BY ANDY WALGAMOTT, NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE
There will not be a Wednesday or Saturday smelt dip on the lower Cowlitz this week, state managers posted late this afternoon.
“Current catch reports from the mainstem Columbia River are insufficient to support additional recreational harvest after accounting for recent harvest in the Cowlitz River,” WDFW stated.
The news follows on last week’s two five-hour openers that yielded an estimated 114,675 pounds of smelt.
Where last Wednesday’s dip was most productive from Kelso downstream to Gearhart Gardens, Saturday’s was better from Kelso up to Castle Rock.
“Smelt were observed throughout the fishery on Saturday. Dip-netting was most productive in the middle and upper sections of the fishery during harvest hours,” WDFW reported online.
Saturday’s opener saw 11,500 dippers harvest 100,000 pounds of smelt – almost limits on average for everyone – while Wednesday’s produced 14,675 pounds for 2,800 netters.
Becky Elder, a WDFW Police spokeswoman, reported that agency officers issued 44 infractionary citations and seized 850 pounds of smelt on Saturday. The daily limit is 10 pounds and a fishing license is required of all dippers 16 years of age and older.
Over on the commercial side, a total of 28,311 pounds of smelt have been landed so far from the Lower Columbia. Netting helps determine abundance for recreational openers on the Cowlitz, as well as provides fish for market.
“We’ll continue to monitor the mainstem via the commercial and test fisheries to see if another pulse of fish show up, and determine if any future tentative dates can be approved at that time,” said a WDFW spokesman.
Smelt openers occur under benchmarks set in the Washington and Oregon Eulachon Management Plan 2nd Edition and harvest levels are based on the preseason forecast and other factors outlined in the plan. As seen last year, that level can move up or down based on inseason indications.
Also known as eulachon, Columbia River smelt are listed under the Endangered Species Act and require careful management.
The recreational harvest so far of 114,675 pounds of smelt puts 2026 at fifth most since 2014.
