By Bob Brown
Generally speaking, fishing hasn’t been that great the past few weeks, but there has been some sunshine on the other side of that street – namely on the Cowlitz River.
According to creel reports, bank angling has been pretty good. Joe Hymer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) reported that during Oct. 16 -22, 98 bank anglers fishing above the I-5 bridge kept two jack and 28 adult coho and released one jack and 43 adult chinook, 10 jack and 15 adult coho, three steelhead, and one cutthroat. Sixteen boat anglers kept four adult coho and released two adult chinook and three adult coho.
Karen Glaser of Barrier Dam Campground said, “A fair number of silvers without fins are being caught, so anglers can keep them. The fish have been averaging five to 10 pounds. Cutthroat fishing has alo been good. Anglers have been using a lot of shrimp and lots of eggs for silvers. In the hardware department, Blue Fox spinners, twitching jigs, little cleos and wicket lures. Anglers have been topping their twitching jigs with a small piece of shrimp or a Looney Cooney tail. Corky and jigs are also being used.”
During that same week, Tacoma Power recovered 2,564 coho adults, 636 coho adults, 292 fall chinook, nine fall chinook jacks, 53 cutthroat trout, 12 summer steelhead and one winter-run steelhead.
Meanwhile, WDFW announced anglers must release all salmon except hatchery coho on the Snohomish, Skyhomish, Snoquualmie and Wallace rivers. The reason for the action is because spawning-ground surveys, counts at the Sunset Falls trap, and Wallace Hatchery rack returns indicate the run sizes of coho and pink salmon in the Snohomish watershed are well below per-season forecasts. To protect future runs, spawning escapement goals must be met, officials said.
Also, sections of the Bogachiel and Calawah rivers have been closed to all fishing effective Oct. 30 until further notice.
The Bogachiel River closure is between Highway 101 and the Wilson boat ramp, and the Calawah is closed downstream of the Highway 101 Bridge. The reason is harvest that exceeded preseason expectations. WDFW is closing these river sections to all fishing to protect chinook that are moving upriver into spawning areas. The Quileute Tribe is also closing their fisheries until further notice.
Clams and warm-water fish
• WDFW has approved a razor clam dig at Long Beach and Twin Harbors Nov. 3-5 on evening tides, and the department is awaiting further toxin tests on Mocrocks and Copalis beaches. Results of toxin testing will be released early next week.
• The department also announced night fishing for warm-water fish, including bass, walleye and burbot, will be allowed in the Columbia River from Buoy 10 to the Old Hanford Townsite power lines effective through Dec. 31. This action is not expected to result in higher mortality of steelhead, officials said.
Well, it is nice to be that optimistic, but we are not.
Bob Brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be contacted at robertb1285@centurylink.net.
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