- Current Conditions - Graph graph format of flow rates of the Cowlitz below Mayfield Dam from the USGS
The Cowlitz River is considered the Grand Puba of steelhead rivers
in Washington. The hatchery at Blue Creek produces huge returns
of both summer-run and winter-run fish of respectable size. In
fact, the Cowlitz is consistently the number 2 river in terms
of steelhead caught every year in the state. Second only to the
mighty Columbia (which hardly seems like a river), the Cowlitz
puts out up to 20,000 sport-caught winter steelhead in a good
year with close to 6,000 caught in the month of December alone.
With this 'success' there comes a cost -- a very large population
of loud jet boats and sometimes rowdy, gun-toting bank anglers
competing for these fish virtually every day of the year. The
worst of it is confined to the hole at Blue Creek, however and
the river below can sometimes provide a peaceful 'fishing
experience'. When this river is hot, there is nothing like it
on the west coast (something like King fishing on the Kenai I
suppose). It may not be for you, but it's definitely something
every fisherman should experience at least once.
June 1, 2001
Thanks to: Martin Anderson
Since light is bright and early, got up at 4:00 am because day is starting to break at 4:30 am. The Cowlitz Barrier Dam is opened at 4:00 am. It was running about 3300 cfs, visibility to 8 feet. It is glacial feed so it had nice green tinge of color. Casted 3 times and got hooked up on the bottom. It was about 5 am. 10 people were on the river that early but others were arriving as I rigged up again. Saw a couple salmon rolling on the other side of the river. The river is very low for this time of the year. I decided to go with a small pearl corky and flourescent pink yarn. A lot of smolts were in the river and I did not want to damage any of their chances for survival. Eggs would have enticed them more to strike. Summer runs are different than winter runs in that they are usually in tail outs or fairly shallow water with cover available. I used pencil lead because I can feel it bounce along the bottom where the summer runs like to hang. I found a piece of water that had both rocks and eddys swirling. Fishing can be fast in these eddies if you are the first cast that they see. The first cast provided nothing, the second a slight hesitation where it had bounced under a rock the third was what I thought was a snag. As I went to give a swing of the rod tip to release the tension, the line went tight, in fact it started moving upstream as only fish do. I lifted the tip of the pole higher and all the sudden this steelie knew it was hooked. Now the fight was on. Since the river was only half as wide as normal at this time, it decided to go down river so I had to make a run with it. I was only using 8 lb test so I did not want to horse it in for fear of breaking it off. Steelies usually make about 3 or 4 runs and they are ready to come in. Although this fight lasted for another 10 minutes before I was able to land this 14 pound buck chromer. It was only about 5:15 am and I still had time for more action. I decided to stay with what I had used before. Casted for almost an hour then I hooked into a mini jack chinook. Released that and casted a half dozen times and felt that nice stop in the line again, set the hook and tied into a spring chinook. These are not keepable at this time so when you hook one get it in quick and try not to even get it out of the water if possible. Released that one and decided to give it another shot. Took another hour to get another fish on but this one when hooked became airborne as summer steelies do frequently. It took three leaps downstream, took one lunge at the bank and beached itself. This was all done before 6:30 am. The fishing was just starting to get good! What a great day. Try the pearly corky for summer runs, it truly does work. Good Luck!
Mar. 7, 2001
Thanks to: vance
If you are after smelt then hurry down to the cowlitz. We went to Castle Rock for the (super secreat) smelt opener the WDFW so thoughtfully anounced for wednesday and nailed the smelt. Hurry the run will probably not last long.Good Luck Amigos.
Feb. 24, 2001
Thanks to: Bob Norton
My fishing partner and I went to the Cowlitz to check on the smelt run today and I can guarantee it is very slow. We didn't see one smelt brought in. However, we went down the Columbia to County Line park and there seems to be some activity in the river. Seagulls are diving and coming up with smelt and the Sea Lions have moved upriver which usally means the smelt are moving. I think water conditions in the Cowlitz need to improve some before the fish move into the Cowlitz. Good Fishing!
Feb. 16, 2001
Thanks to: david tran
First, I fished Blue Creek and didn't get a bite, so I went to Barrier Dam and what do you know I landed ten steelies. The biggest one being a 19-lb. hen. I was using Captain America Powerbait, which you can find at your local tackle store. Let the Powerbait stay on the bottom since that's where they are and let them bite.
Are you kidding me, Powerbait and 10 steelies? - Editor
Feb. 10, 2001
Thanks to: al uhl
The wife and I tried our luck at Blue Creek this morning. Fished for about three hours saw one fished landed at about 7lbs and one fished lost. Very little of a crowd, which is good. Saw only about three boats. Left Blue Creek and went to Barrier Dam. We fished just below the marker and what do you know, We landed two nice hens at about 12 & 10 lbs. It was a nice surprised. It was a nice day all the way around.
Feb. 2-4, 2001
Thanks to: Mike Rabideau
I spent three days plunk'n just below Castle Rock. There were several other fishing near where I was. During those three days three wild fish were caught and released. Several "pounder" steelhead were also caught. Spin N glos were the lure, some fished a single some a double rig. Watermelon with mylar wings seemed to be the best. I had luck adding a sand srimp to mine. I spoke to two boat fisherman who were set up near Cook Ferry rd. Both got fish, using a spin N glo and egg combination. The river was very low and clear.
Dec. 14, 2000
Thanks to: james murphy
went out plunking in the olequa hole......lot's of poles.....not alot of action...i was lucky enough to land a 15+ lb wild steelhead yesterday and lost a large one the day before...
