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When flood levels drop on rivers, Steelhead get moving

By Bob Brown | For The Olympian • Published January 21, 2009

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Steelhead are not noted for doing a lot of traveling when rivers are at flood stage, but once water levels start dropping, they are on the move, and that is what is happening in the Kalama, Satsop and several other Western Washington rivers. The volume of steelhead moving into the rivers hasn't been great, but the influx has been steady.

Fishing hasn't been first rate in the Kalama, but close to it. In the Satsop, catching has been fair at times, but mostly slow. The Wynoochee is starting to draw a lot of attention, but catching has been lean and the same thing is happening on the Skookumchuck. Rivers are in pretty good shape on the Olympic Peninsula, but fishing has only been fair.

Sturgeon fishing continues to be slow in the lower Columbia and probably will remain that way until water temperatures improve. Salmon fishing has been good in Marine Area 8-2, fair in Marine Area's 9 and 10 and questionable in South Sound. Angler activity has been light on area lakes, but there have been reports of a few rainbows being caught.

Recent projections indicate nearly 300,000 spring chinook are expected to return to the Columbia River this year which would be the third-highest return on record. Recreational anglers are expected to catch 22,300 of that number in the lower river and 7,400 above Bonneville Dam.

RIVERs

KALAMA: Some multi-hook ups are being had periodically in the canyon and at Beginners Hole bank anglers have been landing some steelhead in the 10- to 12-pound range. Pink worms and Flat Fish are being used. Fly fishers have been using black Articulated Leeches. The river is dropping and running green. Boat anglers can pull plugs, but the water is a little heavy, said Wayne Orzel of Pritchard's Western Angler.

Chris Wagemann, who is a Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologist with Kalama Research Team, said fishing continues to improve daily. Boat traffic was moderate last weekend with fair to good success including catch rates up to a few steelhead per boat. There are still early winter steelhead being caught, but wild fish are starting to show in the catch with a couple of nice fish in the upper teens being reported. Also the late hatchery or winter brood fish are contributing to the catch and should continue with wild fish into April.