Rains lifted some rivers, but steelheading success is spotty. Lowland Lakes trout reports mostly good. Kress Lake receives plentiful steelhead.
Best bets for weekend fishing
Late run steelhead bite in Cowlitz, Kalama Rivers spotty
Silver Lake crappie, yellow perch rated excellent
Lowland trout lakes fishing boosted by surplus steelhead
Last call for Washougal River, Salmon Creek, and Rock Creek winters
Columbia River walleye biting in The Dalles and John Day pools
Weather Dry weather to start the weekend will change over to showers by Sunday. Showers are expected next week, too, but colder, icy weather should arrive by the end of next week. The coming showers are not expected to raise the river levels, but could result in good conditions for a steelhead bite. Trout should also bite well under the conditions.
Columbia River
The good folks at the Gorge Outfitters Supply in Rufus report that the walleye bite is improving. The fish are still mostly deep, around 50 feet, but are slowly moving shallower. Some trophy-sized females are now showing in the catch. There have been reports of fish to the 17-pound range, and a record 20-pound plus walleye was taken by a Pasco man in the McNary Pool. The monster fish has been declared a state record in Washington.
Cowlitz River
Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 66 Coho adults, 231 winter-run Steelhead, and one cutthroat trout adult over five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator. River flows below Mayfield Dam were 4,370 cubic feet per second on Monday, February 9, 2026. Water visibility is 3 feet and water temperature is 44.1(F).
Fishing Guide Dave Mallahan (360-201-9313) reports that the fishing has remained spotty, even after the recent rains. His most recent trips were marked by having to work hard to scratch out a few fish a day. He said the flows of only 4,000 plus CFS is too low for a real good bite. The river needs about twice that amount of flow for a really good bite.
Mallahan usually fishes the first few miles below Blue Creek, where bobber-dogging, or bobber techniques, work best. A few fish are coming to hand for bank anglers, but on the lower river anglers would do better plunking if the river rose some.
You can check the Cowlitz River gauge below the Mayfield Dam here. State creel surveys will begin in mid-February.
North Coast Winter Steelhead with Mike Hazen
Join Mike Hazen of Hazen’s Guide Service to learn the tips and tricks of successful North Coast winter steelhead fishing.
Bob Rees will host this event for The Guide’s Forecast.
Sign up even if you are unable to attend the event and get access to the recording the next day!
Lewis River
River flows are better in the Lewis River, with the gauge at Woodland showing that flows raised to about 13 feet recently, and is expected to return to under 12 feet by the weekend. These are good flows for this river. There is a strong wild winter steelhead run in this river, with fish to 15 pounds on occasion. They can be found near the hatchery but are spread through the entire river. Bobber methods are popular here, and some areas lend themselves to drift methods or hardware.
You can check the Lewis River Gauge at Woodland here. The river is open for hatchery spring Chinook through April.
Lake Merwin
The Kokanee fishing continues to improve as the lake clears out more. Look for the schools to be near the surface on cloudy days, and a little deeper when it is sunny. Most anglers are trolling dodgers with kokanee rings tipped with corn.
Silver Lake
The fish are in the canals for the winter. Crappie fishing and yellow perch fishing is still excellent, with anglers doing very well for both species this past week. The crappie are falling for very small crappie jigs about 2 feet below a bobber. A slow retrieve along the bottom with small twist-tail jigs has also been working well for larger crappie. A small bit of worm fished right on the bottom will take the yellow perch.
Trout Stocking
You can check the trout stocking report here.
Kess Lake received an additional 60 steelhead this past week. The steelhead will fall for spinners and coon shrimp fished below a bobber. Light line will help get bites.
Klineline Pond was stocked with 2,000 catchable rainbows at 2.3 per pound on January 27. Fishing has been described as spotty, with some days the bite being very good, and the next day it can be very slow. Best baits include Powerbait, but shrimp and worms fished below a bobber will work, too.
Battle Ground Lake was planted with 2,000 catchable rainbows at 1.9 per pound on January 27. Staff at the state park report good fishing off the fishing dock. Powerbait is the most popular offering.