Dec. 1, 2000
Thanks to: Stephen Elia
Took a half day off work and decided to hit the Cowlitz below Blue Creek. First I tried rags, no hits. Tried eggs, nothing. Then I went to a small red corky and white yarn... Tis fish hit me moving out. Stripped off about 20 yards before I could gain some control. After about a 10 minute fight I had landed a nice 8-lb. chrome hatchery hen. What a great fight. Not bad for my first steelhead. Caught on my second trip out.
Nov. 28-30, 2000
Thanks to: David Greening
Arrived at the river late afternoon on Tues. the 28th of Nov. It was very foggy and getting foggier by the minute. Started fishing right at dark below boat ramp above Blue Creek. After no fish after about an hour we walked the trail down to blue creek. Believe it or not it was too foggy to fish so we walked back out to get things ready in my drift boat for the next day's float.Wed. morning started float at about 7:00am. Fished a little bit on our way to the gravel bar across from blue creek. Beached the boat and fished until about noon. Saw three fish caught on the creek and two caught on the gravel bar. Did not see a sled catch a fish. We fished the rest of the way down to the take-out fishing plugs, bait-divers, corkies with fresh sandshrimp and eggs without a hit. We ate dinner walked back down the trail to fish Blue Creek from the creek side and stayed until midnight with just one hit that stayed on for just a few seconds.
Day three. We started late, about 9:00am, and decided to drift from Barrier Dam down to Blue creek just for fun. Still lots of salmon around the dam area. We hooked and released a big silver with lots of color on a plug down below the dam. It put up a pretty good battle. Also hooked a small jack in the same area. Drift fished and pulled plugs and bait divers all the way down with no more success. It seems if you want to catch and release dark salmon fish the dam area and if you want a shot at bright steelhead you need to fish Blue Creek down.
Pretty much the same as it has always been this time of year. There should be lots of brights showing up each day at the creek.
Nov. 2, 2000
Thanks to: al uhl
My wife and I went to the zoo at Barrier Dam on Thursday Novermber, 2.
Unlike most of the people that fish there we don't use eges
We just fish with corkies and yarn. My wife hook and landed
one silver whick we kept and tied into a bunch of kings.
I tried fishing the zoo up by the marker and lost a number
of fish. could not land any. With all of the people fishing
that spot is hard. But with all of the people it was fun most
of the guys are great. but I do wonder does anyone work
anymore.
Nov. 3, 2000
Thanks to: jim jones
went cowlitz fished bobber egg's caught six adults four five jacks lost and missed another ten or twelve fish. watched zoo most fish were foul hooked went down river from barrier fished bobber eggs hooked couple more. Me and fishing buddie have caught twenty one fish last two trips.
Oct. 29, 2000
Thanks to: Jeff Gordon
Arrived at the barrier dam about 5:50AM hoping to get a nice spot on the edge of the current.........WRONG, it was already elbow to elbow out there. So I settled for a nice spot on the bank. I started out using a pink pixie spoon, no luck, switched to the green pixie spoon, and on the first cast hooked into a real nice fish, never saw what it was though, it got off before I got a good look at it. Several more casts produced nothing. I then switched to an orange corky with dark green yarn. On the first cast I hooked a Jack. That was it for me that day. I had several more hits, but no hook ups. My buddy however hooked several of them off of the green pixie spoon, but couldn't land any of them. The people wading out near the edge of the current had the best luck. Seemed like every time I looked over there someone was fighin another bruiser.
I was there from 5:50AM to 4:30PM, and saw the fish truck dump at least 7 times that day. I talked to the driver, and he said they were expecting another 33,000 fish to arrive sometime this week. That sounded like a fish story to me, but I guess I'll go back this weekend, to make sure!!
Aug. 15, 2000
Thanks to: Chris
I floated from blue creek to mission with my friend. I fished Anderson Bar and there was probably 5 guys there and 6 at blue creek. I saw 2 hook ups and they both got off. I talked to a couople sleds and they weren't having much luck. My friend scored a 3 lbs male steelie. The only one that we saw caught.
Upper Cowlitz - July 24, 2000
Thanks to: Gary Spencer
Fished the river at Cowlitz Falls/Riffe Lake. Great fishing for rainbows. Caught 4 in under an hour all 2+ pounds. My Father in Law caught one 4+ Lbs on July 20th. All in all very good fishing with very little competition for space. Little boat traffic. Friendly folks to spend some quality fishing time with.
July 22-23, 2000
Thanks to: parker
Rolled into Blue Creek about 5p.m. Friday. Hit the water at 6p.m., didn't catch any fish but saw 5 to 8 steelhead caught. Saturday we hit 3 fish, did not see a whole lot caught that day. Weather was cold and wet with thunder and lightning. Fished Sunday morning, got 3 more. Left at about 9.30a.m. to head home. Lots of people, decent fishing. Fished from Blue Creek to Mission Bar.
July 7, 2000
Thanks to: Gold Leader
Fished from Blue Creek to next take out. Both of us lost 2 steelhead. We were flyfishing and lying low to avoid the massive number of jet boats. Trout were hard to keep off your fly. Had a great day! My second time on this freeway.
June 14, 2000
Thanks to: Chris
I went to Blue Creek for the first time and came out empty. I did see 2 fish caught. There was also alot of sleds there.
June 12, 2000
Thanks to: Al Uhl
My wife and I went to blue creek on the cowlitz to see if there are any Summer run Steelhead around. There are and there is also the crowd that goes with it. I was surprised at the number of fishermen there. The whole time we was there, there was about 20 or so fishermen. For the most part it was a good day fishing. We didn't catch anything but did see a number of steelhead caught. But with that many people fishing there comes the bad with the good. Three fishermen made being drunk and just being rude. Then there were the guys fishing from the gravalbed. The Blue Creek hole is to small to have people fishing across from you. But it still beats being at work, I think?
