The first chinook of the season have gone through Bonneville Dam, but fish biologists aren’t sure if they are springers.
An unclipped chinook adult and an unclipped jack went through one right behind the other on Jan. 25.
They remain the only chinook to come through the dam so far.
RIVERS
Columbia: In The Dalles Pool, boat anglers averaged nearly three steelhead per rod. Nearly two-thirds of the fish were wild and had to be released. The sturgeon action has been slow overall but has been best in the Bonneville Pool.
Cowlitz: Fishing has been on the slow side since the weekend. Anglers at Blue Creek last weekend said they saw only 4-5 fish caught all day, said Marshall Borsom at Fish Country. People pulling plugs seem to have the best luck.
North Sound: Many of the systems are closed as of today because of low returns of wild steelhead. Among the river systems shut down by the emergency closure are the majority of the Skagit, Snohomish and Stillaguamish. Go to wdfw.wa.gov for details of each closure.
Olympic Coast: It might not be until this weekend that rivers in the area are fishable. The Hoh topped out at more than 10,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), and had dropped to just 5,500 cfs by Monday night. The forecast looks good for the weekend.
Skookumchuck: There have been plenty of positive reports from the weekend. People are catching steelhead using light-colored corkies and yarn as well as pink-and-white jigs. Some of the fish are approaching 10 pounds.
Washougal: The steelhead fishing has been slow. A state sampling of 67 bank anglers showed they kept five steelhead and released one hatchery fish and one wild fish; 21 boat anglers kept four steelhead and released 11 wild fish.
Wynoochee: The river is producing some steelhead, said Ron Adams at Verle’s Sports Center. Try bouncing eggs off the bottom or jigs in pink or orange under a bobber. Plunking with Spin-N-Glos also is working.
Yakima: Trout fishing has been good to very good, said a report from The Evening Hatch. You’ll have more success nymphing with Pat’s stonefly and San Juan worm patterns.
LAKES
Offut: Fishing has been off and on, said Bob Pogue at Offut Lake Resort. Part of that has been because few people have been fishing. Dough bait and worms fished off the bottom have been the most productive.
Riffe: The lake is producing some smaller silvers near the dam. Try using cocktail shrimp and worms or throwing a Little Cleo, Borsom said.
Rufus Woods: The action seems to have slowed, but reports indicate people are still catching rainbow trout. Drifting with dark-colored jigs or Super Roostertails seemed more effective than other setups.
Sammamish: This lake continues to produce good catches of cutthroat trout and kokanee.
Spencer: The lake has been fishing very well for trout. Try using dough bait, worms or trolling a Colorado Spinner with a worm very slow, Adams said.
SALT WATER
North Sound: People are catching a few blackmouth but not in great numbers. The best action, if it can be called that, has been in the Everett-Kingston area.
South Sound: Salmon fishing in the area remains very slow. Five anglers were checked Saturday at Narrows Marina and they had no fish to report.
Jeffrey P. Myor, staff writer
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