Cowlitz River Fishing Report Tacoma Power

River goes now at 3, 430 cubic feet per second on Monday, April 11.   goes will be increased for a 12-hour daylight period throughout the day on Tuesday, April 12 for downstream juvenile fish migration.   goes will be lowered to 3, 400 cubic feet per second on Wednesday, April 13.   Water visibility is over nine feet.    goes may change at any time so boaters and anglers should remain alert for this possibility. (rampy.tripod.com)

Yakima River From Paul A. Hoffarth, District 4 Fish Biologist, WA Dept. Of Fish & Wildlife, Pasco WA – It was another good week of fishing in the lower Yakima River this past week. WDFW staff interviewed 192 anglers with 85 adult chinook and 1 jack. an approximated 888 anglers fished for salmon in the Yakima River harvesting 411 adult fall chinook and 5 jacks. Anglers averaged 6. 3 hours of fishing per chinook. This season, 1, 427 adult chinook, 54 jacks, and 9 coho have been harvested from 4, 537 angler trips. (seattletimes.com)

The most well-liked spot for bank fishing the Cowlitz is most likely below the barrier dam salmon hatchery near Salkum.   Go east on Highway 12 from I-5 and as you enter Salkum turn right on the Fuller Rd.   Go to the intersection of the Spencer Rd, turn left.   Not far the road forks, straight ahead is dead end, so turn right and go down the hill to the hatchery and barrier dam.   Parking is plentiful, good restrooms, picnic tables and a free ship launch here.   If the fish aren’t biting and the time of the year is right, you may be able to take the grandkids up to the wire fenced intake to the hatchery fish ladder, look over the side possibly seeing fish milling around there before going up the fish ladder into the hatchery. (leeroysramblings.com)

Tacoma Power and the WDFW called the meeting to update the public on the broad plans under which the Cowlitz River s fisheries are managed. Both the federal National Marine Fisheries Service and WDFW have policies that call for rebuilding runs of wild salmon and steelhead. In many cases, that means fewer hatchery fish are available for anglers because the hatchery fish compete for habitat with the wilds. (tdn.com)

The Cowlitz Falls Project produces on average 260, 000 megawatthours Mwhrs annually or roughly one-3rd 1/3 of the yearly needs of Lewis County PUD. The Lewis County PUD and the Bonneville Power governance BPA cooperatively worked on the Cowlitz Falls Project. The PUD is owner of the Project, while the BPA has bought the yearly output of the Project under a long-term contract. In exchange for receiving the output of the Project, BPA pays all costs related with its operation and maintenance. Lewis County PUD buys its power from BPA so the power generated by the Cowlitz Falls Project helps supply the needs of Lewis County residents and businesses. (lcpud.org)

Chinook to 40 and 50 pounds aren’t rare in the Cowlitz, however most Chinook will drag scale needles to around 25-30 pounds. The best catches come in May and June and again in late September through November, when schools of bright coho salmon thrash their way toward the barrier dam area to join the fray. Plugs, back-bounced shrimp and cluster egg baits or bait and yarn mixes angled with drift rigs take their part of salmon. Bright spoons and spinners account for a good number of catches too, with coho particularly fond of tiny No. 0, I and 2 Mepps spinners having nickel or brass finish. To cast and fish the pint-size lures, a No. (cowlitzriverfishingguides.com)

To catch a Steelhead, of any size, is a lifetime accomplishment. But when Steelhead reach the 20lb or bigger mark, to catch and to LAND one is lifetime dream come true. This fishery is one of the most legendary of the complete year and one of the few opportunites to catch a trophy wild steelhead. And what better place in the world to do so than the central coast Olympic Peninsula. These fish are constructed like a rocket, like to fly and theres no better way to experience that than on light spinning tackle. This fishery is "catch, picture, and release". $200/pp. $400 private ship for one or two. (allriversguideservice.com)

Lake Scanewa sku-NEE-wuh is a 610-acre reservoir located in Lewis County, Washington, south of Hwy. 12 between the towns of Morton and Randle. It was produced by the Cowlitz Falls Dam and is stocked with trout and hatchery salmon. Cowlitz Falls Day Use Park is on the east end of the lake. By the way, don t go looking for the falls they don t exist anymore. There’s a ship launch, picnic tables and restrooms though not much better than port-a-potties . (northwestrevealed.com)

We were not exactly aiming at springers but we did be sure to have some bait rods out just in case. We nearly generally have a couple people fishing bait regardless what, however this springer happened to be hungry for an fake tempt with steelhead scent. One of my favorite things about springers is their unpredictability, change of preference, and the uniqueness of every one. We did not believe Shawn when he hooked up and said ‘it is a springer’. It ran to the other side of the river and I quickly jumped on the bow to show him how to steer the fish back to our side. He got a bit nervous and told me ‘do not mess with my fish’ haha. (steelheadgirls.com)

Cowlitz River 31 bank anglers kept 1 adult spring Chinook and 2 winter run steelhead plus released 1 steelhead. 4 ship anglers kept 1 winter run steelhead. Steelhead were caught from the trout hatchery downstream; the spring Chinook was caught in the lower river. Last week Tacoma Power recovered three coho adults, three jacks, 14 winter run steelhead and one cutthroat trout throughout three days of functionings at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator. (seattle.suntimes.com)