May 23, 2000
Thanks to: Duke Dresen
Went down to the Cowlitz to see what the summer run steelies were doin' and didn't see much of anything happening. Did see one guy with a steelhead walking out of Blue Creek but that's about it. Tried drift fishing with eggs or shrimp, nothing, tried bobber and eggs.....smolts, bobber and shrimp....more smolts didn't get much out of anything. I will try again in a few days and will report again, hopefully with better news.
Feb. 11, 2000
Thanks to: John Sorenson
The smelt are in and you better get down there this weekend 18th and 19th for it will be the last. If you're interested in great Sturgeon fishing you'll need a freezer full of these little fish. Had my limit in a half hour of 10 pounds. Dip anywhere from the mouth to 3 or 4 miles north of Longview (best dipping is at night)
Jan. 29, 2000
Thanks to: Bernie Stebar
Arrived at the river around 7:45am. At about 8:30am I had two hard hits (feeding the fish). On the third cast, using sand shrimp still, the fight was on. After about 15 minutes, on the bank was a chrome bright 12-lb. hatchery hen. This is my first this year. Been mainly fishing the Puyallup and haven't even heard of any metalheads being taken on that river. Fished the Cowlitz till around 2pm. Didn't see anyone else even get any hits all morning. Overall for me a good day.
Dec. 22, 1999
Thanks to: anonymous
We actually went on the 21 and 22. On the 21 my partner caught a nice 15 pound Steelhead buck. That was all that we caught. Upon pulling the boat out we talked to some people who walked out from Blue Creek. One guy had a nice 12 pound chrome Steelhead hen. He told us that about 20 fish were caught that day. On the 22 my partner caught a 5 pound white fish. I caught the first fish unfortunatly it was a 8 inch searun Cutthroat. Blue Creek, talking to three guys who walked out with 3 Steelhead said that there was only about 10 fish caught that day. The water has been clearing up and the level dropping. However, I havn't seen any of the guides on the river. It's real slow.
Nov. 26, 1999
Thanks to: Chris Smith
Fished from 9:00 am at Blue Creek. 3 fish total caught (not by me of corse) till 2:00 pm. Went to Barrier Dam. 5 silvers caught (again only the lucky) left at 5:00 (dark). The river rose 5-6 inches while I was out. Unless it comes down a bit, it may not be fishable. Very cloudy for Cowlitz.
Nov. 21, 1999
Thanks to: Stuart Freitas
It was about 4 p.m on sunday night... I was fishing the Cowlitz with a green glow-in-the-dark corky with dark green yarn. In the first 20 mins. I had 1 15-pound salmon and then 5 casts later I had a 20-pounder. They fought awesome for 15 to 20 minutes, it was a heart-pulling experience. My dad had 2 also, a 9- and 10-pounder. They had good bright colors and my friend caught a jack. We all were useing green corkys and yarn, maybe see you down there!
Nov. 20, 1999
Thanks to: Stuart Freitas
Well it was a Saturday moring at the upper Cowlitz River.. I had two bites and my friend had one.. It went kinda' slow. Then we left and came back 1 hour 30 mins before dark... I got two salmon, a 15-pounder and a 10-pounder off a green glow-in-the-dark [spin-n-glow? corkie?]. My freind got a jack and my dad got two 9-pounders. I fought my salmon for 20 to 25 minutes, it was a blast.
Oct. 14, 1999
Thanks to: marc mittelstead
Just heard the Cowlitz silver limit is 4 adults, though only 1 can be a king...sounded sweet!!!!! Took my son to the barrier dam and saw 3 snagged dark kings for 20 people in 3 hours.... hmmmm. We decided to hit blue creek for steelies. I was so very sad to see the river has shifted to the right again and the old stump hole now has a torrential flow and is not good holding water. New slides have filled in the cove near the choke point as well, so this winter looks to be piss poor again. There were only 4 boat trailers in both parking lots and 4 guys at blue creek. The big bend looked very much improved and probably will be the side to fish this year as the river has changed so very much. So, do not expect to get your meat fish at blue creek this year. Just like the past few seasons, it is not the place to be...I usually had taken home 8-15 fish a year from there on as many trips. Check it out and then take the kids bowling.
Sept. 4-6, 1999
Thanks to: David Elliott
I went with my wife Amy for a weekend of fishing with my buddy Rich to the lower Cowlitz and Amy boated a 30-lb. King, a big ole buck. Hooked it in the corner hole above the Toutle back-bouncing eggs. She also caught a 22-lb. King hen, both were in awesome shape. The Cohos were running thick as well, Amy caught her first Coho boondogging and set the hook like she's been doing it all her life, it was great to see. I hooked into one big King that came off and landed 2 smaller kings and 2 bright Cohos and one Steelhead that found that under the boat is a good way to bust a leader off. Rich, being his usual self, landed a few nice Kings and a few more fresh Cohos. Overall, I think we hooked into close to 20 fish, we were pretty hot to say the least. A lot of people out there on the bank & in boats.
Aug. 19, 1999
Thanks to: al uhl
I have been gone for the past 90 or so days and have not had the chance to do any fishing, none at all. Well on the 19th I got my first chance to do some fishing. Went after work, got down to Blue Creek about 5:30 in the afternoon. There were a few others fishing there. One fisherman had two Steelhead and was on his way out. Was there about a half hour and ran into a 10 pounder that spent more time in the air then in the water. What a great way to get back into fishing. Just love those Steelhead.
