This week in SW Washington for the third consecutive week we have cold weather and sunny conditions causing river levels to lower and become clear as can be. Early returning winter steelhead rivers have started to slow which could be due to run timing or due to lack of rain. Later returning steelhead rivers are continuing to get more fish though some rain would help. Merwin and Yale are still providing limits to anglers willing to put in longer hours. Razor clam dig is approved for this week!
REMINDER, please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Lewis Report – Flows have held steady around 5,100 cfs this week which is fairly surprising as we have had no rain or snow melt to fill the reservoirs above Merwin. I talked with a good friend Brandon who spent some time on the water this last weekend where they only found one wild steelhead that they released. I spoke with a few guides this week who ran trips on Saturday where a vast majority of their focus was upriver above Cedar Creek as that seemed to be where the fish were most condensed, though not even the guides were bringing in more than one or two fish a day.
Kalama Report – Like other natural flowing rivers, the Kalama is low and clear with catch rates reflecting those conditions. I talked with several anglers including reader Shawn Chase who fished on Monday 1/20/25 and caught a beautiful hen on a nightmare jig. He also reported that it was the only fish he saw caught from daylight to noon or so.
Cowlitz Report – Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 11 coho adults, four coho jacks, one summer-run steelhead adult, and 104 winter-run steelhead adults over five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator. During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released eight coho adults and seven winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa and three coho adults, four coho jacks, and six winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Bremer Bridge. River flow below Mayfield Dam is 10,100 cubic feet per second on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. Not sure what’s going on with flows this week as it seemed to jump awfully high and is coming back down to 7,000 Wednesday evening.
Washougal River – The river is unbelievably low and clear for this time of year to the point that I can’t ever remember fishing it this low in my lifetime; it is similar to how it looks in late summer. Me and Tanner Tyler walked the banks of the river on Sunday 1/19/25 and had a few bobber downs and hooked one at first light but didn’t land anything for the rest of the day. We talked to around 15 other anglers who all had the same story as us.
Elochoman River – The Elochoman, like all other natural flowing rivers, is incredibly low for this time of the year. I talked to two locals who went to the river to mess around for a few hours on both days this weekend but neither had any luck. They did mention angling pressure being way down from previous weeks so now’s the time to get out there and go learn the river without too many eyes on you.
Columbia River – I got an email about reports for Austin’s bar and some other plunking locations this week and while I look for information on these areas weekly reports are few and far between this time of year. If you have any information you are willing to share email me at Seth@theguidesforecast.com
Merwin and Yale Lake – Merwin has been fishing fantastic this year especially when you compare it to last year when you seemingly couldn’t buy a bite in the murky waters that was Merwin. Limits are being taken daily still as I had multiple friends calling me on Saturday to tell me how awesome of a day it was with sunny conditions, fish biting, and no wind. Reports have come flooding in all week as conditions have been fantastic and the fish continue to bite even in the sunny conditions. Merwin and Yale seem to be the places to go this week to put fish on the table. Water levels are sitting right around 233 ft which is plenty enough to launch and not worry about it.
Long Beach – We got approval for the Clam dig dates coming up this week and extending into next weekend. Although the weather at the coast looks less than ideal, there is opportunity. No surf perch report this week.
Jan. 26, Sunday, 4:34 p.m.; 0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
Jan. 27, Monday, 5:15 p.m.; -0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
Jan. 28, Tuesday, 5:54 p.m.; -0.8 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copali
Stay fishy,
Seth Kolshinski
Read this week’s Oregon fishing report.
It’s so bad seals are eating sturgeon on the Cowlitz