Just trying to get some reports for the cow, I have been out of town and need to know if it's worth the trip.

C'mon, one of you fishheads knows something!

stay home it is not worth the gas,friend fished it the 26th from his sled,80boats less than 10 fish taken

I was down there on christmas...I don't think I will ever go back, IT SUCKED!!!

I won't say that I "told you all so"!

The die-hards said that I was wrong, and that they were just running a little "late" …yeah who's right now?

Isn't "a little late" over now????

Cowlitzfisherman

Hooked 12 fish glow balling last night at the creek and and brought home two winter runs and saw lots of fresh fish taken. Lots......

Fished it on the 26th. From Blue creek to below mission bar. Fished from sunrise to sunset and caught nothing. Saw 4 fish taken all day.
I have fished the river 3 times in the last couple of weeks and have only caught 1 fish.

Um, CFM, it seems like the hatchery returns on every river in the state are down this year, as bad or worse than the Cowlitz. Rather than it being TCL or WDFW's fault, maybe this is just the result of the latest El Nino. Wouldn't be the first time hatchery returns have been a statewide failure because of warm ocean conditions like we experienced this past summer.

Hey spawnout, I sure hope your right!!!

"maybe this is just the result of the latest El Nino"
thats right, talked to a number of people that fished heavy through last el nino, everything came in really late in a big surge, and i mean late, like u could just call this the beginning of the first week they say. Anway goin down to the cow tomorrow in a sled, we'll see what happens.
waterboy

One to two weeks late…Maybe!
Two to four weeks late….not likely!

But 2 months late…It just isn't going to happen guys!
Why can't you guys see the light? They have (WDFW); over the last couple of years intentionally changed the run timing of the Cowlitz winter-run steelhead. They have already changed the run timing and now you are starting to see those results!

The November-December Cowlitz hatchery winter-run steelhead has already been phased way back and you just don't know it yet. Yes, you will always get a "few" early fish, but those days of the catching the 3000 to 8000 fish during that same time period are gone for good!

When will you listen to what I have been telling you?

They are not late….they are not coming!

Like I have said before, first high water event pulls all the fish to the Blue Creek area but that has not happen yet. Fishing will be fair to good for about one week…and when that's over, only a handful of steelhead will be caught again until some time in late February or March. At that time, you will start catching a lot of right ventral clipped steelhead. You will be required to released all of these fish, because they are being used to enhance a special steelhead fishery for the upper Cowlitz River area (the area above Cowlitz Falls Dam). The steelheads that are not caught in that fishery (about 99% of the fish) will then be allowed to spawn and create the newest WDFW joke or more commonly referred to as; "the Cowlitz River late run wild steelhead recovery program"!

We will see if my predictions are right…so far they have been right on the money!!

Cowlitzfisherman

Yes, I agree. They are not coming, so all you guys go somewhere else.
Sorry CFM, couldnt resist .
RL

According to Fridays Chronicle,the fish counts were only down by 40-50 fish from last year at this time.I don't know where Russ Mohney gets his info but thats what he wrote.
I'm sure you know where to check.Cowlitzfisherman.Maybe you could put up a link so we could check it out.
I'm curious cause fishin has really sucked other than a day here and there.
If the counts are relatively close could the poor fishing be the result of something else.Like low water conditions?
I'm really curious cause its several rivers and not just the Cow that has been off.

CFM, it's not just the Cowlitz pard, brat runs are either late or not happening this year. Thank God for December blackmouth

All you a-hole boaters can take your sleds and get the hell off the Cowlitz until you learn some manners. I've fished along the bank down on my families' property below Blue Creek since I was five years old, and every year the morons with money get thicker and thicker. I used to fish with my grandmother Mary Ellen down below the high bluffs, but she got so fed up with it that she quit fishing down there.

Hey Luke,

So how long have you owned the Cowlitz?

I think the fish are just coming in in smaller numbers this year. I hope they all get there at some point though

Hey Dan, you should ask that question to the jackasses in their boats who show no respect to a man who is fishing in a fixed location. Casting right into your line like you aren't even there, never moving or reeling in when you hook a fish, and racing their boats just inches from where you are standing. There are miles of river, but it never fails, a guy walks down to the river to fish and the boats move right in on him, it's ridiculous. It was so much nicer to fish the Cowlitz before the fishing and hunting news media began plastering articles across every fishwrap in the Puget Sound region about how good the steelheading was. I'd like to see drift boats only from the barrier damn to Toledo.

