RIVERS
Cascade: The lower section of the river will re-open today for all game fish. Reopening is the stretch from the mouth upstream to Rockport-Cascade Road. State fishery managers said hatchery winter steelhead broodstock collection has been achieved, allowing for the river to reopen.
Columbia: Bank anglers in The Dalles Pool and boat anglers in the John Day Pool are catching some steelhead. Sturgeon fishing has been best in the Bonneville Pool, and very slow below the dam.
Cowlitz: The fishing has been on the slow side. A state creel check of four bank anglers and one boat angler near Blue Creek showed they had no catch.
Olympic Coast: The action has been picking up as more wild steelhead are starting to show up. River conditions have been good early in the week, but will be low and clear by the weekend. The Hoh should be in good shape through the weekend. The Bogachiel is still a bit dirty from a slide in the upper river.
Skykomish: The steelhead fishing has been slow, although a few fish are being landed in the Reiter Ponds area. People are having luck casting gold spoons or using jigs tipped with shrimp under a float.
Washougal: A creel check of 25 boat anglers showed they kept seven hatchery steelhead and released four hatchery and 12 wild fish. Among the 45 bank anglers contacted, they kept one hatchery steelhead and released one hatchery and one wild fish.
Wynoochee: The river is still producing consistent catches of steelhead, just not in the volume it did a couple of weeks ago. River levels have dropped, so consider switching to smaller gear.
Yakima: Low and fluctuating flows, combined with cold weather, have made the trout fishing slow. Run streamers or nymphs through the slower water in deep pools.
LAKES
Black: The lake was stocked the first week of the month with 3,500 catchable-size rainbow trout. There were 21/2 fish per pound.
Bradley: A few larger trout are being caught, when the surface has not been frozen over. The lake was stocked earlier this month with 1,500 catchable-size rainbows. There were 21/2 fish per pound.
Fort Borst: This pond near Centralia, open to juvenile anglers only, was stocked last week with 1,380 catchable-size rainbows.
Lone: The trout fishing has been fair to good. People are having success with white bunny leeches or a bright green woolly bugger-type fly. Fish them low and slow.
Washington: The action is not fast and furious, but people are catching a mix of juvenile coho and cutthroat trout. Most people are trolling with a white mini hoochie behind a 4-inch dodger.
SALTWATER
Fly fishing: People are catching resident coho along beaches south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Try using a shrimp or euphausid pattern retrieved with slow, erratic twitches.
North Sound: This remains the best place to catch a blackmouth salmon. Creel checks at ramps in Bellingham and Anacortes show a catch rate of about one fish per three anglers.
South Sound: Salmon fishing in Marine Area 13, south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, has been slow, in part because the cold temperatures have kept many people off the water.
Contributors: State Department of Fish and Wildlife, washingtonlakes.com, The Evening Hatch, Curt Reed at Waters West, Art Tachell at Point Defiance Boathouse and washingtonflyfishing.com. Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.