This week in SW Washington steelhead continues to be where the anglers are focused as some tributaries are red hot with nearly great water temperatures, color, and flow rates. The 2024 spring chinook season has been released and looks to be a promising year. Lakes and ponds continue to heat up with water temperatures rising, though Merwin continues to have a disappointing winter season.
REMINDER, please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Lewis Report
The river dropped to 4,000 cfs Monday 2/19/24 but has turned quiet. I stopped by the golf course Saturday afternoon 2/17/24 and besides a loan car there was not a trailer in the parking lot. There were a few anglers around though I didn’t talk to anyone. My good friend Curtis continues to drift the upper sections of the river doing very well. Tuesday 2/20/24 he drifted with a friend and they went 3 for 5 with all three of their fish coming on plugs.
East Fork- Like most other systems in SW Washington the East Fork is at a very fishy level and water flow, I unfortunately don’t have any first hand reports this week but with a surge of rain and now a dryer system moving in creating a drop in water level there should be some catch and release opportunities.
There was some confusion last week about seasons and opening of this system, the East fork is a catch and release fishery with closures during peak wild steelhead returns from March 15th to the Saturday before Memorial Day and July 15th to September 16th. This system also has selective gear rules in which bait is not allowed, except barbed hooks are allowed which seems very backwards to me but WDFW makes the rules not me.
Kalama Report
My good friend Ben Mulcahey has been drifting the river consistently with mixed success, the river has been in great shape and the fishing even better. Ben drifted the river Monday 1/19/24 and landed several fish. His home cured coon shrimp was the ticket this week fished behind a diver and paired with a small spin glow.
Cowlitz Report
Most guides in the local area have switched to the Cowlitz as it has been producing a large quantity of fish for their clients. Ron Holt of Clancy’s Guided SportFishing has been fishing near Blue Creek doing very well bobber dogging beads and eggs. I talked with Jess at the Barrier Dam Campground store on the phone. Their shelves are stocked with everything you will need for the Cowlitz as well as great daily advice!
Washougal Report
I have been beyond surprised with this year’s return as the river continues to fish well. Griffin Soule and Beckham Schill have been fishing up river with moderate success, they have been mostly catching wilds which is even better news for the system as for a very long time the wild fish levels on this river have been very low. When I called Beckham today to ask how it has been fishing he stated “I don’t think in my lifetime there has ever been as many fish in the river as there are this season.
Elochoman Report
No first-hand reports this week. It’s very late for this system but there are still a few fish around.
Columbia River
The 2024 spring chinook season has been set for the lower and upper Columbia and even with a lower than previous year forecast it is nearly identical with last year’s season. Unlike last year river temps are in the mid-40s and this winter has been much warmer with way less snow mostly due to the El Nino year. All of those are key factors in when these chinook will return.
Smelt have become somewhat of an issue in the plunking lanes as anglers are fighting to keep these little fish off their hooks. The smelt have no interest in the spin glow but they tend to run into it causing bells to ring and sometimes they get snagged up in the hooks.
Warm Water Lakes and Ponds
Klineline lake
The lake was stocked with 1,500 cutthroat and 2,500 rainbows last week which was not on last week’s post due to the delay in which WDFW reports trout stocking. I hadn’t had a chance to stop by this week but with warmer weather in the weekend forecast I would expect the banks to be lined with anglers.
There is a kids fishing derby coming up April 1st held by WDFW, it is a 5 dollar entry fee and that covers all of your child’s gear, and in recent years the kids even gotta keep their rod and reel. Find more information here!
Battle Ground lake
Ians friend fished here in recent days and said people were hammering them, he told Ian “A lot of people catching today. Probably saw 20 fish get caught. Watched a guy catch probably 5 and a little over a pound rainbow”. He caught his fish on a small yellow spinner.
Lacamas Lake
No recent plants but while the water starts to warm up these fish will be on the move looking for food. I didn’t see any anglers this week when driving but with a beautiful weekend ahead some anglers should be poking around.
Merwin Lake
Last year I was debating if I wanted to go steelhead fish or kokanee, this year it’s not even a question, it’s steelhead or anything else. I have talked with countless anglers who have gone skunked or even without a bite no matter how good of a kokanee angler they are. The ones that have been successful have been finding their fish in the 25–35-foot water column, Tristan Newton reported getting a few in the deeper water column Wednesday 2/21/24 and only getting a few bites on the surface rods. Scents have been key for these fish to hone into your gear in the colored up water.
Ilwaco and Long Beach
Razor clams continue to be a great place to get your outdoor fix and as the sunset gets later and later it only provides more and more daylight to get these clams. Five days of razor clamming was approved this week but as you are reading this there are only three days left the 23rd-25th. Surf perch continues to fish well, one of the best parts of clamming is finding the trenches and deeper areas in the surf during low tide and during high tide coming back to those spots and fishing them as those deeper sections will provide protection for these fish from the crashing waves.
Feb. 23, Friday, 6:05 p.m.; 0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
Feb. 24, Saturday, 6:34 p.m.; 0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis
Feb. 25, Sunday, 7:02 p.m.; 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Mocrocks
You can find more detailed reports and videos on the SW Washington fishing report and forecast. Ian still posts there once a month as well for a different style and different knowledge of certain areas in SW Washington.
Stay fishy,
Seth Kolshinski
Read this week’s Oregon fishing report.