2016 Columbia River Spring Chinook Seasons Announced

GREAT NEWS from WDFW Regarding the upcoming and highly anticipated Columbia River Spring Chinook Returns for 2016.  In a nutshell - the best news is for the Cowlitz and Kalama Rivers which are both expecting near record returns of Spring Chinook this April-June.  Book a Cowlitz or Kalama River Spring Chinook Fishing Trip ONLINE HERE

.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Anticipating a return of 299,200 adult spring chinook salmon, fishery managers from Washington and Oregon today set this year’s initial fishing season to run through April 9 on the lower Columbia River.

In addition, representatives from the two states agreed to close the winter sturgeon retention fishery in the Bonneville Pool effective Feb. 8 and approved a six-hour recreational smelt season Feb. 6 on the Cowlitz River.

Here are the major provisions of those agreements:

• Spring chinook: From March 1 through April 9, anglers fishing downriver from Bonneville Dam may retain one marked, hatchery-reared adult spring chinook as part of their daily catch limit. The fishery will be open to both boat and bank anglers upriver to Beacon Rock, and – for bank anglers only – from there upriver to the fishing boundary just below the dam.
  
  The sport fishery will close in all areas of the lower Columbia River on two Tuesdays – March 29 and April 5 – to accommodate potential commercial fisheries.
  
  Upstream of Bonneville Dam, anglers may retain one hatchery-reared adult spring chinook per day from March 16 through May 6 between the Tower Island powerlines and the Washington/Oregon state line. Bank anglers using hand-casted gear (no boats) can also fish from Bonneville Dam upriver to the Tower Island powerlines during that time.
  
  Barbless hooks are required to fish for spring chinook in the Columbia River and anglers must release any salmon or steelhead not visibly marked as a hatchery fish by a clipped adipose fin.

• Sturgeon: The recreational sturgeon retention fishery between Bonneville Dam and The Dalles Dam will close Feb. 8. By that time, fishery managers expect that anglers will have reeled in 140 sturgeon from those waters, leaving 185 available for a one-or-two day fishery in summer. Catch-and-release fishing remains an option until then.

• Smelt: As in the past two years, fishery managers approved a limited fishery for smelt on the Cowlitz River to help gather data on the species’ abundance. Recreational smelt dipping will be restricted to the hours of 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6. The limit per person is 10 pounds – about one-quarter of a five-gallon bucket. Smelt dipping is not allowed from boats.
  
  To support the data-collection effort, the two states also approved a limited gillnet fishery for smelt in February on the lower Columbia River. The area’s smelt population was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2010, but runs have shown some signs of improvement since then.

Fishing rules reflecting these actions are available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) website at https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/

Fishing for spring chinook is currently open on a daily basis from Buoy 10 near the mouth of the Columbia River upstream to the Interstate 5 Bridge, although the bulk of the run doesn’t arrive until mid-March when the new fishing rules will be in effect.

Catch guidelines approved for the popular fishery will allow anglers fishing below Bonneville Dam to catch approximately 9,100 hatchery-raised “springers” before an updated run forecast is completed in late April or early May.

Another 1,000 adult upriver chinook are reserved for anglers fishing upriver from Bonneville Dam to the Washington/Oregon state line, 17 miles above McNary Dam. Additional fish have also been reserved for the Snake River sport fishery.

After banner spring chinook returns in each of the past two years, the projected run of 299,200 adult fish for 2016 is still slightly above the recent 10-year average, said Ron Roler, WDFW Columbia River policy manager. However, while this year’s projected run of upriver fish is down by about 100,000 fish from last year, he said returns to some tributaries – notably the Cowlitz and Kalama rivers – show an increase this year.

“Salmon returns rise and fall from year to year, especially during the kind of cyclical ocean changes we’re seeing right now,” Roler said. “Even so, if this run comes in as projected, it will still be the ninth-largest return in more than 25 years. We’re expecting plenty of fish to support a great fishing season.”

As in previous years, Washington and Oregon will manage the fishery with a 30 percent buffer on the upriver chinook forecast until the results of the in-season run update are known.

“We’ll continue to take a conservative approach in managing the fishery,” Roler said. “If the fish return at or above expectations, we will look toward providing additional days of fishing on the river later in the spring.”

Cowlitz River Winter Steelhead

Anxiety levels are high!  We're only weeks or possibly days away from the flood of returning winter steelhead on the Cowlitz River!!

All of our Cowlitz River Fishing Guides have their big jet boats ready, engines tuned, leaders tied and new rods in stock to provide you with the best that the Cowlitz River has to offer.

