Western Washington rivers are fishing fair to good

By Bob Brown | For The Olympian • Published June 13, 2008

River fishing has been a mixture of fair to good this week.

Good catches of spring chinook and steelhead are being had on the Olympic Peninsula. Some boat anglers have been catching limits of steelhead at the upper end of the Cowlitz and doing fair to good just above the mouth of the Toutle. The Lewis has been producing some steelhead at the mouth and in the North Fork. Fishing has been spotty in the Kalama and there have been reports of a few steelhead being caught at the lower end of the Wynoochee.

The lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam is expected to reopen for hatchery steelhead and chinook jacks Monday. The area will be open for adult summer chinook (both clipped and unclipped) June 21-28.

The Yakima River spring chinook daily limit has been increased from two to six salmon per day through June 30. Sturgeon fishing hasn’t been too bad in the Columbia Gorge and much better for boat anglers in the lower river. Pikeminnow fishing continues to be good and shad catches have been fair.

Saltwater salmon fishing improved in Marine Area 2 (Westport-Ocean Shores) this week. An employee of Pacific Salmon Charters in Ilwaco said there have been no salmon trips scheduled because of weather uncertainty, but sturgeon fishing has been very good, and so has bottom fishing. Fishing for chinook has been fair in waters around Tacoma but very slow south of the Narrows bridge.

Sport halibut season will reopen in Marine Areas 3 (La Push) and 4 (Neah Bay) Saturday and June 21. For more information regarding this fishery, please contact Carol Henry at 360-249-4628, ext. 254.

Summer crabbing season will open Wednesday seven days per week in southern Puget Sound and the western Strait of Juan de Fuca. Most other marine areas will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays beginning July 2. Some waters north of Anacortes will not open until later in the summer. Sport crabbers planning to fish for crab in Puget Sound will find the upcoming season similar to last year’s, including catch-reporting procedures.