SW WA, Lower Columbia, Hanford Reach Fishing Report (7-6-23)

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

Preliminary Washington Columbia River mainstem and tributary sport sampling summary June 26-July 2, 2023

Fishery Reports: 

Lower Columbia River, Megler-Astoria Bridge upstream to Bonneville Dam – 103 salmonid boats and  162 Washington bank rods were tallied during Saturday’s (7/1) flight count. 

Mainstem Columbia River 

Salmon/Steelhead: 

Sec 1 (Bonneville) – 65 bank anglers kept two Chinook, one jack, one steelhead, one sockeye and  released two Chinook, one jack, and one steelhead. 6 boats/10 rods released one Chinook.  

Sec 2 (Camas/Washougal) – 13 bank anglers had no catch. 13 boats/24 rods kept three Chinook and  released seven Chinook.  

Sec 3 (I-5 area) – 40 bank anglers kept two Chinook, two steelhead and 14 sockeye. 1 boat/2 rods had  no catch.  

Sec 4 (Vancouver) – 48 bank anglers kept four Chinook and released one Chinook. 39 boats/70 rods kept  two Chinook, two sockeye and released one Chinook and one steelhead. 

Sec 5 (Woodland) – 106 bank anglers kept two steelhead, three sockeye and released two steelhead. 16 boats/39 rods kept two Chinook and released two Chinook and one steelhead. 

Sec 6 (Kalama) – 116 bank anglers kept four Chinook, three steelhead and six sockeye. 31 boats/80 rods  kept 12 Chinook, one sockeye and released four Chinook and one steelhead. 

Sec 7 (Cowlitz) – 8 boats/25 rods kept two Chinook and one jack.  

Sec 8 (Longview) – 77 bank anglers kept two steelhead, two sockeye and released one steelhead. 41 boats/99 rods kept four Chinook, five steelhead, one sockeye and released two Chinook and two steelhead.

Sec 9 (Cathlamet) – 29 bank anglers kept one Chinook, one jack, one steelhead, two sockeye and  released two Chinook and one steelhead. 8 boats/19 rods kept two steelhead, two sockeye and released  two Chinook and one steelhead.  

Sec 10 (Cathlamet) – 13 bank anglers had no catch. 3 boats/7 rods had no catch. 

Sturgeon: 

Sec 4 (Vancouver) – 1 boat/3 rods released six oversize sturgeon. 

Sec 5 (Woodland) – 1 boat/2 rods released five sublegal sturgeon. 

Sec 6 (Kalama) – One bank angler had no catch. 

Shad: 

Sec 1 (Bonneville) – 42 bank anglers kept 86 shad. 3 boats/5 rods kept 42 shad. Sec 8 (Longview) – One bank angler had no catch. 

Columbia River Tributaries 

Salmon/Steelhead: 

Cowlitz River I-5 Br downstream – Five bank rods had no catch.  

Cowlitz River Above the I-5 Br – 15 bank rods kept one Chinook, one jack and released one Chinook and  six jacks. 3 boats/10 rods kept four steelhead. 

Kalama River – Four bank rods had no catch. 

Lewis River – Five bank rods had no catch. 1 boat/3 rods had no catch. 

Wind River – No report. 

Drano Lake – 3 boats/4 rods kept one Chinook. 

Klickitat River below Fisher Hill Bridge – One bank rod had no catch.

Hanford Reach Summer Salmon Fishery Update

Sockeye counts at Bonneville have begun to decline at Bonneville signaling the end of a good return. The return is expected exceed the preseason forecast of 234,500. Sockeye counts are peaking at McNary with over 12,000 a day over the weekend. Fishing has finally picked up a bit in the Reach.

Unlike the sockeye, the summer chinook returns are tracking much lower than the 84,800 adults forecasted. Chinook harvest is no longer permitted in the sport fisheries downstream of Priest Rapids Dam as the lower river harvest allocations have been met.

This past week, June 26 through July 2, WDFW staff interviewed 577 anglers from 262 boats and 193 bank anglers with 161 sockeye, 2 adult hatchery summer chinook, and 2 hatchery summer chinook jack. Anglers averaged slightly over 1/2 a salmon per boat (0.6), 18 angler hours per fish. The bank fishery is still relatively slow at the Columbia Point bank fishery but a few fish are coming in.

Based on the data collected there were 2,753 angler trips for salmon this past week with 463 sockeye, 6 adult hatchery chinook, and 6 hatchery chinook jacks harvested. Since the opener, 822 sockeye, 43 hatchery adult chinook, 19 hatchery chinook jacks, and 2 wild jacks have been harvested.