Still, some people were catching fish. Here are the highlights from the fishing report that will run in Wednesday’s Sports section.

Rivers

Columbia: The salmon fishing improved some last week. In sampling done below Bonneville Dam, 3,225 anglers had 479 adult and three jack spring chinook and four steelhead. Sturgeon anglers are catching some legal-size fish below the dam and in the John Day Pool.

Cowlitz: Overall, the fishing has been slow. During creel checks last week, 100 bank anglers kept one chinook and three steelhead, while 40 boat anglers kept three chinook and three steelhead plus released one chinook. Also last week, Tacoma Power recovered 561 winter-run steelhead and seven spring chinook adults during five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.

Olympic Coast: The river levels are dropping and the steelhead fishing should be good. Try the Sol Duc first and then the Hoh.

Lakes

American: The trout fishing has improved. Some anglers reported having success trolling with a worm-tipped red Wedding Ring behind pop gear. The kokanee action has been slow.

Chelan: The kokanee action is picking up steam and seems to be a replay of last year’s good fishing. Look for the fish holding in water 50-70 feet deep. Rose-colored Wedding Rings trolled behind a pink dodger has been an effective setup.

Riffe: The lake is producing some landlocked silver salmon, but not in great numbers yet. Trolling has been more effective than any other method right now.

St. Clair: The lake has been producing some limits, especially for those people focusing on the fish holding near the surface. One angler reported having success with orange Trout Magnets.

Saltwater

Fly fishing: The action for searun cutthroat trout has been good to very good. Look for the fish near streams as they return to the salt water after spawning. They are keying on chum fry.

South Sound: Dismal weather made for dismal fishing over the weekend. Creel sample reports from seven spots around the South Sound and Hood Canal showed only two chinook brought in by just 26 anglers. Trolling with flashers and squid have been producing the most hook ups.

Westport: Charter boats have been kept in the harbor by the weather. Before that, the action for lingcod was very good, while slower for rockfish.

Here are some highlights from the fishing report that will appear in Saturday’s Sports section.

Lakes

Black: The trout fishing is slowly picking up. According to reports, the best action has been a result of trolling with bait or spoons.

Munn: The rainbow trout action has been good. Fly anglers are having success using a green woolly bugger fished on a sinking line, or fishing chironomids under a strike indicator. Remember this is a catch-and-release lake.

Nahwatzel: Fishing with orange Power Bait has been the most effective method for catching limits.

Potholes: Water temperatures in the sand dunes area has reached a reported 60
degrees. Bass anglers are catching largemouth in the dunes, including one that weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces. Smallmouth bass, including some topping 5 pounds, are being caught from the rocks by Goose Island. Lind Coulee is starting to produce some walleye, as is Crab Creek.

Rivers

Cowlitz: The fishing is still on the slow side, but people putting in the time to cover lots of water are bring home some steelhead and a few spring chinook. Side drifting eggs or corkies, as well as back trolling bait have been effective methods.

Olympic Coast: Rain earlier this week has shot water levels up rapidly. The Hoh went from about 2,000 cfs mid-day Thursday to 5,540 cfs Friday morning. This might not be the weekend to make the trip.

Yakima: Flows on the river have doubled since early this week, and water conditions below the Teanaway River confluence are poor. If you have to try, hit the upper river.

Saltwater

Hood Canal: The action has been on the slow side, but indications are the best action is at the south end of the canal. Try spots like Triton Cove, Hole in the Wall or between Ayock Point, Lilliwaup and down to Hoodsport.

North Sound: The fishing has been good, at least for Scott Fowler of Burlington. His 21.52-pound fish was big enough to win the Anacortes Salmon Derby, and the $15,000 first-place prize. In second was Rich Olson of Everett with a 19.42-pound salmon, to earn $5,000. In third place was Jay Murphy of Puyallup, whose 19.10-pounder earned him $2,500. Jerry Schmidt of Olympia won $2,500 for catching the secret weight fish, a 7.20-pound salmon. Overall, there were 256 fish weighed, at an average of 8.3 pounds.

South Sound: The salmon fishing remains slow overall. Some local fishermen are reporting there seems to be an uptick in the action, with some chinook being caught at Quartermaster Harbor by fishing spoons on the bottom.

