This year’s Cowlitz River recreational smelt dip-fishing season kicked off Wednesday almost totally without its two most important elements: smelt and people dipping for them.

Dozens of fishermen from Oregon and Washington test their luck during a one-day chance for smelt dipping on the Cowlitz River on Tuesday afternoon. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian) Smelt dipping will ...

This year’s Cowlitz River recreational smelt dip-fishing season ... few smelt would be in the river Wednesday. “We put on our web page and a handful of other places, the peak of the run ...

Mar. 8—Smelt dippers will return to the banks of the Cowlitz River as the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved recreational fisheries for Wednesday, March 12 ...

Mar. 12—Anglers from across the Pacific Northwest took to the banks of the Cowlitz River on Wednesday, March 12, for the opening of the state's brief smelt dipping season. All it took was a few ...