Fishing Washington

Get out the Kwikfish and Herring rigs gang.  The first springers have been caught in the lower Columbia and more are moving up every day.  This years run prediction if for 263,300 Spring Chinook to cross Bonneville Dam.  Both the Columbia and Willametter Rivers will be open.  The Columbia below the Willametter will be open from March 24th thru April 4th.  It is a seven day a week fishery with a limit of 1 fish a day per person.  Above the Willamette the open dates are March 16th to April 30.  Tuesdays are closed to fishing and the limit is 1 fish per person.  The Willametter River hatchery Springer runs is expected to be low and you can expect to have lower than normal retention rates than most years around the mouth of the Willamette.  This is also a good sign that you should focus your efforts in areas where the upriver fish tend to run.  The Willamette fish run up the Oregon side of the Columbia as they approach the St Helens area.  I will be focusing a lot of my efforts on the Washington side of the river around the Lewis and Kalama River mouths.  This will allow me to pick up the up river fish while picking up the fish that hang in and around the river mouths as they prepare to migrate up the tributaries. 

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