THE FOLLOWING FISHING REPORTS ORIGINATED WITH WDFW
Preliminary Lower Columbia River and Washington Tributary Sport Summary Sept 14-20, 2026
Salmon/Steelhead
Lower Columbia River, Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to Bonneville Dam — 526 salmonid boats and 43 Washington bank rods were tallied on the flight count Saturday, September 15.
Section 1 (Bonneville) — 25 bank anglers kept five Chinook and one Chinook jack. 33 boats/79 rods kept 16 Chinook, five Chinook jacks, one coho, released two Chinook and one Chinook jack.
Section 2 (Camas/Washougal) — No bank effort reported. 60 boats/137 rods kept 11 Chinook, two Chinook jacks, two coho and three coho jacks.
Section 3 (I-5 Area) — No bank effort reported. 5 boats/10 rods had no catch.
Section 4 (Vancouver) — 35 bank anglers had no catch. 63 boats/139 rods kept 57 Chinook, nine Chinook jacks, eight coho and one coho jack.
Section 5 (Woodland) — Closed.
Section 6 (Kalama) — Closed.
Section 7 (Cowlitz) — Closed.
Section 8 (Longview) — Closed.
Section 9 (Cathlamet) — Closed.
Section 10 (Cathlamet) — No bank effort reported. 4 boats/7 rods had no catch.
Columbia River Tributaries
Salmon/Steelhead
Cowlitz River (I-5 Bridge downstream) — 42 bank anglers kept one coho, released three coho and four coho jacks. 9 boats/23 rods kept 11 coho, 11 coho jacks, released 11 Chinook, 18 Chinook jacks, 12 coho and three coho jacks.
Cowlitz River (I-5 Bridge upstream) — 34 bank anglers kept one steelhead and released 10 Chinook. Kalama River — 11 bank anglers released one steelhead. 2 boats/3 rods released one Chinook.
Lewis River — 257 bank anglers kept 69 coho, seven coho jacks, two steelhead and released three coho. 23 boats/43 rods kept three Chinook, 18 coho, five coho jacks and released two coho.
Washougal River — One bank angler had no catch. No boat effort reported.
Wind River — Three bank anglers had no catch. 28 boats/50 rods kept 24 Chinook, three Chinook jacks, eight coho, released 17 Chinook, 13 coho and one coho jack.
Drano Lake — 31 bank anglers kept four Chinook, released seven Chinook and two steelhead . 64 boats/214 rods kept 112 Chinook, 26 Chinook jacks, 10 coho, released one Chinook and one steelhead.
Klickitat River (below Fisher Hill Bridge) — No effort reported.
Klickitat River (above Fisher Hill Bridge) — No effort reported.
2026 Hanford Sport Fishery
The Hanford Reach fall salmon sport fishery had a pretty good week in the sixth week of the fishery. Fish counts at McNary continue in decent numbers and should through the week. WDFW staff interviewed anglers from 373 boats (1,094 anglers) with 360 adult Chinook. Based on sampling, an estimated 965 adult Chinook were harvested from 2,773 angler trips (1,017 boats).
Buoy 10 fishing report
From Friday, September 18, 2026 through Sunday, September 20, 2026, Oregon creel samplers contacted 278 boats (903 anglers) for 634 Coho (averaged 0.81 fish/rod) kept; and 36 Chinook and 632 Coho released.
2026 Cumulative Report through 9/20/2026:
Boats sampled to date: 5,349 boats (18,213 anglers)
Fish sampled to date: 5,599 Chinook and 9,167 Coho
Estimated angler trips: 71,695 boat and 5,952 bank
Estimated kept catch: 24,649 Chinook and 36,366 Coho
Estimated released: 21,490 Chinook and 21,477 Coho
2025 Cumulative Report through 9/20/2025:
Boats sampled: 5,161 boats (17,003 anglers)
Fish sampled: 6,391 Chinook and 6,076 Coho
Estimated angler trips: 59,974 boat and 3,940 bank
Estimated kept catch: 23,930 Chinook and 24,067 Coho
Estimated released: 16,499 Chinook and 16,083 Coho
