Too much rain and too few fish is the premise for this week’s SW Washington fishing report. Sea lions continue their dominance in the Columbia and most area tributaries. There has been some extensive spring trout stocking if you are interested in getting the kids into some fish.
The 2023 Trout Derby will officially open April 22 at more than 100 stocked lakes and run through Oct. 31. Over 90 participating businesses are offering 872 donated prizes valued at more than $41,500. You can find all the information here. The average prize value is up to about $48, which is an increase of more than $20 from when the derby started.
REMINDER, please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Lewis Report
The river is very high running at over 10,000 CFS as of Tuesday. I wouldn’t anticipate it dropping by the weekend as Merwin is full.
Kalama Report
A better number of Steelhead arrived this week, with only one Chinook making it so far.
Cowlitz Report
While there aren’t Chinook making it to the hatchery so far this spring, Steelhead continue to show in decent numbers. Reports indicate the smelt have moved back in the lower river. Of course, with smelt come the sea lions. Tacoma Power employees recovered 232 winter-run steelhead adults and one spring Chinook adult over five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.
It’s Wednesday morning and I just got off the phone with Dave Mallahan at Daves Guide Service. He tells me it’s slow this week, “I’ve only got two fish in the box right now.” He says the water conditions are excellent above the Toutle.
Columbia River
The lower river Chinook season is officially over for now and attention will turn to the local tributaries for Chinook. Some Washington anglers I know have opted to purchase Oregon licenses and fish the Multnomah channel and Willamette.
I checked out the beaches in Woodland on the last day. There was very little activity with five bank fisherman and four boats at Martins Bar. No one had any luck.
A good option for the Columbia now that it’s closed for Salmon is to try fishing the Pikeminnow reward program. It officially opens on May 1 through September 30, 2023. As I mentioned in a previous report, they have an APP now that makes registering easy.
Merwin – Some reports indicate the spring turnover is beginning and is affecting the willingness of bites. The mornings have been especially difficult to entice biters for some anglers. Those who stick with it are eventually getting limits. It just takes covering a lot of water to find the biters.
Riffe Lake – It’s beginning to fill up a little. Currently at 674 feet. Still a ways to go but finally heading in the right direction. Fishing should be phenomenal once power boats can access it again.
Mayfield Lake – Fishing has slowed a little. On April 6th the lake received an additional 5,400 stocker trout.
Kress Lake – Only five Steelhead were added this week.
Lacamas Lake – Received the first stocking of the year on April 10th with 6,000 stocker trout added.
Battle Ground Lake – This Monday I was in the Yacolt area for a home inspection and stopped by the lake. It was a rainy day and only two folks were observed fishing. They had caught five Rainbow when I checked in on them.
Battleground Lake | 4/10/23 | Image Ian Carter
Horseshoe Lake – On April 6th received an additional 4,000 stocker Rainbow.
Silver Lake – No reports, but warm water fishing is right around the corner.
Pacific County Lakes – On April 4th Black Lake received 2,000 Rainbow and Snag Lake gained 1,000.
Coastal Report
Jetty / Surf Fishing
Due to the extreme surf conditions, the past six days fishing has been a no go. It’s important to always check the surf and wind conditions before heading out onto the jetties and into the surf.
Clamming
Action is fast and furious if you don’t mind the nasty weather. Positive reports of quick limits on all open beaches. One report indicated strong winds and a little drizzle at Long Beach last Saturday. Sneaker waves caught some diggers off guard, and several ended up getting a salt bath.
WDFW announced the following tentative digs:
Future tentative digs during morning (a.m.) low tides are scheduled (digging allowed 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on May 11-14 only):
April 19, Wednesday, 6:44 AM; -0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
April 20, Thursday, 7:28 AM; -0.9 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
April 21, Friday, 8:09 AM; -1.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks
April 22, Saturday, 8:50 AM; -1.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
The daily limit has been increased from 15 to 20 clams per person through May 14th.
Halibut – Washington’s spring halibut fishing season is here, and the initial outlook appears bright for these denizens of the deep. Halibut anglers can hit the water beginning April 6 in some Puget Sound and eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca (Marine Areas 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) locations and unlike in previous years, the early opener also includes Sekiu (Area 5) in the western Straits. Those will be followed by coastal fisheries at Neah Bay, La Push, Westport and Ilwaco that get underway on May 4.
Have a great week everyone, please email me any time with questions or comments: ian@washingtonhomes.realestate
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Read our Oregon fishing report.
