Steelhead update

Published 12:01 am Saturday, April 9, 2011

Although fluctuating river levels due to heavy rains could mess things up, hot fishing for spring-run steelhead on the Cowlitz was the word last week and over the weekend. State creel checks showed 24 boat fishermen at the trout hatchery had 21 steelhead and two chinook jacks, while 16 bank fishermen had 11 steelhead. At the salmon hatchery, six bank anglers had one spring chinook.

Bank fishing for steelhead on the Columbia, above the Tri-Cities at Ringold, closes April 15, and the fishery has been producing just fair results recently. Bankers have been putting in roughly 20 hours per fish, according to state biologist Paul Hoffarth, and both pressure and catch are below the averages of the past two years.