Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all those who celebrate! SW Washington coho fishing is still slowing down but some anglers are finding fish, some early steelhead are being caught in some tributaries but nothing is consistent yet. Merwin is still fishing great again this week with most anglers finding limits in just a few hours. WDFW is hosting its annual Black Friday fishing event this week. Razor clam dig approved for turkey weekend!
REMINDER, please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Lewis Report – Flow has been raised to 7,200 cfs this week, coming up from 5,600. While water levels are fairly high right now the water clarity has been really good with a steelhead green color to it. The river has been fishing alright for B runs but nothing consistent by any means. I talked with several anglers this week including reader Shawn Chase who fished at the hatchery and didn’t get a fish himself but saw one bank angler pick up an older coho while the boat anglers picked up a few brighter ones back trolling plugs.
Kalama Report – There is not too much to report this week as I only talked to one angler who had just come from the Kalama while I was at Anglers Unlimited on Sunday evening. He had driven most of the river and hadn’t hooked anything. When I talked with the guys behind the counter none had any reports for the Kalama too.
Cowlitz Report – I talked with a few plunkers who were fishing at Camelot Beach. None had seen a fish caught all weekend and they hadn’t even gotten a take down which was a first for them in a few weeks. The steelhead won’t start showing up until January so this is probably one of the last viable Cowlitz fishing weeks we have for 2024.
Washougal River – The Washougal has started to attract a crowd of people fishing for chum salmon and I want to remind people that you can absolutely not target these fish even for catch and release as they are protected! Coho fishing has slowed down more than anywhere else as the fish seem to be long gone and upriver and with all the reports I got not one person hooked into even one coho.
WDFW’s Black Friday fishing event – WDFW holds an annual Black Friday trout fishing event, where they stock local ponds and lakes with trout for anglers to catch. Battle Ground, Klineline, and Kress Lake will all be stocked with 2,000 trout per lake, which should provide an excellent day of catching!
Lake Merwin has been fishing excellent again this week with most anglers leaving with limits in only a few hours of fishing.
Yale has been just as good as I talked with Tommy Dinger who had fished Yale on Monday 11/25/24 and quickly hooked his limit before the sun had fully come up.
Long Beach As of Monday 11/25/24, WDFW approved this weekend’s clam digs to proceed as scheduled.
Nov 29, Friday, 5:20 p.m.; -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
Nov 30, Saturday, 5:54 p.m.; -0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
Dec 1, Sunday, 6:30 p.m.; -0.6 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
Dec 2, Monday, 7:06 p.m.; -0.7 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
Dec 3, Tuesday, 7:46 p.m.; -0.6 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
Dec 4, Wednesday, 8:28 p.m.; -0.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
Dec 5, Thursday, 9:13 p.m.; -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
Stay fishy,
Seth Kolshinski
There is A LOT more for SW Washington Members here, including Ian Carter’s complete monthly updates. SW Washington members can find our complete Columbia River reports here.
Read this week’s Oregon fishing report.