Reach summer salmon fishery with 7,571 sockeye, 213 hatchery adult chinook, and 15 jack chinook harvested. 55 wild adult chinook have been caught and released.

Friday, July 15, was the final day to fish the “Bank Angler Only” area at Columbia Point (downstream of the Interstate 182 bridge). Anglers, bank and boat, can continue to fish for sockeye and summer chinook upstream of the Interstate 182 bridge through August 15.