This week in SW Washington the Columbia continues to produce both coho and chinook although it isn’t red hot with some areas fishing much better than others. Tributaries are packed full of fish with both coho and chinook being caught in large numbers. Merwin fishing is great as it has all summer into the fall although some fish are starting to get ready to spawn and they are showing it. Bass fishing in the local lakes is slowing and with the cooler weather will continue to slow headed into this week.
REMINDER, please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Flows are still sitting around 5,000 CFS due to work on the dams in the reservoirs above, that flow could change at any minute so check daily! The Lewis is absolutely PACKED full of fish in numbers I haven’t seen since the early 2000’s.
Kalama Report
Fishing below the weir has been solid but mostly full of snaggers unfortunately. Nothing happening above the weir as the weir is blocking all fish from going up any further than the first mile or two of river.
Cowlitz Report – Coho are really starting to push in right now, but biters are few and far between.
Washougal River – There are loads and loads of chinook in the Washougal right now unfortunately they are all Tules but nonetheless fun to catch.
Columbia River salmon/steelhead report
Woodland – It has been an absolute zoo outside of Woodland this week as anglers from Kalama to the coast have come up to the deadline for wild chinook retention. Fishing has been hot and cold with some days being much better than others.
Camas – The mouth of the Sandy has been the one consistent this week with most anglers I know hitting limits quickly. Tanner Tyler has been out consistently over the last four days and has caught a fish every single day.
Drano Lake – Drano has continued to be the place to go to put fish in the boat as it has been so good it’s almost a guaranteed chinook. I spent Saturday 9/8/24 trolling and hover fishing and went eleven for fifteen landing all Tules unfortunately.
Merwin Lake Merwin is still fishing well right now, but a lot of the kokanee are getting ready for the fall spawn.
There is A LOT more for SW Washington Members here, including Ian Carter’s complete monthly updates. And SW Washington members can find our complete Columbia River reports here.
Read this week’s Oregon fishing report.