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[armytruck]

 
Clear and lifeless in the lower . Not a lot of fishers . Don't waste your gas . Lots of chum in the hatchery . I seen 1 dark Coho there . I see they did a lot of work at the hatchery expanding the yard all nice . The pens were a little lifeless as well .

[wildmanyeah]

I have put quite a bit of time fishing here in the last 4 years.  Some people do okay way in the lower and also in boats at the mouth. Seems like the best place left tho to fish the system is to fish the upper canyon pools.  Some guys float it now in pontoon boats. Other option is a break your neck hike.

The fishing path down stream of the campground I have walked and fished most of it.  The far side near the bank in some areas holds a bit of fish.

The system has less fishermen tho for a reason. Their is less fish and it seems like they dart though a lot of the water.

[Hike_and_fish]

I have put quite a bit of time fishing here in the last 4 years.  Some people do okay way in the lower and also in boats at the mouth. Seems like the best place left tho to fish the system is to fish the upper canyon pools.  Some guys float it now in pontoon boats. Other option is a break your neck hike.

The fishing path down stream of the campground I have walked and fished most of it.  The far side near the bank in some areas holds a bit of fish.

The system has less fishermen tho for a reason. Their is less fish and it seems like they dart though a lot of the water.

Floating the upper in  pontoon ? I've gotta see that. I've floated with a snorkel and a life jacket from the logging bridge by the lake to the campsite at the one way bridge for years. I honestly cant imagine doing it in a pontoon boat. We stopped swimming that river because 1.) I have kids now and 2.) The last time we did it I smashed my ankles up so bad I thought I was going to get stuck and die from exhaustion. Just an FYI for those that dont know, there is a VERY nice deep slow alot just above the Statlu that ( last time ) brought us 4 Summers. All those years doing floats was an expiriance I'll never forget. The pools are amazing below the statlu. Some places you can only get to by boat, swimming or a serious hike. BTW itll take 1 day to swim and frish from the Statlu down. Any further up you'll need to bring a tent.

[wildmanyeah]

I was fishing some pools upstream of the camp ground and upstream of the bridge by the campground last year and they came floating down and ruined my pool for awhile. Not sure where they launched.

[armytruck]

Just wondering .
Did the fisheries buy that home on the east side of the hatchery ? or has it always been there property . Weird they would build the fence line right from the hatchery ,right around that home as well as on the west side of the hatchery , another house . Hmmm .

[Hike_and_fish]

That whole river has become an extreme disaster. The only fishery in my opinion that has been worth it has been the Summer steel. The numbers of returning fish are far more noticeable than the winters. They took a spinner, spoon, worn, bait, dry fly you name it. I would have 3 or more in 1 outing at times. One trip I had three out of one pool all on a dry fly. Itll be a cold day in hell if I ever landed a Spring these days on the Chehalis and hatchery Coho have been very elusive. Not anywhere what it used to be. I can remeber seeing the pools so thick with Coho the bottom of the river looked black.

[greyghost]

Floating the upper in  pontoon ? I've gotta see that. I've floated with a snorkel and a life jacket from the logging bridge by the lake to the campsite at the one way bridge for years. I honestly cant imagine doing it in a pontoon boat. We stopped swimming that river because 1.) I have kids now and 2.) The last time we did it I smashed my ankles up so bad I thought I was going to get stuck and die from exhaustion. Just an FYI for those that dont know, there is a VERY nice deep slow alot just above the Statlu that ( last time ) brought us 4 Summers. All those years doing floats was an expiriance I'll never forget. The pools are amazing below the statlu. Some places you can only get to by boat, swimming or a serious hike. BTW itll take 1 day to swim and frish from the Statlu down. Any further up you'll need to bring a tent.

So how did you navigate the Falls Pool? Just curious!

[greyghost]

I was fishing some pools upstream of the camp ground and upstream of the bridge by the campground last year and they came floating down and ruined my pool for awhile. Not sure where they launched.

Statlu or Bolder Creek! Oh and by the way, sorry about that!

[Robert_G]

So how did you navigate the Falls Pool? Just curious!