Olympic Coast: The rivers are in good shape and should be that way through early next week. The Hoh and Sol Duc would be good options for this weekend, although the Hoh will likely draw a crowd. The Bogachiel and Calawah are not fishing quite as well.

Skookumchuck: The fishing has been fair, with anglers reporting they need patience as well as eggs, jigs and floats or corkies and yarn, to hook a steelhead.

Yakima: The fishing has been fair to good. For the most part, people are drifting nymphs like a 20 Incher and skwalas in sizes 6-10. Brassies, WD-40s and flashback pheasant tails also are effective.

Saltwater

Beaches: A razor clam dig continues through Monday on some beaches. Here are the openings and low tide times: Saturday, 4:50 p.m., -0.2 feet, Twin Harbors, Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks; Sunday, 6:33 p.m., -0.2 feet, Twin Harbors, Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks; and Monday, 7:12 p.m., 0 feet, Twin Harbors.

Fly fishing: Anglers are starting to see more searun cutthroat trout along local beaches, but fewer resident coho. The trout are focusing on baitfish, like sand lances and firecracker herring. Rules require the searuns to be released.

Hood Canal: People are catching some nice blackmouth off Misery Point. Try trolling a Silver Horde Tailwagger spoon right on the bottom in water about 110 feet deep.

Lakes

Eastside: Fly anglers are having luck fishing chironomids under an indicator or slowly trolling with leech and woolly bugger patterns on a full-sink or intermediate-sink line. The Seep Lakes, Quincy Lakes and Dusty are producing good catches of rainbows.

Offut: The fishing has been good to very good. The lake was stocked last week with 1,200-1,500 cutthroat trout weighing 1/12-2 pound each. Trolling with a Wedding Ring has been the best way to hook a cutthroat.

Potholes: The fishing for rainbow trout has been good, with some limits coming in. The Blythe Point Boat Launch and Frenchman’s Wasteway, where it enters the reservoir, have been good spots. The walleye fishing is still on the slow side, but some large fish (10 pounders) are being caught.

Spanaway: People are catching rainbow and brown trout, some topping 4 pounds. Trolling a rainbow-colored deep diving Rapala 4-5 inches long is effective. Fly fishermen are having success with bloodworms fished near the lake bottom. Or try still fishing with Power Bait or a worm and marshmallow on the south end.

Rivers

Columbia: During the first three days of March they state checked 760 anglers who had caught 17 spring chinook and eight steelhead. All but one of the chinook were caught by boat anglers from Kalama to Vancouver. The steelhead were caught from Vancouver downstream. During Saturday’s effort flight count, there were 280 boats and 355 bank anglers. Sturgeon has been on the slow side below and above Bonneville Dam.

Olympic Coast: After being blown out over the weekend, rivers are dropping and the steelhead fishing should improve. The Hoh has seen lots of big fish, while the Sol Duc should have a greater number of fish.

Yakima: The best game plan right now is to nymph in the morning with a stonefly and dropper fly about 4-5 feet under an indicator. In the afternoon, look for trout rising to eat midges. Try working a Griffth’s gnat through the slow water of an inside corner.

Saltwater

Beaches: The next razor clam dig opens Thursday, and now includes an extra day of digging at Long Beach. No digging will be allowed at any beach before noon. Here is the list of openings and low tide times: Friday, 4:01 p.m., 0 ;Thursday, 3:06 p.m., +0.3 feet, Twin Harbors feet, Twin Harbors, Long Beach; Saturday, 4:50 p.m., -0.2 feet, Twin
Harbors, Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks; Sunday, 6:33 p.m., -0.2 feet, Twin Harbors, Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks; and Monday, 7:12 p.m., 0 feet, Twin Harbors. Diggers are reminded Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday.

Hood Canal: There has been some decent blackmouth fishing in the Brinnon-Seabeck area. State creel sampling Saturday at Pleasant Harbor Marina near Brinnon showed 22 anglers brought in 11 salmon. On Sunday, however, another 22 people came in empty handed.

North Sound: Starting Wednesday, anglers can keep just one salmon per day in Marine Area 9, the portion of Puget Sound stretching from Seattle to Bremerton. State fishery managers approved the new limit – down from two fish per day – after determining that the number of chinook kept or released has exceeded pre-season projections.

Lakes

American: The trout fishing has slowed down, despite the recent good weather. The bite has been light as the fish seem tentative to strike hard.

