Lower Columbia creel: Drano Lake, Wind and Lewis lead for coho and Chinook

Northwest Sportsman ran WDFW's preliminary Lower Columbia River and Washington tributary sport summary for Oct. 12–18 on Oct. 20. On the mainstem below Bonneville, most of the action was boats picking up coho. The Longview section was best, with 20 boats (37 rods) keeping 21 coho, while Woodland boats kept 14 and Vancouver boats 10.

The tributaries did better. At Drano Lake, 34 boats with 113 rods kept 41 Chinook, 3 Chinook jacks and 49 coho. On the Wind River, 32 boats kept 41 coho and released 19 more. On the Lewis, bank anglers kept 6 Chinook and 38 coho, and boats added 8 Chinook, 21 coho and 17 coho jacks. Bank anglers below Fisher Hill Bridge on the Klickitat kept 19 Chinook and 8 coho, and the Kalama gave up 11 coho.

At Buoy 10, Oregon creel samplers counted 16 coho kept and 13 released from 53 boats that week, about 0.11 fish per rod. The season totals look much better. Estimated 2026 kept catch through Oct. 18 is 24,668 Chinook and 38,460 coho, compared with 23,936 Chinook and 26,601 coho at the same point in 2025. Under WDFW's current rule, the six-fish daily limit (up to three adults, hatchery coho only) runs from Buoy 10 to the west end of Puget Island through Oct. 31.

Photo: Mason King with a Buoy 10 coho and Dungeness crab from a trip with his grandfather Chuck Groves about a month ago, via Northwest Sportsman's photo contest.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Northwest Sportsman — SW WA, Buoy 10, Lower Columbia Fishing Report (10-20-2026) (Andy Walgamott, Oct. 20, 2026, from WDFW data). Daily limit: WDFW via FishingWA — Lower Columbia River salmon and steelhead fishery update.