Aug. 16, 1999
Thanks to: dean p.
I caught a 21-lb. chinook below the mouth of the Toutle River and had a beautiful steelhead that shook the hooks out. Using a small red corkie and a huge glob of eggs (about the size of a golf ball). That was in the early morning on the west side of the river. Pulled out about 12:30 and went to the barrier dam, didn't see a thing happening.
Aug. 11, 1999
Thanks to: Steven W.
I tied up some small dries and tried 'em at the trout hatchery, lots of smolts seemed interested but the nice fish were up at Barrier. The smolts were thick there too but so were some nice bow's got a pair at @ 14" but the real story was all those late summer run or early fall run big un's! If only I had some streamers or at least bigger dries! Oh well at least I didn't go away skunked!
Aug. 7, 1999
Thanks to: Patrick Reilly
I went to the Cowlitz to see what I could do about hooking a fish or two. My first and only stop was the Barrier Dam. I talked to a couple of Fishermen who told me they hadn't seen any fish at Barrier, but they had been to Blue creek and seen some fish caught earlier. I figured I would give it a shot here cause I don't like to fight the crowds. I picked out a good spot, and waded out there. Steelhead fishing can be the funniest thing, sometimes you can put in hours or even days waiting for that first take, but today it only took a few cast and I was on. It was a 25 inch hatchery summer run. This fish was Chrome bright and full of hell! What a blast! I fished for about 4 more hours without even getting a nibble. I plan on trying my luck again in a couple of days. They're in there...
Aug. 1, 1999
Thanks to: bob bigler
Arrived at the boat ramp at 05:30 thinking we would be early but there were already 10 boats in and fishing. Overall fishing slow, less than 1/boat, with the guides doing fair but working the drift hard below blue creek. Lots of boat traffic and the river is still high for summer. Water clarity is excellent so long light leaders are a must. Will try again soon but don't expect much improvement until they drop the flow over the dam.
June 5, 1999
Thanks to: ?
Hit Blue Creek at about 6am. Tried drifting sandshrimp, eggs, bobber and jigs. but alas, no steelies! The river is full of bait thieving smolt! Saw on guy get about a 6-lb buck on a gold spinner, but very dark, definitely not a keeper. Will try again in about a month, still too early right now. Hope the summer run produces more than last year...
May 16, 1999
Thanks to: Marc Le Poullouin
Well, guide Eli Rico is on a roll on the Cowlitz. He got me my first steelhead in February on the Snoqualmie and today he got me my first springer on the Cowlitz. Backtrolling plugs was the ticket today. We were the only boat with fish that I saw. I would really recommend Eli as a quality guide to go out with. His number is (206)469-0567. Good luck to all.
May 2, 1999
Thanks to: W. Thompson
Went to Barrier dam Sunday at about 5:30, Not a whole bunch of people but more than lately. Fished about 200 yards below the markers from about 6:30 to 9:30. Not much happening. I turned 2 but didn't land either springer. Packed it up and drove down to a spot above Toledo and tied into 2 springers landed one, pretty bright fish but not really big, maybe 9 or so. On about my 40th last cast I turned a nice bright buck steelie, weighed him at the truck at 13.78, 32 1/4". Everything was caught on a glow corkie with red spots, orange yarn, and a really small thumbnail sized chunk of roe. One fella about 50 yards below me landed a 22.88 pound springer, he was drifting a spin n glo and eggs. River looked to be in the neighborhood of 5500, with probably 6' of vis. The overcast seemed to help, could do without the rain though.
Apr. 26, 1999
Thanks to: marc scott
Fished the Cowlitz for a total of 20 hours from April 1 til recent, had one on, other than that it's been terrible. Heard of one springer caught, don't believe Fishing and Hunting News paper, [aka liar's digest], hopefully May will bring better luck.
Apr. 25, 1999
Thanks to: matt aliberti
Refering to Marc Scott's report: he is right, F & H is a liars' digest. It's been slow, almost everyone I talked to said the same. Where does F & H do thier fishing, in the hatchery?
Apr. 23, 1999
Thanks to: Jason Clayton
I fished the Cowlitz yesterday....real slow. Did not even get a hit. Saw about 20 people fishing, and only fish that I saw caught was a nice trout of about 20 inches. Water is lower than it has been with good visibility. I tried just about everything in the box with no results. I was fishing on the upper river between barrier dam and blue creek. I did however see a few fish roll, just enough to keep me interested. Hope it picks up soon.
Apr. 10, 1999
Thanks to: dean
Went out to the colitz river near blue creek, early in the morning, There were two guy's in the water. The water was a little high but still in shape. I ended up hooking a 3 lb native and released it. The rest of the day one of the guy's hooked a springer and the other hooked two keepers. I took of at 12:30 it was starting to get slow by then.
Apr. 4, 1999
Thanks to: Robert L. Crocker
Snuck out for an hour or so to work some of the deep holes upstream from where the Toutle comes in. Saw maybe a dozen other fishers. Some working from shore plus a few anchored and working crankbaits in all the normal places. I was marking quite a few fish everywhere the depth was over about 10', but not sure if these were real fish or depth finder noise. Tried crankbaits and spinners with no luck. River was running in the 7,000 cfs range and it was certainly fishable.
