This week in SW Washington, fishing for spring chinook continues to get better, and fish are being caught in all local tributaries as the Columbia is now closed. Winter steelhead is winding down with very few fish around on most tributaries, while early signs of a good summer steelhead run start to show. Merwin has been hit or miss this week with speculations continuing of the bi-annual turnover starting. Razor clamming approved for this week’s digs!
REMINDER, Please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water. AND wear a life jacket.
Lewis Report – The Lewis continues to get lower and lower, with flows sitting at 2,800 cfs this week with no signs of going up anytime soon. The lower flows have put a real damper on the fishing as it seems most fish are either locked jaw or just not there. I fished Saturday, 4/19/25, from the Island Ramp all the way up to the power lines below Merwin Dam with not as much as a bite. I did see several fish caught, but most boats I talked with had the same experience as I did. I marked one fish throughout the day, and I talked with another boat back trolling next to me who had live scope and could only see one fish in the entire hole. I talked with a reader who was fishing next to me as well, who said he had gotten a fish the day before, but that was the only action he had.
Kalama Report – The Kalama is LOW this week, but the flow gauge is still down with no signs of coming back up. I received several reports over the weekend with bank anglers finding steelhead up high but not many chinook. Boats, on the other hand, have been doing really well with every drift boat and raft I talked with this week having at least one fish per person, if not two. Alex Hong went out 4/22/25 and drifted from Slab hole down to Camp Kalama and landed one and lost another. Please be very cautious if you decide to drift the river this week, as the river is slowly approaching what would be its summer time low and might not be driftable by a drift boat headed into the weekend.
Cowlitz Report- Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 241 winter-run steelhead adults, 112 spring Chinook adults, six spring Chinook jacks, six summer-run steelhead, and one cutthroat trout over five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator. During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released 40 winter-run steelhead, 26 spring Chinook adults, and six spring Chinook jacks into Lake Scanewa near Randle and they released 35 winter-run steelhead at Franklin Bridge in Packwood. They released 44 winter-run steelhead into the Tilton River at Bremer Bridge. River flow below Mayfield Dam is 7,740 cubic feet per second on Monday, April 21, 2025.
Drano Lake – Drano Lake and the Wind River are the go-to this week as more fish have been caught here in the last day than all week on all other tributaries in the last week. The trollers Drano are finding a ton of success, especially with the low winds and anglers like Curtis Youngren have been finding a steady amount of fish every trip. The Wind River is kicking out an equal amount of fish and with the dam counts skyrocketing, it’s only getting better.
Merwin and Yale Lake – Merwin has been super hit or miss over the last week or two, with some reports coming in with absolutely nothing and others coming in with limits of kokanee, and the only difference in reports seems to be the day they come in. Water temps are climbing quickly, and for the third weekend in a row, rumors of the Bi-annual turnover are being tossed around, although no floating fish have been reported, which is a fantastic sign.
Local lakes and ponds – Almost all lakes and ponds that receive a trout plant have been fishing fantastically this week, as I stopped by Battleground Lake and Lacamas Lake on Sunday, 4/22/25, where families were enjoying a fishy Easter Sunday. Bobbers and bottom rigs were going off constantly at both lakes, with mostly worms being used, but a few were having success with PowerBait. Bass and other warm water species have seemingly not yet started to be caught in any large numbers, as a few were casting soft plastics as well at both lakes, but I didn’t see them land anything.
Stay fishy,
Seth Kolshinski
Read this week’s Oregon fishing report.