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.

On Thursday, WDFW approved dipping on Wednesday and March 22 — the last day of the season. Saturday's dipnetting is also ...

Delta smelt are often at the root of water policy in California ... That cannot happen. The original delta was a sea of tule grases, marshes and wetlands extending from Sacramento down to the East Bay ...

The Delta smelt is a small, three-inch-long fish native ... by water flows through the estuary since it cannot thrive when sea water makes up more than one third of the total.

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 ...

Since the Delta smelt, a food source for larger fish including salmon and sea bass as well as sea lions is near extinction, the government has been pumping less water out to save the fish for ...