Mar. 11, 1999
Thanks to: al uhl
The wife and I again got the chance to do a little fishing, or should I say to be in the act of fishing? The day was sunny day, just great weather, the river was about 8600 and the fish, well lets just say we tried. We went to Barrier Dam got on the river kind of late there were about 10 or 11 other fishermen there. We didn't talk to any of the other fishermen. Didn't see any fish cought in the time that we were there, did see one fish on a stringer. That's all right, still a good day of fishing.
Mar. 2, 1999
Thanks to: al uhl
Made it steelhead fishing for the first time this year. My wife and I went to the great Cowlitz River to try our luck. The water was running at about 8800 and looking good for the amount of rain that we have had this year. Our first stop was the walk to Blue Creek and the walk from blue creek with about three hours of fishing. Heard that the fishing pressure had been light and it was, for we were the only ones there. Not any fish either. Karen at the Barrier Dam Campground (great people there) said that she heard of one being cought there earlier in the day. (That is normal for us, always late.) From Blue Creek we went up to Barrier Dam, there were a few fishermen there, didn't see any fish caught but again heard of a couple being caught that morning. My wife and I fished there for about two hours then went home to Tacoma, no fish to tell about but it was nice to get out of the city again. As the saying goes "a bad day at fishing beats a good day at work". We will be back.
Oct. 25, 1998
Thanks to: Steve Ng
Finally made it fishing again, with all this low water in my favorite rivers, I was
forced to visit the mighty Cowlitz river. The weather made for a very pleasent day
and the absence of crowds made for a nice peaceful day of fishing. My son, Jeffry
and I arrived at the river around 10 am and headed downriver from the launch at Blue
Creek. There were many "bars" on the launch showing as the river was only running at
4000 cfm, but that was more water than there had been. Around the corner from the
Blue Creek battle zone, we boon-dogged for a while with no luck, but did see an anchored
sled at the clay-banks hook and land a semi-dark summer run. We decided to anchor and
have lunch and drift fish from the boat.
I hooked my first fish, which I think was a silver by the way it was fighting,
after about a half hour. Of course it went it between two rocks that had an
underwater sweeper and promptly snagged on it. I could feel the fish still on,
so I started the sled and went to get it, but by the time I got to it, the fish was gone.
Hooked the second fish after many, many casts and this one was a screamer and a Jumper!
All I could do was listen to the drag scream as I tried to start the motor and release
the anchor. The steelhead won the race as it came unhooked with one hand on the anchor
rope and one on my rod. Caught a couple jacks and cutthroats and called it a day.
No fish in the boat, but a great day of fishin. At the launch, the few people that
I did see had about the same story.
Sept. 4, 1998
Thanks to: Chuck Sasse
Very light pressure on the mighty Cowlicks over the holiday weekend for us bank
fishers. A few boats out there, but most were down stream, I guess. I fished
both Blue Creek and Barrier Dam. Saw a couple kings caught, and only saw one
steelhat on the river. I hooked a king, but my 6 pound leader didn't last very long!
August 9, 1998
Thanks to: Rod Bush (River Otter Guide Service)
Thought it was time for me to go on a little vacation since the river I usually
fish had been slow. It had been a while since I had just gone out for
myself. I needed to feel the rod cranked over in my hands for once in a
long time. Well I decided since I was going to be serious about this I
would concentrate my efforts on one hole. It paid off big time right off
the get go. I had just rowed to the top of the hole and put my
blue pirate tadpolly out and had taken about four strokes on the oars
dropping fast in the swift current. When it happened my rod slammed over the
bow and fish on! It looked to be a hot buck of about 8 pounds. It wanted
to stay on top of the water more than under. Tail walking and jumping all
over the place this fish wasn't even close to letting me gain control.
Well you guessed it I blew it! That last jump shook my hook right out and
into my face. The morning was so beautiful that I didn't even mind losing
that fish and was happy just to have played one myself. Just then my buddy
shows up at the bank so I pick him up and tell him he just missed it!
But he was just in time. Because when we rowed out and made another pass
the left rod--same plug--gets slammed! This time we land a 8-pound hen. Out we
go again for another pass, this time about half way down his rod is cranked
down to the water. Fish On!! It was a buck that had already been in the hatchery.
His gill plate had been punched. Nice shape though so in the box he went. We hit
one more within that hour then nothing but what a day! Thanks for the
recycling of those hatchery fish we had a fun day.
River Otter Guide Service
425-334-6318 Rod Bush
August 4, 1998
Thanks to: Cal Osborne
As usual, got the buy our tackle report from bluecreek bait and tackle. No fish
to be had, it sucks so don't believe the tnt report or the guides that are greedy
for cash. Spend some gas money, and wet a line. It gets good around the mid to
late Aug.
August 2, 1998
Thanks to: Bob Bigler
Bad day or bad season? Tried the Cowlitz again today... Saw no fish caught out of the
Blue Creek area but talked to one guy that had heard [how's that for first-hand
reporting?] of one caught by another angler. Several guides working the river but
they eventually went down river. Must be a few fish if they are working the river,
but very few by my report. The river is very low and clear too. Can we hope for a
better day or is it going to be wait until next year again?!
July 24, 1998
Thanks to: Ron Frost
I fished the lower cowlitz on friday with a guide (Don Kenzie). We had four guys in
the boat and between us we hit 7 fish. One was wild so he went back. We came home
with 4 fish the large one was a 12lb buck. The weather was good the river was good
life is good.
