Columbia Gorge Keeper Sturgeon Season Would Open Later In Winter Under Staff Proposal

Staffers who work on Columbia Gorge sturgeon management are recommending not opening the Bonneville and The Dalles Pools for retention until later this coming winter rather than the usual New Years Day start of keeper season seen in recent years.

A final decision won’t be made until next Thursday afternoon, but a fact sheet out ahead of that Columbia River Compact meeting lays out some of WDFW and ODFW’s thinking.

“Given the recent high levels of effort and catch observed on the traditional January 1 start date, as well as unseasonably warm water temperatures during the previous two seasons, staff recommend a retention closure in Bonneville and The Dalles Pools until later in the winter when fisheries could be crafted that would project to stay within harvest guidelines,” it states.

Last year’s season on the Bonneville Pool lasted all of one day, and even then went 115 fish over the recreational quota of 1,250 as effort exploded from previous years.

The fact sheet shows there were 2,010 trips made that one day – more than two and a half times as many as the previous January when there were at least two days of fishing before a shutdown, and five to 10 times as many as the average during the 2023, 2022 and 2021 seasons, which stretched six, 20 and seven days, respectively.

Water temperatures are always going to fluctuate from winter to winter, but both of the past two Januarys have also been the warmest by far of the past five years, enhancing the bite, and therein lies a clue about when managers are eyeing rescheduling the keeper openers.

“Sturgeon catch rates are highly dependent on water temperatures, therefore staff expect daily sturgeon catch to be more moderate in late January or February when water temperatures in Zone 6 are expected to be at their lowest,” the fact sheet states.

From a manager’s perspective, that could tamp down catch rates and nurse the guideline to extend the fishery and make it less of a derby-style season, which also frustrates anglers, who are either forced to participate or wait a whole ‘nother year. But from a sturgeon fisherman’s perspective, it would also make for slower, less productive angling.

“Their poor management practices have driven this recommendation,” said Columbia River angler Dennis Schwartz, who enjoys fishing the Bonneville Pool in early January with friends for keepers. “The idea of them waiting for more favorable water temps to kill the bite is a stupid management idea.”

The release of a fact sheet, which always contains DFW staffers’ proposals for a given fishery, so far in advance of the meeting is somewhat rare. Most come out right before the meeting as managers act to either extend or curtail fishing inseason. But it gives the angling public and others time to mull the ideas, as well as grouse about how retention fisheries are now all stuffed into the gorge reservoirs where before the major ones were held below Bonneville Dam.

In recent days Oregon sturgeon managers have been giving anglers a heads up that changes were likely coming.

“ODFW and WDFW fishery managers are developing new approaches to season structures to spread out retention opportunity beyond the people who can get there closest to opening day. Starting in 2026, sturgeon anglers should not expect the traditional New Years Day opener in all sections of the Columbia upstream of Bonneville,” ODFW posted in a November 4 news release.

Essentially, what is being proposed is that WDFW align its sturgeon season rules for what’s known as “Zone 6” of the Columbia with Oregon’s, closed for retention by default.

However, the John Day Pool retention season would open as usual on January 1. Despite a smaller guideline, harvest there “tends to accrue more slowly, resulting in relatively consistent season lengths” averaging more than 65 days the past half decade.

The fact sheet does contain some good news for the lower two gorge reservoirs. It reports last year’s sturgeon survey found an 86 percent increase in legal-sized sturgeon in the Bonneville Pool and 72 percent increase in The Dalles Pool.

That led to a bump in the harvest guideline for both pools for the 2025-27 fisheries.

“The Task Force will meet in January 2026 to review the results of the stock assessment done in John Day Pool and will consider updating those harvest guidelines at that time,” the fact sheet also states.

It also states that only one of the past 10 years has not seen measurable recruitment of sturgeon in the Bonneville Pool, although in The Dalles Pool, recruitment “has been lower” of late and the juvenile population – fish less than keeper size – “continues to decline.” A John Day Pool stock assessment is slated to come out in early 2026.