The News Tribune

The waters in Marine Area 11, from the northern tip of Vashon Island to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, reopened to salmon fishing Friday. The best action has been between Point Dalco and Gig Harbor, but overall the early fishing has been slow, said Art Tachell at the Point Defiance Boathouse.

Meanwhile, on the Columbia River, the Technical Advisory Committee on Tuesday downgraded the upriver run from 216,500 adults to 209,400 fish at the mouth of the Columbia River. The preseason run-size forecast was 314,200. The committee is scheduled to meet again Monday.

RIVERS

Cedar: The river opens to fishing today, although water flows are high. The gauge near Landsburg was measuring flows at just over 800 cubic feet per second. Wading anglers should be careful.

Columbia: Through Tuesday, there have been 16,517 shad counted at Bonneville Dam. At the same time last year, the count was 1,419. The recent 10-year average is 212,404 fish. Last weekend, bank anglers in the Camas/Washougal and Bonneville areas averaged 7.7 and 3.5 shad kept/released per rod, respectively. Last week, boat anglers in the Kalama area averaged nearly 16 shad kept/released per rod.

Cowlitz: Fishing has been on the slow side this week, according to online reports. People are catching a handful of spring chinook and a couple of early summer-run steelhead.

Yakima: The river is back to normal levels for this time of year, although it was rising again Friday morning. Another incentive for fly anglers, the caddis hatches are coming off in large numbers, said a staffer at Red’s Fly Shop. The best method is to cast an adult caddis dry fly with an emerger as a dropper.

LAKES

Alder: Kokanee fishing has been slow in recent days, said Len Throop at Eatonville Outdoors. Bass fishing has been good to very good, however.

Offut: Trout fishing has been good this week, with plenty of limits being caught. Try trolling a red Wedding Ring tipped with a worm, an angler online said.

Potholes: Walleye are post-spawn and are spread out. The best method is trolling. Smallmouth bass fishing has picked up as the fish are in a feeding mode after spawning. Largemouth bass action has been fair.

Spencer: Trout fishing has been good to very good, said Walt Harvey at Verle’s Sports Center. Most people are using green or rainbow dough baits or night crawlers.

Tanwax: Fishing has been best in the evening. Boat anglers are catching limits of trout, while dock anglers are not having quite as much success. Try using a Wedding Ring with a worm or green dough baits, said a staffer Rainbow RV Resort.

Waughop: The lake is producing some good catches of largemouth bass. Try fishing a green jig along the bottom.

SALT WATER

North Sound: Lingcod fishing has been good in the San Juan Islands. Fishing twin-tail grubs over structure has been putting fish in anglers’ coolers. Jeff Reynolds of Port Angeles hauled in a 112-pound halibut to win the $5,000 first-place prize in the 12th Port Angeles Halibut Derby last weekend. Salmon fishing at the Tulalip bubble has been slow.

South Sound: Look for early fish headed for the Puyallup River or Minter Creek, said Tom Pollack at Sportco. He said to fish the tide changes, about an hour and a half before and after the change, and look for fish holding close to the bottom.