July 1, 1998
Thanks to: Eric Walker
Fished the Cowlitz this weekend along with about 15 other anglers who tried to nab a
steelhead or two (yeah right). The fishing pressure was moderate right at the barrier
dam, but the success was low. Fished both Saturday and Sunday and did not here of one
fish landed, though a few stories of a tug of war here and there. The score board
has it Steelhead 3, Angler 0. I pulled a 9 lb. cookie cutter hatchery buck out of
there on 26 June and thought the run would thicken up a bit by mid July, this doesn't
seem to be the case. The water is a bit low but looks great. The smolt are thieves,
stick with corkies and yarn with shrimp oil. I have had success with two small pink
corkies, black yarn, number 4 hooks, and a 5 foot 8lb. leader. I see a lot of guys
fishing the seams, must be a reason why. Though no one brings a fish to dry land.
Close to the 400' barrier markers I swithed to a chrome corkie and hooked what I
believed to be a springer with attitude on the first cast. I run that super line
(6 lbs diameter/30lbs. strength) for main line (awesome sensitivity) and 12lb.
Maxima for the leader. Whatever it was, it ate my lunch (and corkies too). 5 Minutes of
back and forth before he decided to return to the Columbia and snap my leader, and he
never showed his face. I have turned 30 lb. salmon with this same setup, could he
have been bigger, or are their sturgeon up here? It was like trying to stop a freight
train with 300 yards of dental floss. And who said fishing isn't a contact sport?
Feel free to e-mail at walker@yelmtel.com. I keep my ears to the rivers quite often.
July 11, 1998
Thanks to: Charles O. Rudorfer
Wife and I decided to float the Cowlitz today. Heard the river has been hot and cold.
Well, today it was cold. Caught 9 smolts. Understand the department, in a planned test,
released smolts at end of May instead of the normal time. Guess we will be battling this
along with all the other perils.......
July 1, 1998
Thanks to: Robert Crocker
Fished Cowlitz from Toledo down to Castlerock. Was boondoggling eggs from a sled. Lost one
nice summer run (~ 5 to 6 pounds) just upstream of the Toledo Bridge. Lots of smolt.
Saw one guide coming back early on our way down to the Toutle.. a possible sign of limits.
Watched a shore fisherman land a nice summer run at bar where Toutle
enters the Cowlitz. We worked the drift there for quite a while with no luck however.
Had one or two other possible strikes...
It appears that the river is not yet on fire, but things are starting to heat up.
June 29, 1998 Thanks to: jerry ferro
Well I know you guys will say "I told you so" but I went to the Cowlitz yesterday and saw only one fish caught south of blue creek. The water is too low! Guess I'll try later.June 28, 1998
Thanks to: David Saito
Fished the Barrier Dam on Sunday. I arrived at about 7am and there was only a few people
fishing the whole stretch below the dam. There were tons of smolts in the river stealing
almost all my bait before 9am. I only saw one nice bright steelhead get landed by an old
guy I see every time I am down there and he normally does pretty good. Either there are
not too many fish in the river yet or you just can't get past the smolts to the steelhead.
I also saw something pretty bad, a idiot who was keeping the smolts thinking they were
trout not the next generation of steelhead, some people don't have a clue!
June 16, 1998
Thanks to: Bob Bigler
It's early, but I thought I'd give the Cowlitz a try. I was surprised to find that I was
the only one with a boat that came out this Tuesday. I have never seen the river with so
few people on it. Put in at the Blue Creek hatchery and fished the bar, the clay banks
an even tried boondoogling all to no avail. The river is still full of smolt who attack
your bait as soon as you start your drift. Sharpens your reflexes but not very satisfying.
Even went to barbless hooks to try to minimize injury to them as they were so aggressive but
NO steelhead and NO springers. Only about 6 people at Blue Creek. No fish by anyone that
I saw or talked to. Hope things get better in the next few months.
January 10, 1998
Thanks to Spani for the following report:
On the 10 of January I fished the Cowlitz with a friend and his dad. We left the blue creek
launch at 7:30 and began boondogging the hole just below the creek. Around 8:30, I hooked
and landed a nice bright 14 lb. fish. The fishing slowed down until 10:30 or so when
we hit 2 more out of the same hole. At 12:00 we ended up boating 1 more from under the
tree branches 1000 yards below the creek. We used small corkie with eggs all day and
all said in done we brought home 4 and lost 5 others. At the end of the day before
dark we decide to fish above the boat launch and ended up hitting 2 more. The fishing
and the weather (although cold as hell) couldn't have been better. Maybe now the fish
are going to come in for awhile? Sunday it was snowing so hard we decided it was a
nice trip and headed for the freeway.
December 29, 1997
Thanks to Greg Milatz for the following report:
Well the Cowlitz River has finally started to show some fish. Started out early on
Monday with only a handful of fisherman but did see 10 fish caught before the late
rush of combat fisherman arrived around 9am. I did manage to hook two and watched both
of them give me a big grin before depositing the hook back on shore leaving me shaking
my head. Most of the fish ran from 10# to 15# typical three year fish and good color.
By noon nearly 20 fish had been landed and it was Blue Creek crowd at it's full glory.
Good luck and have fun.
December 20, 1997
Thanks to Jeff Zenk for the following report:
Brian "The Dogger" knoll and I put the driftboat in at Blue Creek on Saturday morning.
Even though it had rained pretty hard, the river was in good shape running about 7000
cfs and four feet of visibility. We fished hard all day without a fish. Quite a bit of
time was spent on the gravel bar across from Blue Creek and we didn't see one fish hooked.
All the boats (and guides) that we talked to had the same story -- no fish hooked and none
caught.
December 13, 1997
Thanks to Robert Crocker for the following report:
Put in at at the ramp 2 miles north of Toledo and worked the two drifts downstream of this
ramp for about an hour and a half. Saw 3 other boats working the drifts along with 5 or 6
shore stationed plunkers. Saw no evidence of any fish. Hope the run shows up soon.
