BY ANDY WALGAMOTT, NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE
UPDATED 3:23 P.M., APRIL 9, 2026, WITH O.D.F.W. PRESS RELEASE AT BOTTOM
State salmon managers are reopening the Lower Columbia for spring Chinook for three more days after catch estimates showed a large enough harvestable balance still available below Bonneville Dam.
Fishing will reopen Saturday, April 11, through Monday, April 13, under the same regulations as the early portion of the fishery, which ran through yesterday, April 8.
A total of 5,513 above-Bonneville-bound spring Chinook mortalities are allowed under the preseason forecast, 30 percent run buffer and state-tribal catch allocations. Recent years have seen two-, four- and six-day reopeners when the early season quota wasn’t met, then more time added in May after the runsize update and the buffer comes off.
“March and early April catch rates have been lower than expected which allows for additional fishing time prior to the run update,” a late afternoon WDFW rule change notice stated. Managers had forecast 90 percent of available quota would have been caught by Wednesday.
Today’s news was presaged by an ODFW catch estimate posted yesterday that showed the fishery through last Sunday, April 5, had yielded a preliminary total kept catch of 1,405 overall Chinook, with another 102 released.
For the season, the vast majority of effort and fish landed have occurred below Kelly Point, which is the mouth of the Willamette River, which about 20 percent of 2026’s forecasted run of 228,700 is expected to turn off into.
Mainstem Lower Columbia effort actually dropped somewhat last week compared to the final full week of March, though catch rose. Anglers made 11,087 trips for 530 springers kept March 23-29, compared with 10,629 for 722 March 30-April 5.
I fished with guide Bob Rees last Saturday in the estuary, and our boat went three for five, with two keepers coming on plugs while anchored up in shallow water (7 to 10 feet) during the last of the outgoing tide, and the other biting a whole herring behind a triangle during the incoming.
This year’s fishery saw a slug of murky water rolling down the big river last week and over the weekend, but USGS’s Vancouver gauge shows what’s known as the formazin nephelometric unit count has dropped back below 10 FNU, the top end of what some anglers prefer to fish.
The Bonneville count is running behind the 10-year average, though it’s still very early in the run.
Typically, ODFW and WDFW hold a Columbia River Compact hearing to discuss fishery openers, extensions or closures, but this week staffers at both agencies are buried in Pacific Fishery Management Council meetings in Portland to determine the rest of this year’s salmon seasons in Oregon and Washington, so they made the call via a joint state action notice posted just now.
THE FOLLOWING IS AN OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PRESS RELEASE
Spring Chinook reopens below Bonneville Dam for three days beginning April 11
CLACKAMAS, Ore.—Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington took joint state action today to add another three days of recreational spring Chinook salmon fishing in the mainstem Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam. This fishery had closed on Wednesday, April 8 per the preseason schedule adopted in February.
With the additional days, the following regulations are in effect:
Dates: Chinook retention allowed Saturday, April 11 – Monday, April 13
Daily adult bag limit: Two adult hatchery salmonids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
Open area: Buoy 10 line upstream to Beacon Rock plus only the Oregon and Washington banks from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline. For exact boundaries see the ODFW Recreation Report for the Columbia Zone. Shad may also be retained.
Fishery managers will continue to evaluate fishery performance and Chinook abundance this spring and will consider additional fishing days if possible.
The fishery upstream of Bonneville Dam (from the Tower Island power lines upstream to the Oregon/Washington border) started April 1 and is scheduled to continue through April 26. Additionally, the fishery is scheduled to be open May 2.
All other permanent regulations are in effect for salmon or steelhead in mainstem Columbia River waters from the mouth upstream to the OR/WA state line.
Anglers should always check for in-season regulation changes before fishing, see updates in the ODFW Recreation Report.
