Rain and snow finally return, raising hopes for steelheaders. Kress Lake steelhead, trout stockings boost lowlands trout
Best bets for weekend fishing
Late run steelhead bite in Cowlitz, Kalama Rivers to see boost from rain
Silver Lake crappie, yellow perch rated excellent
Lowland trout lakes fishing boosted by surplus steelhead, fresh stockings
Last call for Washougal River, Salmon Creek, and Rock Creek winters
Columbia River walleye biting again in The Dalles and John Day pools
Weather: SW WA is expected to finally receive some real rain, including desperately needed snow in the highlands as weather pattern returns to normal. The Kalama, Washougal, and Salmon Creek may finally fish better. Rain this weekend will be followed by a few warm days, and some showery weather after that.
Columbia River
The good folks at the Gorge Outfitters Supply in Rufus report that the walleye bite is improving. The fish are unusually deep, around 50 feet, but the usual baits are working. Bandit deep-diving crankbaits and worm harnesses are working. No report on jigging, but at that depth jigging should be effective. Look to the deep, rocky reefs.
Cowlitz River
Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 41 Coho adults, 131 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 4,390 cubic feet per second on Monday, February 2, 2026. Water visibility is 3 feet and water temperature is 44.2(F). River flows could change at any time so boaters and anglers should remain alert for this possibility.
Get information about river flows and lake levels at MyTPU.org/LakeLevels. You can check the Cowlitz gage at Castle Rock here.
The Cowliz has been one of the few rivers with decent flows for fishing. The key word here is “decent” not “good”. There are steelhead being caught, but anglers are having to work hard to scratch out a few. Most are coming to hand up near the Blue Creek area, but anglers in the lower river are still getting a few by plunking. Most are fishing Sin-n-glos with coon shrimp.
Lewis River
This river had had good flows recently, and is running at about 12 feet. The hatchery return to the Lewis is mostly over, and any fin-clipped fish left are probably well past their prime. These early returning steelhead are being replaced by a more local source, and in years to come they will return in a January to March timeline. Wild steelhead offer a good run on this river, and a few early springers might end up on the end of angler’s lines, too. The bank guys are keying in on the hatchery area above Woodland, and most boat anglers are working below that reach, or just above it.
You can check the river gage at Woodland here.
Salmon Creek
Steelheading has been slow in recent weeks, with the creek running low. Anglers have been fishing mostly bobber with beads or jigs. This is another system that will lose its hatchery steelhead run due to the closure of the Skamania Hatchery. This is the last year of those returns.
Silver Lake
The fish are in the canals for the winter. Crappie fishing and yellow perch fishing is still excellent. Anglers are taking many limits of crappie. Fishing very small crappie jigs about 2 feet below a bobber works best for crappie. A small bit of worm fished right on the bottom will take the yellow perch. The schools should remain in the sloughs until mid-March, when they will return to the main lake. The best fishing is at the Silver Lake RV Resort. A $25 dollar fee is charged for bank access. Boat anglers can put in elsewhere and motor into the canals. Crappie must be 9 inches or longer to keep.
Trout Stocking
You can check the trout stocking report here.
Kess Lake received an additional 19 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.
Battle Ground Lake was planted with 2,000 catchable rainbows at 1.9 per pound on January 27.