They're no different than the jackasses at the point who won't let you walk a fish down past them, or the jackasses that try to toss a spinner in between the 50 guys who are all drift fishing.

But, if the jackass jet boaters are going to be somewhere, then they might as well be at the Cowlitz. I mean, if you're a bank fisher looking to have some water without jet-jockeys blasting through all day, then the Cowlitz isn't where you want to be. It's like going to Phoenix and bemoaning the hot weather.

The bad thing is...........I don't see it getting any better down there.

You're right about it not getting any better down there Dan. Only law changes can change the way it is, because you can't change people's nature. I know there are bank fishermen who are assholes too, but it's easier to move around them. The reason I'm always going to fish the Cowlitz is because our land has been in my family since the 1880's, my grandmother Mary Ellen even has a fishing hole named after her down below Blue Creek.

Can't argure with that. A-hole bankies usually don't go up and down in front of you all day.

So THAT'S where the Mary Ellen drift got its name, huh? Well, it's kinda sad that she was chased off the drift named after her by all the goons down there. Sorry to hear that.

Well, good luck down there, Luke. Don't let the a-holes get to you.

Thanks Dan, good luck too.

good luck with the a-holes luke. where is the mary ellan drift?

the mary ellen drift is right below blue creek on the right hand side as your going down the river.


SKeets

Luke,
Very interesting post, always wondered how that spot got its name. As for the "morons with money" thing, Im an E5 in the USAF, and I can assure you, not all of us "morons" who run sleds on the Cowlitz have money. Alot of us are hard working folks who go into debt just to have a toy or two. Sleds are often looked at negatively on any river, but if there is one where their presence should be expected, its the Cowlitz.
I fish this river quite often, from the boat and the bank, plenty of A holes on both sides...but please dont group ALL sled runners as A holes.

Tight Lines
RL

Tight Lines
RL

There will always be a love hate relationship between boats and bankers. They love ya when you take them out in the boat and hate you when they're stuck on the bank. I don't know a lot of guys that paid cash for their boats so I don't think it's a rich thing. In fact I know it ain't. Oh well.

Yes, there are undesirable fishermen on the bank as well as in the boats. I've fished around both of them. It just gets me riled up sometimes. There have been several times that boaters have been very cordial about offering to take me out when I've got a strong fish on. I'm very thankful for that. It's a very small percentage that actually are ruthless in their pursuit of the elusive steelhead. I fish by myself most of the time and most guys in the boats ask how far out I am fishing and they pull up and wait till they drift down river to cast out. This last weekend I lost a fish right under the bluffs in my grandma's old fishing hole and I had some guys cast right into me after that. It really irritated me, but later in the day I went downriver and caught a nice winter run with my uncle. So it ended up all-right. Good luck to everyone in their fishing expeditions going into the new year. As ole Andy up at his tackle store used to say, "Go out and rip some lip!!"

Oh great, Skeets; thanks for giving away my zipper!!

glowballed the cowlitz last night "hookers at the point" i hooked 4 landing 1, my buddy david hooked 2 landing 1, pretty much everyone glowballing last night landed, or hooked fish. It was fun, seems that the winters are showing as all the fish i saw were chromers


so "cowlitz" i think the fish are coming my friend, oh yes

FishinSinsation,

I hope that you are right…but you are still months behind the clock!

But like I have said earlier….Keep dreaming!

A couple of fish for a few guys a day (or night) at that "death trap" (the point on Blue Creek) is not worth it for most fishermen! It is a fishery for the young, the dumb and the reckless, when you are risking your life for a fish when you are fishing on that point!

Don't forget that fishermen have already died there because there was no place for them to go when the cliff behind them dumps onto them!

Did you even know what the 1997 Cowlitz Complex Juvenile Fish Production and Distribution Overview for the Cowlitz steelhead were?

They were;

Early Winter (635,000 smolts)
Late Winter (85,000 smolts)
Summer (430,000 smolts)

So it's time now for Mr. "Salmo G." to tell us what he believes the smolt releases were that would have contributed this years returns! Salmo has a hell of a lot more information available then I do to get that answer! The heats on you now Salmo!!

Happy New Year all!!

