Anglers can dip for smelt for five hours Saturday along a portion of the Cowlitz River, the state announced after detecting the thin, silvery fish in the waters Wednesday.
Smelt can be caught in handheld dipnets from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Cowlitz River from the bridge over Highway 432, or Industrial Way, in Longview to the Al Helenberg Memorial Boat Ramp in Castle Rock, says the state.
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife says the 2022 smelt run is expected to be larger than the year before. Dipnetters caught about 90,750 pounds in the five-hour fishery window in 2021, the state reports.
Columbia River smelt are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to declines in run size in the last decade, which is why recreational fishing is limited to years in which the run size is exceptionally large. Smelt have a range from Long Beach, California, to Chignik Lagoon, Alaska, but the Columbia River has a specific kind of smelt, also called hooligan or eulachon.
Saturday’s opening marks the third consecutive year of recreational dipnet fishing in the area. Recreational smelt fishing was banned in 2018 and 2019 due to poor runs.
The daily catch limit is 10 pounds, which fills about a quarter of a 5-gallon bucket. Smelt can’t be caught from a vessel, says the state, and no fishing license is required.
Fish and Wildlife says Cowlitz River levels and flows may be strong this weekend, and advises anglers to use caution.
