May 13
It has been some darn slow fishing for Spring Chinook in the tributary rivers. The water is running cold and the few fish that are in the rivers have been reluctant to bite most days. Instead of the normal hot fishing we experience this time of year it is slow but steady fishing. Most days we are pulling 2 or 3 fish by hovering eggs in the deep holes and back trolling Kwikfish and diver / bait rigs in the mid depth holes on the Lewis and Cowlitz. I have been working the Kalama by back bouncing eggs and Kwikfish. The river is up which makes for fast currents and difficult times for pulling plugs which is often a hot ticket on the Kalama.
On the upside, I have been running some Carp fishing trips, Bowfishing right now, with fly fishing trips soon to follow. It is early in the season for carp. With the cold water the best days have been windless days with sunshine to warm the water. The fish are there and easy enough to find. Stay tuned for tips and tricks, and the latest scoop on when the fishing gets hots. Bowfishing is a ton of fun and the guys on the boat have been having a blast hammering the fish.
Shad season is not far off and I am already booked heavily on the trips for the mid weight battlers. I fly fish these migratory Shad and even in high water conditions the fishing can be flat out spectacular. 20 fish is a slow day and 100 fish days happen every year. This is a fishery that every fly fisherman and woman should try at least once in a life time.
Keep you lines wet and your hooks sharp.
Clay Walker
Kalam River, Kalam River fishing reports, Kalama River Fishing, Lewis River Fishing, Lewis River fishing reports, Salmon Fishing, Spring Chinook Fishing, Vancouver Lake, Vancouver Lake Fishing
Apr 24
Well gang, we just wrapped up the best Columbia River Spring Chinook season in a decade. With the weak hatchey run to the Willamette River the gill netters weren’t allowed to fish the lower river. This meant that the Spring Chinook made it up the river and were available for the sports anglers to catch. Bad fishing days were few and far between. Lots of full limit days have occured for sport anglers and guides. Trolling with Herring and Flashers was a key producer, with K-13 Kwikfish with or without a Sardine wrap working for the anchor crowd. The I-5 to Camas area was the hottest stretch with literally hundreds of boats trolling the I-205 to I-5 bridge. The anglers that know what they are doing were hammering the fish. Event the non-experts were pulling some fish. Now that the Columbia is closed it is time to focus on the tributaries and moving to the back bouncing, back trolling, and hovering techniques. Stay tuned for tips, tricks, and other techniques that will help you catch the most prized salmon of the year.
Kalama River, Kalama River Spring Chinook, Lewis River, Lewis River Spring Chinook, Spring Chinook, Spring Chinook Fishing
Feb 16
Lewis River East Fork, Kalama River, Lewis River North Fork, South Fork Toutle River, Cowlitz River Report, Greys River, Elochman River, Steelhead Fishing, Fish We Catch, Washington State Fishing Reports, Chehalis River, Cowlitz River, Salmon Fishing
Smelt fishing remains slow on the Cowlitz River. Sturgeon fishing is slow in the Cowlitz and will stay that way until the smelt show. The Cowlitz and Columbia have both reached the magic 43 degree mark where the pilot run of smelt should be coming upriver in waves. And the sturgeon shhould be right behind them. The Sandy was hot this weekend with a mix of hatchery and native fish hitting in the upper river sections. Southwest Washington Rivers have dropped into shape and the Wild Fish are on the bite. A buddy of mine fish Saturday morning on a small local river and he hit three nice fish including a 15 lb native that ripped our most of his line before coming to hand. Steelheading is heating back up for late hatchery fish in the Blue Creek are of the Cowlitz. With the weather finally clearing up and rivers dropping back into shape, coastal rivers are all starting to produce well. It is time to get out on the water and catch the largest steelhead of the year.
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Dec 02
Winter Silver fishing is in full swing. Days catches are varying from 2 to 10 fish a day. The trick is catching the rivers between the heavy rain storms and river level swings. The fish are coming into the rivers chrome bright and willing to strike. Winter fishing is a hardware game. Eggs and other bait will work but plugs rule supreme for drawing strikes. We throw plugs in the deeper holes, backtroll them in moderate and fast current areas, and troll them in slow water holes. Fatfish, Wiggle Warts, and Brad Wigglers all work. I prefer dark metallic plugs in clear water and fluorescent orange and Pink in tannin colored or murky water. Winter Steelhead are starting to show up all of our rivers and fishing will be hot in another week with steady catches of fish happening all the way into March and April.
Chehalis River Guides, Coho Fishing, Coho Guides, Cowlitz River, Cowlitz River Guides, Kalama River Guides, Lewis River Guides, Satsop River Guides, Winter Steelhead
Nov 14
The Chehalis River is producing limits of silvers on the hot days. The key to the Chehalis systems is to watch the river levels. Make sure it is dropping or holding steady before you fish it. I spend my time throwing wiggle warts and fatfish, along with spinners to the banks and around logs on the Chehalis. I cover a lot of water searching for the Silvers. Once I find a good concentration of fish I stay on them and work the water hard until the fish turn on and hit the gear. Bites often come in short flurries with lulls, so be patient and you will put fish in the boat.
Late run silvers are big and mean on this river. The Chehalis has a strong run of both hatchery and native Silvers and it is open for retention of both types of Coho. This year the Chehalis was also open for Native Chinook. The State decided the runs were strong enough to sustain a short season. That fishery is closed now, but the fish were huge and the fishery while not spectacular was steady. WDFW is expected to open another short season next year. The Chinook were running large this year and the shots are of a nice fish and a monster that weighed 52lbs. Both Chinook shown in the pictures were returned to the river health and strong. Fish of this size need to be allowed to spawn to create future generations of giant fish.
Chehalis River Chinook Fishing, Chehalis River Fishing, Chehalis River Fishing Guide, Chehalis River Fishing Guides, Chehalis River Fishing Reports, Chehalis River Guide, Chehalis River Guides, Chehalis River Silver Fishing, Chehalis River Washington 
