I don't post much, but I had not seen much from the Cowlitz River so I thought it would add some knowledge. Three of us arrived near the Barrier Dam at around 0730. I have not fished Chinnok before this season, but it was my third visit. I hooked a Chinook on my third cast and fought it for about four minutes or so, before it snapped my 20lbs test mainline. That was the first hook up I had had for these really strong fish. It took off about four times on me and jumped about three and I thought I had it tired out so I prematurely tightened up my drag and was going to reef it in. Next time I will take it much more slowly. I was using a pink corky and purple yarn with bloody tuna scent. We fished until 4pm or so and I had a two more bites, but nothing near as exciting as the first. One of my partners hooked one off the gravel dump using a twitching jig and bobber. Most everyone was using a bobber rig of some sort, but catching was sporadic. Some local teenagers were killing it, but they had basically been fishing it all week (School got out) and knew right where the pools were. It was nice to see fish caught regardless. Beautiful day and well worth the trip even without a caught fish. Next time I will take some pictures.