You and your friends, family and customer will LOVE fishing with our Cowlitz River Guides.  We have guides Casey and Ryan with very nice big roomy sleds.  We have a 2 year old 20ft Wooldridge for smaller groups, a 24ft Willie Raptor for medium groups and a whopping 26ft 2015 Wooldridge sled for big groups.  We can even put two boats together for extra large outings.

The smolt plants on the Cowlitz River have remained at a very high level, around 700,000 fish, for winter steelhead for many years.  This year is the first year there are no fish returning for the A run which historically showed up earlier in the year.  So this year the Cowlitz River 2016 returning steelhead will all be coming in big waves starting sometime in early February and fishing will be red hot through April.

All of our steelhead fishing trips on the Cowlitz River start out at the Blue Creek Boat Launch.  We run up and down the river casting hand tied leaders, home cured bait (secret recipe) and gear to help you catch these beautiful winter steelhead.

We typically meet just before dark and you can plan on fishing for 8 hours or until you catch your limits of winter steelhead.  There is a really big WDFW parking lot at the Blue Creek Boat Launch o be sure to bring the parking pass that come with your fishing license.

WHAT:  Cowlitz River Winter Steelhead 2016

WHEN:  Early February through April

WHERE:  Blue Creek Boat Launch located on Osprey Ln Toledo,WA 98591

WHAT TO BRING:  Rain gear, boots, lunch.  Fishing license with catch record card for salmon and steelhead, Columbia River Endorsement, parking pass, camera and a cooler to get your fish home.  Be sure any kids bring and wear life jackets.  Sunglasses and sunscreen/protection are also recommended.

GROUP SIZE:  We can accomodate groups of up to 10 total people fishing in two boats. If you book a group of 3 people you get the boat to yourself with your guide.  Individual boats can hold a maximum of 4 and 6 people.

LIMITS:  The limit on the Cowlitz River for the Winter 2016 steelhead is 2 hatchery steelhead per person.  Be sure to mark your catch - the catch record code for the Cowlitz River between the mouth and Mayfield dam is 561.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Buy Your Washington State Fishing License Online Here 

Check Cowlitz River River Flows

Check Weather forecasts for Toledo Area

Directions to the Blue Creek Boat Launch

WDFW Steelhead Smolt Counts for the Cowlitz River

Tacoma Power Weekly Fishing Reports

Waters West Guide Service Cowlitz River Fishing Reports

Sign up for our Newsletters for most up to date fishing reports and promo codes for special savings

Book a Cowlitz River Steelhead Fishing Trip Online Here

Or Call/txt/email anytime with any questions:

jessica@fishwaterswest.com
253-389-0359

Three Fishing Trips YOU Must Book For Yourself NOW for the New Year

Your Love of Fishing will translate into a Successful trip because You booked one of these Prime fishing trips.

Winter Steelhead
When: November-April.  Some of the coastal rivers will start seeing catchable numbers of winter steelhead as early as November each year.  Other rivers on the peninsula won't start producing until January.  The Cowlitz River will be very good beginning in February and stays good clear through April.  The Humptulips, Satsop and Wynoochee Rivers are currently producing limits or near limits daily now.

Where:  Wynoochee through March and the Cowlitz through April

Why:  The Cowlitz and Wynoochee Rivers get the biggest returns of winter steelhead each year for their river sizes.  These rivers are easy to access with lots of public and private launching and fishing opportunities.  We catch 2 or 3 salt fish on these rivers almost daily.  The Wynoochee run is already in thick as of January 1st, 2016 and the Cowlitz will be good starting sometime in early February.  LINK TO SMOLT COUNTS

King Salmon
When:  Spring and Fall - the Chinook or King Salmon run in Washington State is broken up into 3 distinct runs of salmon.  There is Spring King Salmon aka Springers, Summer Salmon aka June Hogs and Fall Salmon frequently referred to as Fall Chinook.  

Where:  The best king salmon fishing can be achieve on the Columbia River and it's tributaries as well as the Humptulips Rivers.  We fish the Columbia River in March through August for King Salmon as well as it's tributaries including the Cowlitz, Willamette, Wind River and Drano Lake.  BUOY 10 is a very popular place to fish the Months of July and August for King Salmon near Astoria, Oregon.

Why:  King Salmon are high on the list of every anglers dream fish.  They are the biggest of all the salmonid species and are abundant in Western Washington and Oregon Rivers for 10 months of the year.


Humptulips River King Salmon
When:  September 1st-November 20th.  The Humptulips River opens annually on or around September 1st for the retention of King and Coho Salmon.  The Humptulips River is famous for producing huge king salmon and lots of coho and chum salmon each fall.  Besides Buoy 10 this is our most popular king salmon fishery of the year.  We catch King salmon here every year through Thanksgiving but the best months are September and October.


