Stock origin is the problem. They're using strains of fish that don't do well on the Kalama and the Lewis...... They need to go back to Carson stock, they faired very well in my younger years...

Stock Origin of Kalama:
This is a mixed stock with composite production. The current stock is composed of fish that are surplus to the needs of hatchery production. Hatchery broodstock has been released into the Kalama from a variety of sources including Eagle Creek (Oregon), Willamette (Oregon), Cowlitz and Little White Salmon rivers, although the hatchery broodstock is still about 88% native (Myers et al. 2002), and genetic analysis has shown them to be distinct from Willamette and other lower Columbia spring chinook stocks.

Stock Origin of Lewis River:
This is a mixed stock with composite production. The native component of the stock may have been extirpated or largely replaced by introduced hatchery stocks (Myers 2002). The hatchery component has received more out-of -basin introductions than the Cowlitz or Kalama hatchery spring chinook broodstocks. The Lewis River Hatchery broodstock was originally taken from Cowlitz and Carson National Fish Hatchery stocks in the 1970s. Since then, this stock has been propagated largely from returns to the hatchery; however, eggs and adults have been brought in from Kalama and Willamette (Oregon) hatchery stocks. The present naturally spawning spring chinook population in the Lewis River is composed primarily of hatchery returns, and as a result, most naturally spawning chinook are likely hatchery strays.

Just my humble opinion....

Keith