Fishing at local lakes is improving and should continue as long as the decent weather hangs around. Lingcod fishing has been good throughout Puget Sound, including one report of a 40- to 45-pound fish being caught and released.
There are some good fishing opportunities out there, it’s a question of the weather allowing people to get on the water. River anglers might want to make a trip to the Wind River (Skamania County), while tiger muskie fans should consider Mayfield Lake.
Anglers have extra incentive to go fishing at a few choice waters this season.
This weekend anglers are getting an extra opportunity to fish for chinook on a 163-mile stretch of the Columbia River. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is reopening the section of the river upstream of Bonneville Dam today and Sunday after the run forecast for upriver spring chinook was raised from 202,000 to 216,500 fish.
Those hoping to catch lingcod this week should be prepared to put in some time.
Catching a 30-pound chinook in Puget Sound often will give you bragging rights with your fishing buddies. If you land such a fish during next year’s Roche Harbor Salmon Derby, it could be worth a lot more.
It certainly is not a surprise, but on Monday fish biologists from Washington and Oregon said the spring chinook run in the Columbia River would not reach the preseason forecast of 314,200 fish.
Trout fishing in local lakes has been good and should improve with warmer weather in the forecast. On the saltwater side, sounds like the halibut fishing is off to a good start in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
From all indications, opening weekend of the lowland lake trout season was a success. There were plenty of limits caught, and the general consensus from fish biologists doing checks is there were “a lot of happy people.”
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife promises today’s lowland lakes season opener will be big in more ways than one.
The much anticipated opening of trout fishing in lowland lakes across the state is Saturday. State Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery crews have been busy stocking area lakes with tens of thousands of trout in the last couple of months.
The sudden influx of spring chinook and corresponding angler success means the lower Columbia River will shut down after Sunday.
What is likely to be the last razor clam dig of the season will start Saturday after tests showed the clams are safe to eat.
Washington and Oregon fishery managers have again extended the sport fishery for spring chinook salmon on the lower Columbia River, this time through April 22, to allow anglers to catch more hatchery-reared fish available for harvest.
It seems like the fishing is getting better – just in very small increments. The best salmon action remains in the Sekiu area. Steelhead fishing in the Cowlitz River remains good. Trout fishing in local lakes also is showing signs of life.
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