Where:   The Humptulips River is located in Grays Harbor County north of Hoquiam, Washington and east of Pacific Beach, WA.  Lots of people stay in Hoquiam or the Ocean Beaches for this fishery.

Why:  HUGE KING SALMON fishing on a remote creek -  you will love it!


CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE >>

Or Call text email anytime: 253-389-0359

Winter Steelhead Fishing in Washington State 2016 - Smolt Counts

We've already seen some 2016 hatchery steelhead showing up in the coastal and Cowlitz Rivers in November/December 2015.   We've received draft smolt plants from 2014 which is the number of steelhead released from hatcheries for expected return in the 2015/16 winter season.

First Winter Steelhead of the Year Caught on the Humptulips River with Fishing Guide Casey 

We are very happy to see that the high number of hatchery steelhead smolts released into our favorite winter fisheries are comparable to previous years!!

Wynoochee River 2014 Smolts Released for 2015 Returning Winter Season: 171,730
Cowlitz River 2014 Smolts Released for 2015 Returning Winter Season:  747,185
Humptulips River "        "   :  130,000
Satsop River:  "         "  :  57,200

We are very excited to get you out and help you catch these steelhead that were released into the rivers to return fresh from the ocean for YOU to catch!

The Wynoochee and Humptulips rivers are best December-March and there are always winter run caught as early as November with summer run also being caugh in November on the Wynoochee.

The Cowlitz is best for Winter Steelhead December-April.  In the past the bulk of the first run was in December and the bulk of the second run started in February - with easy limits being caught through April and into May.

For the Wynoochee River we are going to meet at the Chevron in Montesano or the Black Creek Boat Launch.  For the Cowlitz we usually meet at the Blue Creek Boat Launch.

It's going to be another great season with a skilled team of guides to lead you to fish!  Come fish with the Waters West Team - Legendary Sport Fishing at it's Best!

Grays Harbor Fall Salmon Season 2015 Reflections

We have been on a bit of a wild ride this season.  Our fall salmon season usually consists of targeting Coho and King Salmon, but this year the Coho Salmon returns were much lower than expected.  Due to unfavorable ocean conditions and possibly other factors the actual returns of coho salmon were much lower than average this year as you can see from the best available source the Bonneville Dam Fish Counts.  The red line shows that this years' returns were much lower than last years' blue line and well below the 10 year average represented by the green line.

The Grays Harbor rivers including the Chehalis, Satsop, Wynoochee and Humptulips are our home rivers.  We can usually plan on staying close to home and catching lots of King and Coho salmon in September-December each year.  The local fisheries are co-managed by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Quinault Tribe.  The Quinault Tribe has treaty rights to use gill nets to fish the same rivers we guide all of you on using hook, rod and reel and many locals fish year after year to provide additional food and recreational opportunities for their families.

Chehalis River October 9th, 2015

October 26th, 2015 the state was forced by the Quinault Tribe to close all Grays Harbor River to all species of salmon retention.  At this point the rivers were still open for the retention of game fish aka steelhead.  We were very happy that we were at least able to target steelhead because there are always steelhead in the Wynoochee and we have lots of customers who like to fish our favorite river.  During the days before and after October 26th we saw helicopters flying over us as we fished from our tiny boats with hook, rod and reel.  Were they looking for spawning salmon from helicopters or trying to patrol sport fisherman?  We don't really know but it was sure intimidating.  Then on October 30th the WDFW closed all Grays Harbor Rivers to ALL fishing.  Again they said they were forced to do this by the Quinault Tribal Fisheries Managers.

Chehalis River September 30th, 2015

On November 7th two small stretches of the Humptulips and Satsop Rivers re-opened for sport fishing for hatchery coho and steelhead.  The Wynoochee, lower Humptulips and Chehalis remained closed which are staples for the sport fishing community.

Humptulips River November 26th, 2015

Right now the Chehalis River is open for commercial gill netting by the Quinault Tribe.  They are allowed to used gill nets to catch fish in the Chehalis River just downstream of the Wynoochee River.  All of the Coho Salmon and Steelhead returning to the upper Chehalis, Satsop and Wynoochee have to pass the Quinault Tribes gill nets.  Sport fisherman are not allowed to fish the upper Chehalis, Satsop or Wynoochee Rivers.

As of December 3rd the rumors are that the WDFW will re-open these rivers on December 16th for hatchery coho and/or steelhead for sport fishing.

Humptulips River December 2nd, 2015

In closing we are a team of guides with families to support so we don't have the luxury of doing anything other than providing guided fishing trips where the tribe and WDFW allow us to fish.  We only have to catch 2 fish per person on most days and that is pretty easy to accomplish even with very low returning coho salmon.  We've had a banner coho salmon season and are grateful for everyone who has come out 1, 2 or 3 times this season and are also grateful that we have at least two small stretches of river to fish that just happen to be loaded with fall salmon.  If anyone reading this has the power or authority to affect change please do.  We will all be voting for those who support sport fishing.  We thank you all again for your support this season and look forward to seeing you all soon!

