"This is prime time for sturgeon fishing below the dam," said Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist. "Sturgeon really tie on the feedbag at this time of year, as the water cools and they prepare for their dormant phase. People are catching some nice, legal-size fish."
Although boat anglers still have the edge, bank anglers fishing just below Bonneville Dam averaged a legal-size sturgeon for every 11 rods in a creel survey conducted in mid-October. Squid, sand shrimp, smelt, anchovies and night crawlers all work well as bait, Hymer said.
Meanwhile, coho salmon are moving into Columbia Basin tributaries in far greater numbers than expected. Fishery managers recently raised their annual run projection for late-run coho to 200,000 fish - a big increase from the 68,000-fish pre-season estimate. Counts at Bonneville Dam have increased steadily in recent weeks, now ranging between 2,000 and 4,000 a day.
Some of the best fishing has been on the lower and upper Cowlitz River, where the limit is six hatchery adults per day. Anglers have been doing well on the lower river at the barrier dam, Blue Creek and all the way down to the mouth of the river. The Kalama and Lewis rivers, where the catch limit is four hatchery adult coho per day, have also been thick with fish. The limit is also four adults per day on the Elochoman River below the Highway 4 Bridge, and two fish per day on the Washougal and Klickitat rivers - all good bets for hatchery coho.
But getting hatchery coho to bite can be tricky, Hymer said. "If you're on the water at the right time, it's possible to get your limit," he said. "But other times, especially after a heavy rain, they'll just barrel up the river without paying any attention to what gear you throw at them." Hymer reminds anglers that all wild coho with an intact adipose caught downstream from the Hood River Bridge must be released.
In the mainstem Columbia River, most fishing for hatchery coho below Bonneville Dam has been concentrated around Lady Island in the Camas/Washougal area. Above Bonneville, the mouth of the Klickitat River remains a popular spot, drawing 42 boats on a recent Sunday morning. Anglers have been averaging about one coho per boat, catching chrome-bright fish weighing up to 20 pounds. Any coho, adipose clipped or not, may be retained in the Klickitat and at its mouth since the area is above the Hood River Bridge. Oct. 15 is the last day for night closures and restrictions on non-buoyant lures in the Bonneville Pool. Drano Lake remains closed to fishing on Wednesdays during October.
If the coho aren't biting, Hymer suggests that anglers fishing the Cowlitz River consider shifting gears. "There's a dark black cloud of sea-run cutthroat pooling right below the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery right now," he said. "Those fish average about 14 inches long, and can really brighten up an afternoon, readily taking flies, lures, or bait." Anglers are required to release any wild, unmarked cutts they catch, but the vast majority of those below the trout hatchery are marked with a clipped adipose fin, Hymer said. "It may be the only hatchery run of cutthroat in the state," he said, noting that the trout limit is five fish per day with a minimum length of 12 inches.
Capt. Jerry Brown
Columbia River Fishing
http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com
206-920-2428