Blue Creek - December 13, 1997
Thanks to Mr. Fred for the following report:
Wish I could write something different on the Cowlitz. Today there were about 10 people on
the Bobber Hole at Blue Creek. Not one fish put on the bank from 11 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. Not
looking good. Will give it another try next week.
December 12, 1997
Thanks to CaptnSteve for the following report:
Bad news here in Oregon and SW Washington:
Cowlitz Hatchery 4 Fish
Alsea Hatchery 0 Fish
Big Creek Hatchery 0 Fish
Nestucca Hatchery 5 Fish
For Sale
The West's BEST Outfitted Guide Service
2 jet boats
2 drift boats
Dozens of graphite rods
Enough tackle to stock a fair sized shop
Professional Video Marketing Tapes
Clients that don't care if they catch fish
Deeds to Gold Mines
Cheap..........
December 12, 1997
Thanks to Keith Norden for the following report:
The winter run of Cowlitz River steelhead is non-existent, there are no fish. I have fished
and guided this river for many years and have never seen a winter season that didn't produce
excellent fishing. The biologist for this area has been here for 20 years and has never
seen this happen and he doesn't have any answers either. Is it possible that El Nino has
effected this run of fish? I have heard that other rivers are suffering from similar
conditions.
Like all other steelhead fishermen and guides, I am sitting impatiently on the river bank,
awaiting the arrival of the winter run to the once-famous Cowlitz River. Anybody got any
answers?????
September 22, 1997
Thanks to Keith Norden for the following report:
The fall salmon fishing on the Cowlitz has been good the last week. The 28" limit on kings
goes into effect on 1 Oct. above Blue Creek. Anyone wanting to get these big fish before
then needs to hurry. I have had 4 very successful trips in the last 4 days, with fish
exceeding 30 lbs.
July, 1997
Thanks to Charles O. Rudorfer for the following report:
During male bonding week with my best buddy Brian,(male bonding
= no wives/kids, eat beans and drink a few beers week), we decided
to fish a evening bite on the Cowlitz river late last month. Fishing
wasn't the hottest this year and we fished hard and took what
we were blessed with. Plugs were the order for the evening in
one of our favorite holes. As I worked the boat slowly down the
slot, the rod slammed down and a bright steelie shot out of the
water as I yelled FISH_ON....Brian grab the rod as I already played
my prize earlier that day.
The fish made a run down the riffle, I kicked out of the hole,
cut the motor and began drifting down the river as Brian yelped
"GET THE NET". While floating down the river, the fish
made a 180 degree turn. Brian cranked down on the reel as the
steelie made another jump and began shaking it's head along with
the dreaded splash. "You still got him?", I yelled out.
A loud "Yes" was replied as Brian led the fish around
the boat like a master violin player. I could see the battle was
almost to it's climax when all of a sudden the steelie made it's
last leap clearing the side of my boat by a good 18 inches. With
the boat still on it's natural drift down river, the prize of
the evening landed on my boat seat and then slipped onto the floor
thrashing about. A nice 10 pound silver beauty was landed without
the use of a net!!!!!!!
This is one of the got to be there when it happened stories that
make friendships last over the years.....and people shake there
heads with disbelief....
August 7, 1997
Thanks to J.C. for the following report:
Fished Cowlitz on July 31st and Aug 17th. Up and down the river
for 6-8 hours each day and we caught 1 fatigued Steelhead. The
water seemed to be warm and maybe the steelheads are cooking.
4 guys, average 7 hours per day makes it 56 (4x7x2) hours of fishing.
Do not waste your time until fishing gets better. These were both
guided trips. Can you imagine if we had no guides?
1997 Friends of the Cowlitz Fishing Safari - July 21, 1997
Thanks to Keith Norden for the following report:
On 21 July 1997 I guided Steve and Vince Hanson (Hanson Motors
of Olympia) on the Friends of the Cowlitz 7th annual fishing safari.
The fishing was slow and not many fish being caught. At 11 am
Vince got a strike and hooked the fish. It took him 15 minutes
to land the 18 1/2# steelhead and it ended up winning him 1st
place for BIG FISH. Gutted and gilled the fish weighed 15lb. 9oz.
This was Vince's first steelhead and he won a nice Loomis ST1141S
GL3 custom built rod.
Keith Norden
http://landru.i-link-2.net/fishman
August 13, 1997
Thanks to Keith Norden for the following report:
There are some nice steelhead being picked up now, and the salmon
are making a showing. A lot of people think the Cowlitz is closed
to salmon, but this year it is open for the months of August and
September. SO FAR, anyway.
Blue Creek - August 7, 1997
Thanks to Bob Freiboth for the following report:
My brother and I fished at blue creek in the main river from about
7:00am to 6:00pm with no success. We saw no fish caught in the
main river or the creek. We headed up to barrier dam and talked
to several people there and the action was just a bad up there
either. Another slow day on the Cowlitz River.
Blue Creek - July 25, 1997
Thanks to Bob and Angie Freiboth for the following report:
My 12 year old son and I headed out about 5:00am this morning
and we met my brother at the river about 7:00am. The river was
in great condition. Clear and steelhead green. We fished at blue
creek in the main river. We saw one fish caught in the creek and
another one caught on the south bank of the main river. My son
hooked and landed his first ever steelhead. It was a 10lb buck.
While at the river several people told him he did a great job
and he didn't seem to think to much of it at the time.
Once we got home he made the comments, "you know dad, I think
this is the coolest thing I've ever done in my life". I just
smiled and told him he was right. My brother and I were both skunked.
