Snake Stretches Opening For Fall Chinook; Areas 7, 10 Reopening For Kings

WDFW announced several stretches of Southeast Washington’s Snake River will open for fall Chinook and salmon anglers on Puget Sound’s Areas 7 and 10 will get another crack at kings.

First up is Marine Area 10, the waters off Seattle, which will reopen Sunday and Monday, August 11-12, followed by Area 7, the San Juans, Tuesday, August 13.

“The summer Chinook fisheries have been successful, and we’ve got additional openers in Marine Areas 7 and 10,” said Kelly Cunningham, WDFW’s Director of Fish Program, in an agency update out this afternoon. “Many marine areas are also open for coho fishing. More coho are beginning to show up in catches around Puget Sound and the coho forecast should provide fishing opportunities well into the fall timeframe.”

The Area 10 hatchery Chinook quota sits at 76 percent through August 4, and according to WDFW, catch-per-day numbers have set records this season, with an average of 339 kings being brought back to Shilshole, Don Armeni, Kingston and other ramps.

As for Area 7, 92 percent of the 2181-hatchery-Chinook quota has been landed. Fewer fish around this time of year mean it’s relatively safe for WDFW to risk opening another day.

Minimum size for clipped kings in both areas is 22 inches.

Further out and further afield, the Snake in the Clarkston area and up to the Washington-Oregon line in Hells Canyon opens August 18 for daily fall Chinook fishing, then the Lyons Ferry bubble opens September 5 on a Thursday-Sunday schedule.

“The 2024 Columbia River forecasted return of upriver bright adults is 261,800 fish, with a significant portion of these fish expected to return to the Snake River,” reads WDFW’s rule change notice.

Limits vary, additional info abounds, get off my lawn, see the e-reg.