Little Goose Tailrace To Open For 1 Day Of Springer Fishing; Gorge Pools Reopen; Boats OK Below BD

A numerical transfer of hatchery spring Chinook from the balance available for the Lower Columbia recreational fishery to the Snake is providing for another day to target the salmon below Little Goose Dam.

Fishing will be open on Friday, June 7, in the roughly 3.5 miles between the Texas Rapids launch up to the angling deadline below the third dam up Southeast Washington’s Snake, WDFW announced yesterday afternoon.

Unlike early May’s brief season, the daily limit tomorrow will be two adult hatchery kings, per the rule change notice.

It’s a bit of a surprise, as a fact sheet out from the DFWs in late May said the Snake was 153 Chinook in the hole after last month’s productive fishery below both Little Goose and Ice Harbor Dams.

But earlier this week, the US v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee slightly upgraded the above-Bonneville Dam portion of the spring Chinook run to 115,300 back to the mouth of the Columbia River. The preseason forecast was 121,000, which was bumped up in mid-May to 122,400, then decreased late in the month to 114,100.

And catches have been running below expectations in the Lower Columbia, so per Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission Policy 3630, unused Endangered Species Act impacts on upriver-bound springers post-runsize update at Bonneville can be transferred or just left to go on their merry way.

A statement from TAC out yesterday reads:

• The U.S. vs OR Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) met on June 3, 2024 to review and discuss information relative to the upriver spring Chinook return.  Based on the information to date and discussion of the output from several Bonneville Dam passage projection models, TAC maintained the in-season projected passage at Bonneville of 110,400 adults but, given the availability of full-season lower-river harvest projections, updated the 2024 expected return of adult upriver-origin spring Chinook to 115,300 fish at the Columbia River mouth for the U.S. vs OR parties to use for management of fisheries during the spring management period. 
• This year’s upriver spring Chinook harvest rates are determined by the abundance of the Snake River natural-origin spring Chinook return.  Given the current projection for the aggregate upriver spring Chinook return is lower than the preseason forecast, TAC expects the Snake River natural-origin return will also be lower than the preseason forecasted abundance.
• TAC also discussed the estimated harvest of adult upriver spring Chinook in fisheries prosecuted to date, as provided by the relevant parties.  
• TAC will continue to monitor and assess the run and will provide additional run size updates as warranted.  TAC will meet again next Monday, June 10.

The brief Snake reopener was also a harbinger for two other related hatchery spring Chinook rule tweaks announced later Thursday. One allows boat angling on the Columbia between Beacon Rock and the Bonneville fishing deadline June 8-15 and the other opens the mainstem Columbia Gorge pools those same days.

“In short, there was a positive balance within the recreational share to be used by all three recreational fisheries, as the lower river fishery could not use all of its recreational sub-allocation,” said Ryan Lothrop, WDFW Columbia River manager.