"Spring salmon fishing has been quite disappointing at the mouth of the Wind River. A record-high 42,000 spring chinook are forecast to return to the small Skamania County stream, but angling success for trollers has been far, far below expectations.
No one knows why angling is so subpar at the mouth of the Wind, but state biologists have a couple of theories involving water clarity and streamflow through the Bonneville pool.
Normally, the Columbia River is murkier than the Wind River. Spring chinook seem to move into the mouth of the Wind when the west wind blows the brownish Columbia water closer to shore. The fish apparently enter the Wind under the dirtier water.
But this year, the Columbia is so low and clear there is no big difference between its clarity and that of Wind River. The usual clear distinction between the green water of the Wind and brown of the Columbia is lacking.
Without the backup of brown water, chinook are reluctant to enter the Wind and are holding out in the Columbia under this theory.
Streamflow in the Columbia River has been cut way back. With less current in the Bonneville pool, the chinook seem to be migrating more toward the middle of the river.
Supporting this theory is the fact tribal fishermen netting off the platforms along the Columbia above Bonneville Dam are catching fewer salmon than projected.
Some biologists believe the Wind River fish will hang out in the Columbia until about mid-May then move quickly through the lower Wind and up into the canyon."
From the outdoor section, by Allen Thomas in The Columbian
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