This week in SW Washington, spring Chinook is all but over in the Columbia and tributaries though the summer Chinook seem to be right behind them, showing in pretty good numbers so far. Columbia steelhead plunking has been hit or miss depending on location with some locations being fantastic and others coming up empty up and down the beach. Tributary steelhead is just getting started and is getting better by the day. Merwin has been unbelievable and is providing steady limits this week. Local ponds have been packed full of swimmers impeding on the fishing.
REMINDER, please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Lewis Report
The Lewis has been flowing at 2,800 cfs for well over a month and this week has had no change. The lower flows have yet to bring in a large number of summer steelhead as pressure remains low again this week for steelhead.
Chinook reopened 7/6/25 and anglers put an absolute hammer on the fish all weekend long especially near the Cedar Creek Hatchery.
No WDFW escapement this week due to no update.
Lewis River – No angler effort reported by WDFW
Kalama Report
The Kalama remains low and clear this week and Chinook remains an option but dwindling quickly. Steelhead is very slow so far and hasn’t shown many signs of life this year yet.
Kalama River- No angler effort reported by WDFW
Washougal Report
The Washougal has been VERY low this year and is at its lowest I have ever seein it in the middle of June. Fishing has been very hit or miss with a fish being picked up here or there but nothing consistent at all. I fished almost every day this week and I didn’t touch a single fish nor did I hear of the several other anglers on the river getting one.
Cowlitz Report
Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 692 spring Chinook adults, 44 spring Chinook jacks, three winter-run steelhead, one cutthroat trout, and 30 summer-run steelhead over five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator. During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released 133 spring Chinook adults, seven spring Chinook jacks, and three winter-run steelhead into Lake Scanewa near Randle and they released 215 spring Chinook adults and 12 spring Chinook jacks into the Cispus River near Yellowjacket Creek. They also released 228 spring Chinook adults, 11 spring Chinook jacks, and one cutthroat trout at Franklin Bridge in Packwood. As of Friday, June 6, 2025, Tacoma Power has recycled 157 summer-run steelhead and 160 spring Chinook adults this season to the I-5 boat launch in Toledo. River flow below Mayfield Dam is 6,410 cubic feet per second on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
Cowlitz River I-5 Br downstream – 42 bank anglers kept two Chinook and one jack. No boat
effort reported.
Cowlitz River Above the I-5 Br – 10 bank anglers released one steelhead. 10 boats/32 rods
kept one Chinook and 19 steelhead .
Columbia River
WDFW did announce the 2025 lower Columbia summer fishery which has some massive changes from last year starting with no Chinook opener all summer. Sockeye will open from June 22nd-July 6th and have a one fish limit and if you catch a steelhead before your sockeye you are done for the day and must quit fishing. Steelhead will be open June 1st- July 31st.
WDFW also announces an extension of the spring chinook run to the 15th of June all the way up to the date WDFW classifies Summer Chinook as running in the river.
Bonneville- Boats have been on anchor all the way to the deadline at Bonneville but reports are very hit or miss this week with some finding limits and others finding no bites. The ones having success are finding success closer towards the bank in 8-15 feet of water using Kwik fish or flat fish finding a 50/50 mix of Chinook and Steelhead.
Columbia River Creel Reports
(Bonneville) — 30 bank anglers kept two Chinook. 1 boat/2 rods had no catch.
(Camas/Washougal) — Three bank anglers had no catch. 26 boats/49 rods kept three
Chinook and released two Chinook.
(I-5 Area) — Five bank anglers had no catch. No boat effort reported.
(Vancouver) — 60 bank anglers kept three Chinook. 18 boats/38 rods kept four Chinook
and released one sockeye.
(Woodland) — Five bank anglers had no catch. 1 boat/1 rod had no catch.
(Kalama) — 69 bank anglers kept five Chinook and released one Chinook. 25 boats/71
rods kept 22 Chinook and released nine Chinook.
(Cowlitz) — No effort reported.
(Longview) — 59 bank anglers kept two steelhead and released one steelhead. 57
boats/125 rods kept 18 Chinook, four steelhead and released two steelhead.
(Cathlamet) — 11 bank anglers had no catch. 4 boats/10 rods kept two Chinook.
(Cathlamet) — Nine bank anglers kept one steelhead. 6 boats/12 rods kept three
Chinook.
Shad
Shad fishing continues to be fantastic all the way from Camas to Bonneville. Anglers are using shad darts and Dic Nites with 1/2-1 ounce of lead with both lures having equal success. Steam boat landing is a good spot and further east the sturgeon deadline just below the Bonneville Dam is another successful spot.
(Bonneville) — 18 bank anglers kept 186 shad and released five shad. 4 boats/9 rods kept 212 shad.
(Camas/Washougal) — Two bank anglers had no catch. 1 boat/3 rods had no catch.
Local lakes and ponds
Local Lakes have been all but impossible to fish due to the insane number of swimmers around. I stopped by Lacamas, Battleground, Klineline, and Horseshoe this week and the banks were PACKED with swimmers to the point where there was nearly nowhere to fish. No fishing report this week.
Stay fishy,
Seth Kolshinski
Read this week’s Oregon fishing report.