Editor’s note 1:14 p.m., Thursday, January 8, 2026: Updated at bottom with ODFW’s press release officially announcing the below news.
BY ANDY WALGAMOTT, NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE
Columbia sturgeon managers decided to close John Day Pool sturgeon retention effective this Saturday, January 10, as catches approach the season guideline.
During a conference call this morning, they also said they would review conditions on the Bonneville and The Dalles Pools downstream later this month so as to figure out when to provide fisheries there later this winter that are “orderly and meaningful.”
Both ODFW’s Jeff Whisler and WDFW’s Ryan Lothrop described the John Day Pool sturgeon fishery this year as a “double-edged sword” in that it provided good fishing but is now closing early. Per their agencies’ fact sheet out earlier this week, anglers are expected to fill 96 percent of the 105-fish guideline by the end of fishing Friday. Recent winters with the same number of fish available for recreational harvest have seen seasons there that stretched from over a month to 70-plus days.
They also defended their decision to open just the John Day Pool and keep the Bonneville and The Dalles Pools closed till later this winter. Lothrop called that a “smart decision” and Whisler termed it “the right move” given that the good water conditions driving higher than expected catch rates on the John Day Pool would have also likely occurred on the downriver reservoirs.
Lothrop did ask staffers on the call about the possibility of closing the John Day Pool after Saturday instead of Friday.
WDFW’s Matt Sturza said that doing so would result in an overall kept catch of 117 sturgeon, “which would exceed the guideline.”
Sturza said the higher than expected catches were driven by warmer waters than usual in winter – a US Geological Services gage below John Day Dam shows temperatures 3 degrees above the median over nearly two decades of data – and that anecdotally, dirtier water from December’s rains may have also played a part.
The states’ move was supported by Jesse Vassar, a member of the DFWs’ Columbia River Recreational Advisory Group, who said it was bad that season was so short but great that anglers have found success. He said it would be good to get another day out of the fishery but added that repeatedly exceeding the guideline wouldn’t be a good thing over the long haul.
Over the last six years at least, John Day Pool sturgeon catches have stayed within the sport guideline, but not so much on the Bonneville Pool, where they’ve hit 105 percent and 103 percent the past two years thanks to warmer water, high effort and great fishing. That led to this year’s different opener strategy.
While the approach had some concerned it would just result in “effort shift” – that is, sturgeon anglers from the lower pools heading to the eastern gorge reservoir – Whisler said that didn’t appear to happen “to a large extent.”
With such limited opportunities to harvest a sturgeon in the region, including on the Lower Columbia where fisheries were formerly held on the estuary and elsewhere, it behooves managers to act conservatively AND to work to address factors affecting low abundance. Sea lions have recently received attention in Congress and are the subject of an article this week in a national magazine, The Atlantic.
Whisler and Lothrop also adopted Lower Columbia commercial smelt openers as proposed by staff. Those will serve to continue gauging run strength to provide biological insights on the ESA-listed stock as well as inform possible tributary dipping openers, and provide commercial harvest opportunity. The staggered open days are frontloaded to January and February, as recent years have seen the “bulk” of the smelt run come in in March.
THE FOLLOWING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
Sturgeon retention closes in the John Day Pool after Jan. 9
CLACKAMAS, Ore.— The last day to retain a white sturgeon in the John Day Pool (mainstem Columbia River from John Day Dam upstream to McNary Dam and adjacent tributaries) is Friday, Jan. 9.
Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington made the decision today after determining that the harvest guideline in this reach will be met soon. The projected kept catch in the John Day Pool fishery through Jan. 9 is 101 fish (96 percent of the guideline).
Unlike the John Day Pool, recreational sturgeon retention fisheries in Bonneville and The Dalles pools did not open on the traditional date of Jan. 1 this year. Fishery managers anticipate opening retention of white sturgeon in these pools sometime in late January or February when water temperature cools off and catch rates are expected to be lower.
Sturgeon anglers should also be aware that a sturgeon retention fishery is not planned this year in the lower river downstream of Bonneville Dam, as population monitoring continues to find low numbers of legal-size fish.
Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing remains open in the mainstem Columbia, but all angling for sturgeon is prohibited May 1– Aug. 31 within sanctuary areas below each of the dam tailraces. See the permanent regulations for Columbia River Zone details.