Grays Harbor Fall Salmon Fishing 2015

The Grays Harbor area rivers include the Humptulips, Wishkah, Wynoochee, Satsop are dominated by the Chehalis River with it's huge drainage that stretches all the way from Lewis County in SW Washington to the Grays Harbor Estuary which flows into the Pacific Ocean between Westport and Ocean Shores, Washington.

We employ sport fishing techniques including using spinners and twitching jigs on the Chehalis River above the Mary's River Boat Ramp in Montesano all the way to Centralia's Fort Borst Park Launch.  There are many launches between these two points so we keep meeting times and places fluid for these trips to be able to best target the hottest locations throughout the season or catching the most fish.

Chehalis River Coho Salmon November 2014

The Chehalis River 2015 Season is set for a 3 coho salmon limit again this year.  The best time to fish the Chehalis for the highest chance of catching limits of fish will be November and December.  See outline of catch limits in the chart below:

Regulations always subject to change please check fishing regulations before heading to the River

The Humptulips River 2015 Season is set for a 2 King limit through September and then 1 King and 1 Coho through November 16th followed by 2 Coho through November and 1 hatchery coho in December.  We have had great success fishing the Humptulips all the way through December in the past but will probably focus our efforts on other local rivers this December.

Humptulips River 2014 had a 3 fish per person limit and our knowledgeable guides know how to fill Limits

The Satsop River is also a very popular local river for fall Salmon.  The 2015 Satsop River Fall Season is set for the retention of 3 salmon including 1 hatchery King Salmon.  The Satsop River is closest to I-5 for the smaller rivers which lends itself to crowded conditions.  If you can find a good day during the week to fish here you will be rewarded with beautiful scenery and lots of nice fish.

The Satsop and Chehalis Rivers get especially large Coho Salmon as you can see from this 2014 early October Photo

The Wynoochee River is left fairly untouched in the hustle of the Fall Fishing Season around Grays Harbor.  The author of this blog was born and raised on the Wynoochee and looks out the front window every day to see this beautiful river flowing quietly to the Chehalis River.  Needless to say this river is our favorite and there is definitely opportunities to fish this river each fall as well.  The 2015 Salmon Season for the Wynoochee River is set for 2 hatchery or native Coho Salmon!  My grandparents tell stories of the salmon runs being so large on this river that they could practically catch the returning salmon with their hands while wading in the waters.  If only they had go pro back then - would love to see grandma out there trying to catch salmon.

That concludes our overview of the Wynoochee, Satsop, Chehalis and Humptulips Rivers for the Fall 2015 Salmon Seasons.  If you're interested in a fishing trip check out our online calendars and booking app or text email anytime.  253.389.0359  ONLINE CALENDARS AND BOOKING INFO

Fall Salmon Fishing on the Washington Coast

Time to Unwind

Fall Salmon Fishing on the Washington Coast

Fall King and Coho Salmon on the Coast are the perfect excuse to get away from the daily grind and take a break in the cool renewing air of the Olympic National Park and Rain Forest.  A short drive from Seattle/Tacoma/Portland and you're all alone in the forest.  Just you, your best fishing buddy and your guide - on a remote creek, such as the Queets or Humptulips, with lines in the water waiting for a take down.  

For the elite few who've made the trek to fish with Aaron in the Olympic National Park the rewards have been trophy king, coho and steelhead along with bear, deer, elk and bald eagle sighting all while drifting down a remote stream fed by waters trickling off the rain forest floor.  

Every fall it's a ritual to welcome the extended darkness of night and refreshing fall rains with a trip to the Lake Quinault Lodge, Resort or Lochaerie Cabins.  Spend a day or two fishing on the nearby Queets, Clearwater or Humptulips, enjoy a perfect meal and excellent service at the Lake Quinault Lodge's 5 star restaurant overlooking the lake surrounded by forests, paddle a canoe out into the middle of the sacred Lake Quinault at dusk or dawn.  Take a drive from North to Southshore Roads to check on the Roosevelt Elk.  Make the annual pilgrimages to the giant spruce and cedar trees just short hikes from the road.  

Yup.  It's that time of year again.  Hit the refresh button on your commitment to your deep inner love for raw nature and adventure with a couple days on the coast - harvesting fall salmon and treating yourself and a guest or two to the perfect Pacific NW get away.

Fair Availability Now Through November >>  Click Here to See Available Dates  Text 253.389.0359 jessica@fishwaterswest.com