The waterfall is above where Statlu Creek joins the river. The first time I tubed the river with friends, we went in blind....did not know about the entire river going over a waterfall. I was 21.  We did the whole river from the bridge below the lake to Morris Valley rd. Got to the bridge at around 11 PM...it was pretty dark and scary, but since then we always go in at Statlu. We only go in summer though, so there are no Coho in the river yet. Hike and Fish is right......there are a few pools below the statlu that are amazing that held a half dozen summers or more in each pool.....however....because we mostly went around the August long weekend back in the mid 90s when the Red Springs were thick...there are a few inaccessible pools about 4-5 km above the Morris Valley bridge that were black with spawning Springs...I'm talking over 200 in one pool....and some of them were huge. It was a real thing to see and you wouldn't believe it if you weren't there.

I'm too old now for that kind of adventure....but the thought is tempting.

[Spoonman]

Just wondering .
Did the fisheries buy that home on the east side of the hatchery ? or has it always been there property . Weird they would build the fence line right from the hatchery ,right around that home as well as on the west side of the hatchery , another house . Hmmm .

.........caretakers house...they put the fence around it so that they don't have to try unlocking gates in the dark when alarms go off at night...

[greyghost]

The waterfall is above where Statlu Creek joins the river. The first time I tubed the river with friends, we went in blind....did not know about the entire river going over a waterfall. I was 21.  We did the whole river from the bridge below the lake to Morris Valley rd. Got to the bridge at around 11 PM...it was pretty dark and scary, but since then we always go in at Statlu. We only go in summer though, so there are no Coho in the river yet. Hike and Fish is right......there are a few pools below the statlu that are amazing that held a half dozen summers or more in each pool.....however....because we mostly went around the August long weekend back in the mid 90s when the Red Springs were thick...there are a few inaccessible pools about 4-5 km above the Morris Valley bridge that were black with spawning Springs...I'm talking over 200 in one pool....and some of them were huge. It was a real thing to see and you wouldn't believe it if you weren't there.

I'm too old now for that kind of adventure....but the thought is tempting.

True that! The run below the Falls Pool where it canyons up again always holds Red Springs in big numbers to this day still! Some spawn there and some just hang out for the right time for the push over the falls for the travel to the lake outflow to spawn! Rule of thumb has always been if you found the Springs, you have found the summer-runs as well! The mid summer wolf packs! Still fish them to this day! Over the years I have noticed more and more non clipped summers! Some may just believe they may have established themselves now! 🤔 I would say I was there in the early 90’s to 18’s and still doing the big climbs!

[Hike_and_fish]

So how did you navigate the Falls Pool? Just curious!

Not much of a falls. We did the float for 6 years straight two to three times a year. Snorkel, life jackets, waterproof back packs and rods in hand. The highlight would be 4 years ago just below the Stalu is a small falls. My buddy was in front of me. We were floating down and I hear a panic. Slapping on the top of the water and the sound of him yelling thru his mask. I see a Summer ( under the water ) battling to get up the ripping water. It make it's way up and swan right up to my friend within one foot of his face, looks at him and rockets past me. It seemed like every pool below the Stalu had dozens of smolts in it. Everytime we dive into a new pool they would swim right to your face.

[winter steel]

The river constantly changes below the bridge and with it the runs. Some years offer better holding water than others and more opportunities to intercept fish. This year has been tough but easily explained as the brood for this year was poor. I managed to find some nice water today to fish and hooked a few coho, one of which was a beautiful chrome 10lb wild doe and took two smaller fish home (hatchery of course). The fish are starting to colour and the mix was about 1 clean for every two coloured. If you are willing to poke your head around you'll still find fish. Enjoy what is left of the season.

[Hike_and_fish]

That system has Coho from mid Sept to February. From the lake to the mouth. My experience has shown me once the water gets cold ( now ) the fresh fish color up very fast. Last week I was into spawn ready Coho at the mouth. I've also caught chrome fish up top early on. The Chehalis has become a strange unpredictable river ever since it changed direction. 

[Shinny]

I have pontoon drifted from above statlu confluence to boulder creek. Lots of nice water. I flipped the pontoon in the middle of the river when my oar popped out of the holder and i got pushed up into boulders in the middle of the river. The pontoon flipped and I luckily made it to shore. Haven’t done another drift since. The past two years coho haven’t been coming back in numbers. Three years ago the pools were black with coho..now there are only a couple here and there. Lots of coloured ones up in the canyon. It’s unfortunate that chehalis isn’t doing better. The canyon and the river is quite pristine. The net that the local FN band put across the lower mouth of the river before the hatchery channel the other year didn’t make things better either