Chelan: The best action for lake trout is trolling over the flats area below Wapato Point. Anglers have been catching mostly smaller fish, with some larger fish coming from working the edges of the lower basin.

Eastside: The fishing at the lakes that opened Friday has been good to very good. Lenice has fished well, as did Qunicy and Nunnally. Fly anglers are using chironomids, bloodworms, dark-colored leeches and olive woolly buggers.

That was the assessment offered Friday by Pat Pattillo, the salmon policy lead for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife following a meeting at which salmon forecasts for the coming year were released.

The forecasts will be the basis of negotiations over the next month leading to the establishing of recreational, commercial and tribal fishing season.

The bright spots for Puget Sound anglers this year will be pink and coho salmon.

More than half of the 6.2 million pink salmon expected to return to the Sound will come to three area rivers – the Green, Puyallup and Nisqually. Pink salmon return on odd-numbered years.

The Puyallup River should see a significant increase in the number of pinks returning, with a forecast of 1.24 million, up from about 900,000 forecast to return in 2011.

The Green River run was forecast at more than 2.1 million pink salmon in 2011, but is expected to be about 1.35 million this year.

Overall, the pink forecast of 6.23 million fish is up from 5.98 million in 2011.
“We can’t tell you why we have so many pinks, let’s just enjoy them,” Pattillo said. “It’s pretty phenomenal and people are excited.”

“Coho is another big story for Puget Sound, but it’s mixed,” he added. “Hood Canal, for example, is a head scratcher.”

The forecast for wild chinook returning to Hood Canal is 36,800 fish, less than half the forecast for 2011 and 2012. The forecast for hatchery coho is 68,600 fish, about the same as in previous years.

The coho forecasts are similar for the South Sound, including the Puyallup and Nisqually rivers. The wild fish forecast is 36,000 fish and the hatchery forecast is 151,000 fish.

“Last year, we had a great year for coho, but mostly in the North Sound,” Pattillo said. “We’re expecting another good season because there are good survival rates.”

The concern for Pattillo is the South Sound chinook fishery.

“I wish there was better news,” he said. “There is something happening to the hatchery fish. Why aren’t we getting stronger returns to Marine Area 11 (Tacoma) since we’re seeing good returns to the Nisqually.”

Pattillo said he has heard and understands the frustration from area anglers.

“I don’t know why South Sound (chinook) fishing is doing better, especially based on the Nisqually run. Why are they just zipping by Tacoma?” Pattillo said. “That’s the constant question these days. Why is fishing so good in the North Sound and not the South Sound?”

As for ocean fisheries, Pattillo thought the range of options would be similar to last year.

“The numbers of lower river chinook are slightly down from last year, but it’s still a pretty good return,” said Doug Milward, ocean salmon fishery manager. “Add to that the expected increase in lower Columbia River coho numbers, and we should see great fishing opportunities in the ocean this summer.”

State, tribal and federal fishery managers will meet next week in Tacoma with the Pacific Fishery Management Council to develop options for this year’s commercial and recreational ocean fisheries. The council sets fishing seasons in ocean waters 3-200 miles off the Pacific coast.

Among the issues the department might discuss with its tribal co-managers is reducing the minimum size for chinook in Marine areas 5-13 from 22 inches to 20 inches.

Final decisions on the fishing seasons for the Puget Sound region, Columbia River and ocean fisheries will be made during the April 6-11 Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Portland.

This weekend’s success – and safety – will largely be predicated by the weather. Rivers were rapidly rising Friday, so if the rain continues it could make water conditions unfishable. The strong winds in the forecast will make fishing Puget Sound difficult and could make for dangerous conditions for the weekend razor clam dig. Wave heights off Cape Elizabeth were at 17 feet Friday morning. State officials warn digs to be extra cautious when waves there top 11 feet.

WEATHER UPDATE 11:40 A.M.

The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory until noon Saturday for the North and Central Coasts. Sustained winds will be between 25-35mph, gusting to 50 mph. Waves in the surf zone were expected to be 25-29 feet and very powerful.

Lakes

Potholes: The ice is melting all over the area. Bank fishing with Power Bait,
Pautske’s Eggs or night crawlers with marshmellows are the main baits. Good spots are Medicare Beach and behind the MarDon Resort office, or Canal, Heart and Corral lakes.

