I suggest we all collectively boycott the entire month of March for springer fishing and force dfw to extend the season in April with the remaining quota! That being said I will try to fish the very tail end in early April provided water conditions permit it.
The sea lions are already stacked at the cowlitz mouth and likely up and down the main river for miles. The last couple years just haven't been worth it to fish when the barking furbags have overrun the river. Once the smelt dissipate they thin out.
boycott or not, there's not much catching going on anyway to affect the quota. If I fish the Columbia for springers, I don't even bother until late March when there's actually fish around.
This year may be good depending on the amount of runoff, although it looks like we're about to get extra feet of snow over the next few weeks.