Cowlitzfisherman

there are assholes on darn near every river aren't there? but the cow is full of them including me

Just returned from the Cowlitz...they are big and they are bright. I'll pick mine up at another time, didn't have my cooler with me!

New Year's Day report from the creek: It was slow for the day time anglers. We saw a few caught, only saw one bright winter fish, otherwise they looked like summerruns to me. But it was nice to be out. Because of the low water there was plenty of room to fish, but I wasn't venturing to the Clay banks area. I didn't like the idea of hugging that cliffside, holding on to a rope and hoping I didn't fall in!

Man i dont get the logic you guys have: broke jetsledder=nice guy and rich jetsledder=asshole?
I fish with a family friend who has been sledding that river since the 80's, yeah he's loaded and works his butt of for every dime he has. He probably runs the nicest setup on the river, but he's no asshole. I've been with him and seen other sled drivers do some dumb stuff like drifting into us while were obviously pulling plugs well down river from the crowd at the creek, or casting into bank fishermen, even boats running on top of each other, etc etc. And I dont think ones economical status had anything to do with those accidents, a jackass is a jackass no matter how much is pockets are weighted down. I've also seen dumb bank fishermen wade out into the deep water well beyond other waders from the inside of the blue creek turn and ***** at us every time we go buy, like we have any place to go when he's in the middle of the river. I fish the bank like the rest of you at blue creek when I'm not in his sled so dont think I dont know the other side. Just remember its everyones river and we all want the same thing from it, so just get along.
waterboy

Hear Hear!

wb600,
Dont know if that was aimed at me, but I simply meant not to assume that ALL sled jocks are morons (or aholes) nor that ALL sled jocks have money. Nothing more nothing less.
More power to you if you got a few bucks, nothing wrong with that

RL

Hit the Cowlitz bliz on Sunday and Monday, slow fishing, but the fish are large, got 3 for my efforts, two at 33 inches, one at 36 inches. Observation: the low water makes the fish spooked by all the sleds, fishing is good when they all run out of gas....go figure [

Nice Fish!

What fin do they clip on the hachery fish?


herm

The adipost I believe.

Fish Doctor, did you get those on the bar across from Blue Creek? Looks like it from the picture.

Sorry Mike,
these were not caught there, we stopped on this bank to clean them, its down river a ways. The fish are adipose clipped, not 100% clipped but there is a scar on both, believe me, if those were unclipped then they would still be swimming, I have no problem cleaning out hatchery fish but natives are a different story.

Nice

Some day, that will be me.

Someday will be Jan 11th. You'll be adding more good karma to go with the good karma from your story.

Its great what you are doing Mike, and all the helpers. I have taken a hell of a lot of trash off a number of rivers including the Cowlitz, and yes it gives you some luck some days. I cant believe the junk that people leave behind, its one of my major peeves, makes the art of fishing look like a joke in the publics mind. My buddy Ryan and I picked up a private launch on the Quiliute this fall, stuff everywhere, guess what ? The next day we caught kings. lots of them, so it works..But thats not why I do it, its for the looks from the folks who cant beleive that you took the time from fishing to pick up crap, suddenly they relize the importance. I filled 3 bags on a certine hood canal river this fall, after all are we willing to lose our access to river areas due to trash? I would go down there on the 11th but I have an important meeting to attend (fishing related conservation work) I would be happy to float out as much as I can fit in the old garbage scow (my Drift Boat) the next time you organize a event like this that Ii can attend.
FishDoctor

hey fish doctor,after seeing your pic i was wondering if that was you i met on the sky awhile back,i was picking up trash when you got there and your dog cut your trip short with a big backlash,later Bruce

Hi ya Bruce,
now you know me..the dogs have stayed home the last few trips, that was a bad back lash
later
FishDoctor

Thank you Fish Doctor. I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll be taking pictures to share on the Forum.

Still chromer silvers in the Cowletz, Fishing buddy got one last night. A little late I would think, And most fish being caught are still summer or fall fish, Bleached out fins and rosey cheeks with a lite strip. but still real brite. I still hope they are just late as some of the little creeks around home still have nice silvers and chums finning there depths and they should have disappeared a month ago. Go figure....

Stopped by Blue Creek at 1:30 today, checked with 12 boats grand total of 4 fish 3 winters and a summer.

Jim

I sure wish they would keep some consistent flows at a higher level then currently. like 6500