St. Clair: The lake has been fishing well for rainbow trout. People have been hooking trout in the 13- to 16-inch range.

Washington: The south end of the lake and off the south end of Mercer Island has been producing decent catches of cutthroat trout, some weighing up to 5 pounds. Most of the fish are measuring 14-19 inches long. Most people are fishing orange or yellow label herring about 25-35 feet deep.

Rivers

Cowlitz: The fishing remains slow. Last week, Tacoma Power recovered just 10 winter-run steelhead during five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator. The river level was raised Wednesday by about 2,000 cfs.

Skookumchuck: There are reports of people starting to catch some steelhead, but just a fish here and there. People are usin corkies with eggs or jigs.

Yakima: The trout fishing has been fair in recent days. The fish seem to be moving from slow water in the channel and moving closer to the banks looking for skwala stonefly nymphs. Trailing a zebra midge will also result in some hook ups.

Saltwater

Beaches: A razor clam dig will take place today and Sunday at Twin Harbors and Long Beach. No digging is allowed before noon. The evening low tides times are: today, 5:12 p.m., +0.3 feet; and Sunday, 5:47 p.m., +0.1 feet. The best digging occurs one to two hours prior to low tide.

Hood Canal: There were 22 fish checked in during the Billy Nik Derby a week ago. The winning fish was a 12-pound, 15-ounce blackmouth caught by Matt Dornan.

South Sound: The fishing off Tacoma is still very slow, but there are some reports of people catching blackmouth off Three Tree Point on tidal changes. Trolling with spoons seems more effective right now. The searun cutthroat trout fishing has been fair to good, but the cutthroat must be released.

Lakes

American: Anglers are reporting they have been catching smaller fish as of late. Power Eggs, in green or yellow, fished off the bottom is still the go-to method right now. People are using garlic and herring scents.

Offut: The action for the trout has been pretty consistent for this time of year. The rainbows have been measuring 14-20 inches with a good girth. Most people are using dough bait and worms fished off the bottom.

Spanaway: The fishing has been a little slow. People are catching trout by still fishing the south end. They are using a 2-foot leader with worm and marshmallow or Power Bait. People also are hooking rainbows drifting a single egg in the outlet stream.

Rivers

Humptulips: The fishing has been fair to good. People are float drifting with bait or artificials like corkies and yarn or worms. When the water drops and clears, try side drifting with bait or go to a bobber and jig. People fishing with plugs have been catchng fewer fish, but they have been bigger fish.

Olympic Coast: The action has been fair, with some bigger fish being caught. The Sol Duc and Bogachiel have been a good spot. People are using floats with jigs tipped with shrimp or flies like an Intruder.

Wynoochee: The steelhead fishing has been good in recent days. People are pulling plugs or drifting corkies and yarn to land some bright fish.

Saltwater

Hood Canal: The Misery Point area continues to produce consistent catches of blackmouth. People are trolling with spoons in water about 100 feet deep.

North Sound: The blackkmouth action has been a little on the slow side. People were catching some fish in fairly shallow water – 60-70 feet deep – off Possession Bar. Some of the fish are feeding on shrimp. Foulweather Bluff and Bush Point also are producing fish.

South Sound: A few more legal-size blackmouth have been caught this week, but the action is still on the slow side. People are finding some fish off Quartermaster Harbor. Successful anglers are trolling spoons like the Coho Killer behind a flasher right off the bottom during the late afternoon tide change.

Rivers

Cowlitz: The fishing has been slow. A state creel check of six bank anglers showed they released two steelhead and one cutthroat. Last week, Tacoma Power recovered just 23 winter-run steelhead, eight coho adults and two jacks during five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.

Olympic Coast: The steelhead action has been fair, in terms of numbers of fish, but good in terms of the size of fish. Water levels are down and the water clear, so go with smaller gear.

Wenatchee: The steelhead action has been fair to good, with most anglers hooking a fish each day. Jigs under a float, or a streamer swung through a long run have been producing hookups.

Yakima: The trout action has been decent, with most people hooking some large fish with small flies. Start with a red zebra midge fished along the bottom of the deeper holes.

Lakes

American: The rainbow trout fishing has been good, producing some limits. Yellow Power Eggs are still the go-to bait, fished with a garlic scent.