July 8, 1997
Thanks to J.C. for the following report:
Fished Cowlitz (I5 Exit 68, Near trout hatchery). We caught a
few trouts (4-7 inches). Jet boat and a very good guide, however
the steelheads were not interested. According to the guide the
water level was too high.
July 4-5, 1997
Thanks to Dana Hiler for the following report:
We got there early Fri. and fished across from blue creek till
bout 2pm. Only 1 fish hooked and landed there all day. Saw 2 go
out of the creek. River was in excellent shape. Great color and
flow. Bout 6-8 feet vis. We went out again about 4. But between
2 and 4 the river dropped about 6 feet to 51 slats at the ramp.
We started fishing on Fri at about 42 slats. When we got back
to the ramp bout 8:30 that even., the river was back up to 39
slats. The changes in flow really put them off the bite.
Sat. we went back to the bar across from the creek and saw 6 fish
landed. Mostly about noon when the water was rising again. We
saw a couple of boaters land some fish too. It seems pretty early
yet for any numbers of fish to be there. The fish that were caught
were very fresh fish. Not much size either, the biggest being
about 10 lbs. On Sat. lightening was a big concern. Some bolts
were just too close. We left the river about 3:30 to beat the
holiday traffic home.
June 27, 1997
Thanks to Chris Tompkins
for the following report:
The Cowlitz finally was at a good level to fish so I headed on
down for some fun. I fished hard all day from 6am to 9pm but only
hooked one steelhead, but man was this fish hot. The chrome bright
29 inch buck jumped 3 times and just about spooled me, I had to
pull up the anchor of my Blue Lavro drift boat (the one with the
Trout Unlimited sticker on the back) while line stripped out and
give chase. Now I remember why summer steelhead are so exciting,
my arms were trembling with excitement as I landed the fish.
I also fished the next day and had some luck to hook two fish,
I lost the first near the boat but hooked a awesome 29 inch hen
in a rapid and had another arm shaking time, man these fish are
so hot!!! The overall fishing was slow for Cowlitz standards,
but with persistence I was able to do OK, the guide jet boats
were getting about one fish for 4 anglers, lots of sour looks..
Hope some more fish start to show up, seems kinda slow for this
time of year, July usually get better though. Maybe I will see
you on the river.
June 23, 1997
Thanks to SW Regional Editor Jeff Zenk for the following
report:
I fished the Cowlitz today putting in at Blue Creek at a leisurely
9:00 AM. The water color was a perfect green - an all too rare
of sight these days on the Cowlitz. The river still has quite
a bit of volume with the water really moving through the holes.
I had a fish on briefly, but that was it for me. There were a
couple of fish on earlier in the morning at Blue Creek and the
hole just below it, but by most accounts it's still on the slow
side. Generally speaking, the summer run fishing on the Cowlitz
kicks off on the Fourth of July.
June 22, 1997
Thanks to Mavrick@seanet.com for the following report:
Fished the Barrier Dam on Sunday. My brother and I anchored my
driftboat just below the boat launch about 7:00 AM and hooked
two kings within the first hour drift-casting eggs. We released
the kings of course and only hooked one summer run at about 10:30.
I lost him. I was using my noodle rod and 6lb test and he got
into the middle of the rivers' current and jumped twice and said
"see ya", should have been using the hardware. Perfect
water. The sleds were doing well bait diving with plugs.
June 15, 1997
Thanks to Rob Kubesh for the following report:
First let me compliment you folks on a wonderful resource you
maintain here on the web to research and plan a day of fishing
and for all who appreciate the splendors of fishing the Northwest.
I fished below the Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz River this morning
from 7am till noon and enjoyed a relaxing day on the shore. I've
been fishing here a couple times a month since April and observed
the water level at it's highest today in comparison to recent
weeks. Nonetheless, I caught my first Steelhead of the year using
a side-planer and green/silver "Hot Shot" approximately
20 ft from shore. It was a twelve pounder that fought pretty hard
but landed nicely as witnessed by an envious audience. Approximately
20 other hearty fishermen had dotted the shoreline throughout
the morning with limited success. I observed a couple "fish-on"
but none others landed. Some folks were drifting shrimp and salmon
eggs off the bottom catching nothing more than a few "snags."
There were a couple brief periods throughout the morning when
you could see several fins rolling in the water within 50ft from
shore as they appeared to move up the current.
I hope to get out again within the next few weeks. Good-luck in
your fishing excursions and enjoy a safe 4th of July!
May 2, 1997
Thanks to Martin Mickelsen for the following announcement
and report:
I just wanted to let everyone know about the annual fishing safari
and fund raiser that the Friends of the Cowlitz is having this
year! It will be held on the 26th of July at the Southwest WA
fairgrounds. They have a fishing derby, dinner banquet, auction,
raffles and this year they have a brand new fish rite drift boat
they are going to raffle off, the tickets are on sale now for
$2.00 each.
This is a nice drift boat, right now it is up at Barrier Dam campground
check it out!!!! For more information please contact: Friends
of the Cowlitz at 123 Cowlitz street PO Box 721 Toledo WA, 98591
or telephone (360) 864-6700 or break out your browser and point
it to:
http://members.tripod.com/~rampy/index.html
By the way I did go fishing today up at barrier dam my buddy and
I managed to hook two steelhead (and lost them both) in about
three hours then the sideplaners got a little thick so we left.
Nothing wrong with sideplaners (I have one myself) but when they
set up beside you it sure shortens your drift!! We also ran into
George the game warden I'm glad to see the state doing their job.
