FCTS,

As CFM said, there are late timed winter steelhead wanting to migrate upstream of the dams that are showing up at barrier dam. Some are wild fish with no clipped fins. We're allowed to play them for a few minutes and then release them to continue their spawning migration. Then there are some late timed hatchery winter runs that are ventral fin clipped. I'm not sure why they have to be released in the lower river but can be retained in the upper river. Maybe to give those Randle and Packwood anglers some fish to keep, and those that don't get caught are apparently supposed to augment the spawning escapement. Hope it works.

I heard that last year the steelhead hauled to the upper river were about half wild and half late winter hatchery steelhead. I don't know how effective that mix will be, but they are starting to get quite a few wild steelhead smolts at Cowlitz Falls Dam in the spring. It would be nice to know if these ventral clipped fish are contributing to production (and recovery of ESA listed steelhead).

CFM commented about the early winter hatchery production being reduced in the future. That is true, but it doesn't have to mean that the adult return will be reduced correspondingly. The Cowlitz hatchery steelhead have a notoriously poor survival rate. The state raises about a million hatchery smolts to get the returns that have occurred in recent years. Improvements that are planned for the hatchery system have the potential to maintain equivalent adult returns from fewer smolts by improving the quality (mainly improved health) of the hatchery smolts.

Overall, your fishing opportunity on the Cowlitz should remain the same or even improve with the presence of significant populations of wild salmon and steelhead in the Cowlitz mix. If you go fish there, let us know how you do.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.