Cady: Fly anglers are catching a few rainbow trout. Try slowly strippingin a damsel fly nymph. There have been few people on the lake.

Saltwater

Fly fishing: The action for searun cutthroat trout has been fair to good. Look for the fish holding near the mouth of a creek during a tidal change. The fish seem to be hitting squid patterns right now, since the chum and pink salmon fry have yet to move out of the streams. Remember, searuns must be released.

Hood Canal: While not great by any means, there has been some decent blackmouth fishing in the Misery Point area in the central canal. State sampling Sunday showed 23 anglers brought in five fish.

North Sound: The hot fishing in the San Juan Islands continued during last weekend’s Roche Harbor Salmon Classic. A record 196 salmon were weighed during the two-day event. Pete Nelsen of Shaw Island won the $10,000 first prize with a 16.7-pound fishing, just edging Carter Whalen of Friday Harbor, who brough in a 16.4 pounder. Whalen earned $5,000 for second place. In third place, earning $3,000, was Brock Warin Friday Harbor, who caught a 15.12-pound fish. Christian Thomas of Tacoma, 5 ½ years old, was the youngest angler in the derby. He landed a 4.08-pound fish.

Rivers

Minter: The chum fishing has been very good, with people catching some bright fish among the darker fish. There are lots of fish in the creek, making it hard to not foul hook some.

Nisqually: The reports have shown the fishing has improved along with the weather. People are catching some limits of bright chum.

Olympic Coast: The first of the winter-run steelhead are showing up in the rivers around Forks and the action has been pretty good.

Puyallup: Anglers are reporting catching some bright chum salmon, as well as a few coho. Water levels and turbidity have improved thanks to the colder weather.

Lakes

American: The trout fishing has slowed down quite a bit.

Chelan: The lake trout fishing has been best by trolling off the yacht club. Worden Lures T4 purple glow Flatfish has been productive as well as Mack’s Lures Cha Cha Squidder and Silver Horde’s Ace Hi Flies.

Lone: The fly-fishing action at this Whidbey Island lake has been good for rainbow trout. Look for fish along the south shore. Try chironomids fished slow or streamers or leeches on a fast retrieve.

Satlwater

Hood Canal: The chum action has been good, there just haven’t been a lot of people trying their luck at the Hoodsport hatchery. The catch rate is about a fish per person.

North Sound: The Edmonds pier has been a great spot for squid. Try your luck during the last couple of hours of an incoming tide through the high slack and on darker nights with either a heavy cloud cover or no moon.

South Sound: The salmon fishing has been on the slow side, with only a handful of blackmouth being caught. The squid action has been best at Des Moines.

Lakes

Dry Falls: The trout fishing has been good, with some fishing reaching 18 inches. Dark leeches and callibaetis nymphs are working well.

Rufus Woods; Black marabou jigs have been effective as of late. If the triploid rainbow trout won’t hit your artificial offerings, try a slip sinker rig with Pautzke’s Firebait in the American wildfire. Remember, the heavier the current, the longer your leader needs to be.

Rivers

Carbon: The fishing has been mixed in recent days, with the action hot one day and slow the next. Corkies and yarn in red or pink is the way to start.

Cowlitz: A mixture of fall chinook, coho, summer-run steelhead and searun cutthroat trout is being caught. Last week, Tacoma Power recovered 2,773 coho adults, 928 jacks, 983 fall chinook adults, 79 jacks, 128 summer-run steelhead and 44 cutthroat trout during seven days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.

Humptulips: The fishing has been fair to good here. People are catching chum and a few chinook. It’s the best action in the area, as reports from the Satsop and Wynoochee indicate fishing is slow.

Kennedy: A creel sample Friday counted 15 chum salmon caught by the 17 anglers checked.

Yakima: The trout fishing has been good. Nymphing with Baetis patterns throughout the day has been productive. Try a Red Attacker or a beadhead Pheasant tail in sizes 14-18. Smaller stonefly nymphs also have produced some trout.

Saltwater

Hood Canal: The chum salmon are just starting to show up at the Hoodsport hatchery. A check of 17 anglers Sunday showed they had five chum and one coho.

South Sound: The action over the weekend was very slow. Creel samples at boat ramps over the weekend in Tacoma and Olympia showed less than a handful of chinook and coho had been caught.