Finish chores quick, rain and fish about to arrive

REMINDER: Please verify the regulations before fishing any body of water

North Fork Lewis River and outside the mouth of the Lewis on the Columbia River mainstem.

The river is busy and the catching is getting good. Jim Milanowski with Looney Coonies fished the Meat Hole earlier in the week with two friends. They managed to hook three Chinook and brought home two.

“It’s hard to get the jumpers to bite. I tried Pro-Troll, plugs and spinners. Eggs worked the best,” Milanowski said.

Tuesday morning I observed two packed boats working the pool above the Hole in the Wall Island, right on the bend. During the 20 minutes I watched as they brought two very nice bright coho on the boat. They were slowly naturally drifting in the soft current tossing various spinners.

Nathan at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Kelso reminds everyone that from the natural gas pipeline to the creek at the lower hatchery portion of the river is open for fly fishing only.

When the weir is finally removed the fishing will no doubt be excellent. Until then it is a waiting game for either the rain to arrive or the weir to go away. It’s kind of similar to what came first; the chicken or the egg. As you can see in the table below, the coho run is taking its time getting started.

WDFW checks this week didn’t reveal much success or effort. There were only twenty bank rods checked that released a solo steelhead.

Dave Mallahan with Dave’s Guide Service is still experiencing slow fishing. After throwing everything at them; twitching jigs, throwing spinners, bobber and eggs, backtrolling plugs with eggs and also dragging eggs all have failed to provide a consistent bite.

WDFW anglers’ checks reported the following: Cowlitz River I-5 Bridge downstream – 24 bank rods kept two coho, one coho jack and released two coho and one coho jack. Seven boats/14 rods kept eight coho and released 12 coho. Cowlitz River Above the I-5 Bridge – 24 bank rods kept two coho and released five coho.

The best fishing is below the boat launch area on Highway 4 to the tide water. Fish are stacked up and there is no reason they won’t go higher in the system with the coming rain.

Fishing opened above Highway 4 bridge on Monday. On the Naselle you can currently keep two adults, of which one may be a wild coho, However, all wild Chinook must be released.

There doesn’t appear to be many wild coho that have made it to the hatchery yet. I’m not quite dialed in on that logic for the regulations since it isn’t the same logic used for Chinook on this river, or on the lower Columbia.

Last Friday Jim Milanowski with Looney Coonies fished Drano and caught several dark king salmon. Drano is still the focus of people fishing the gorge. Success at Drano has waned a little and the crowds are getting thinner. WDFW creel check report shows: Drano Lake – 70 bank rods kept three Chinook, five coho and released 20 Chinook and three coho. 57 boats/156 rods kept 10 Chinook, one Chinook jack, 75 coho, six steelhead and released 26 Chinook, three Chinook jacks, 10 coho and five steelhead.

Merwin Reservoir slowed a little this week. Limits were available but it has been work. The weather and lake conditions from a boating perspective have been nothing short of epic. Finding the correct depth is the biggest challenge as water temperature breaks become more pliable.