[Uglygreen]

CLACKAMAS

Fish seen rolling at the mouth for the past week (confirmed), rumor has it that there are fish hanging out just below dog creek in "signifigant" numbers (unconfirmed - but 2 sources say the same thing) and a few fish have been taken as far up the river as the mouth of Eagle creek. (unconfirmed)

COWLITZ

Coho are in the river, small pods and scattered out, some numbers at the confluence of the Cowlitz and Toutle. (confirmed)

KALAMA

Fish are in the river, no details. (unconfirmed)

LEWIS

Fish all the way up to the hatchery, Monday and Tuesday were good, dropped off Wensday and today. (confirmed)

WASHOUGAL

Fish are in the lower river. (confirmed) Snaggers are out in force. (likely true)

SANDY

No report.

HERMAN CREEK

Yes. (confirmed)

-----------------------------

My good deed for the day - UG

[ 08-21-2003, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Uglygreen ]

 

[Uglygreen]

Here was a big native buck coho in full spawning colors from last year, I love that color!

UG

 

[letsfish]

Thanks Brad ! Now I know I'm getting excited! Also are those coho at Herman or steelies and chinooks? I hear cohos are in october at Herman.
I remember that fish being posted last year .... an EC fish , right?

 

[Fast Water]

Brad,

I have seen a couple fresh Chinooks at the log hole (NFL) but I have yet to see any Coho. The Steelhead bite is decent in the morning but lacking in the evening.

We are expecting another large Coho return this year on the Lewis :grin: . I just wish it wasn't such a zoo.

:smile:

 

[steelheadslayer]

Brad, confirmed??? By whom? :grin: :grin:

 

[driftphish]

we should keep this post home for freshwater coho reports as more and more come in in the next month or two.

 

[garyk]

Tuesday evening, off Sauvie Island, we were marking a lot of smaller appearing fish at mid depth, coming through in bunches. These might be the coho headed your way - LOOK OUT! :grin:

Anyone have any ideas about techniques to try for these coho when they're traveling in the Columbia's deeper waters? Such as the bottom is 40' and they're traveling at 25' to 30'?

 

[Uglygreen]

Cut plug herring in tidewater (which can go all the way ot to Ranier/Longview)..... troll Mag warts.... troll spinners/spooons..... troll.... troll... troll.... :grin:

UG

 

[Big TULE]

Sorry UG, i have to disagree with the fish in the Washougal, i have been down there every day this week in the morning. I have been tossing eggs, and there have been some sreelies moving through but no nooks yet. And i haven't seen anybody else down there, so the snaggers are not out in full force yet... God help us when the fish do get here and the snaggers do crawl out of there cracks in the rocks...

 

[RipDatLip]

I'd also have to say that the NFL is not putting out coho yet... but within the next few weeks they should start to come in more #'s.

Matt

 

[glowball]

well ugly someone has to support ya. Guess I'll do it. Your report on the cowlitz is correct confirmed or whatever. They have taken 3 fall kings in at the hatchery as well.

 

[Dakotan]

Great report UG. Thanks. As far as the north coastal streams go, I haven't seen any coho or kings in yet. Summer steelhead are throughout the whole system though.

 

[STGRule]

UG, I still have that cool picture as my desktop. Many people have walked into my house and oohed and aawed over it. Thanks for that picture.

 

[Uglygreen]

Regarding the Washougal River, I personally saw 2 coho on the bank for about 8-10 guys fishing near the SR14 bridge on Wensday. They certainally looked to be "setting the hook" quite frequently, but I was up on the road 200-300 feet away and couldn't say for sure.

UG

 

[jokester]

WHOOO HOOOO....they're coming!!!!!! :dance: :dance:

 

[CATCH AND EAT]

Yea and so are the clueless doughballs that rip the water.

 

[Fishrite]

Doughballs, huh? :blush: You are kind, Bernie! :grin: :grin:

 

[garyk]

Is this what y'all are looking for?

(Sandy River, late Oct. 2002, released of course)

 

[garyk]

Dan, Wow! what a brute - I gotta find a Brads BW29 and pull that around in the Columbia for awhile!

 

[Born to be Wild]

A little info on SW Washington hatchery coho runs. Most of this I took and copied/pasted from my post on the Washougal thread and added and edited for accuracy.

The Kalama, Lewis and Elocoman rivers have both the early (type S) and late strain (type N) hatchery coho. The general rule of thumb is that the early's start returning around the end of August or early September. They wind down around mid October. Then the late's start showing around mid October and return through November and in some cases into December. It is not uncommon on the rivers that have the late strain coho to get a mixed bag of late coho and winter steelhead.

Some folks believe that the Cowlitz has two runs of coho. An "A" run and a "B" run. But in reality the Cowlitz has a late strain only. I think the confusion comes from the early run of Toutle/Green river hatchery coho that migrate through the lower Cowlitz all the way up to the Castle Rock area where they enter the Toutle.

The Toutle/Green has the early strain coho only. The Toutle is a real early run and should be showing up between now and next week.

The Grays River has only the early strain also.

The Washougal is the late strain coho only but does have some early strays that come from?

The Elocoman and Kalama rivers run timing in the river itself can be affected by the water level or rains. The Cowlitz and Lewis that are controlled by dams seem to always have enough water for the fish to move up when their clock says go.

Two years ago when we had a sizable hatchery year (1.3 million OPI) the Toutle coho were a big disappointment. I believe the Toutle had a 6 coho limit that year but they were held up in the Cowlitz due to low water conditions (drought) and didn’t enter the Toutle until early October and were for the most part in poor shape when they finally could go.

The Washougal starts out 3 coho a day this year and also they are the late strain coho type (N). I don’t fish the Washougal but would guess they probably won't start showing until about mid October as do the late's in the NF Lewis, Cowlitz, Elocoman and Kalama rivers. The run size is only estimated to be around 6,000 hatchery coho but has been given a 3 coho a day bag limit because unlike the Elocoman or Cowlitz the excess hatchery coho aren’t passed up stream to possibly spawn in the wild. Therefore they are giving you extra opportunity to catch the excess fish.

The Cowlitz, NF Lewis and Toutle rivers all start out with a 3 coho a day limit this year due to predicted strong runs and there is the possibility that they could get an in season bag limit increase to 4 or 6 fish a day. Possibility!

The bag limit on the Cowlitz was increased to 4 coho a day last season after fishery managers realized the return was larger than preseason predictions.


It’s going to be a great year and one not to be missed!

The OPI this year is predicted to be around a million coho.

Dan