More Time On The Water For Columbia Chinook Anglers; Coho Limit Boosted In Lower River

Editor’s note: Updated 11:09 a.m., Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at bottom with an ODFW press release on yesterday afternoon’s decision.

The Columbia estuary will reopen for fall Chinook with a boosted hatchery coho limit, and the king fishery from near the mouth of the Lewis to Tri-Cities was extended by state salmon managers this afternoon.

The moves follow an inseason runsize update on Monday that boosted this year’s fall Chinook expectations by 7 percent, to 588,350 adult kings, including a 13 percent increase to the important upriver bright portion of the return, and comes with plenty of available room in the coho quota and an apparently large run of the species appearing at Bonneville Dam.

Given all that, ongoing harvest and how many salmon are modeled to be caught, managers agreed with staffers from WDFW and ODFW that there was enough room for more harvest of Chinook and hatchery coho at the mouth and upstream, though not in the west Puget Island-Lewis mouth zone.

As it stands, the Columbia from Buoy 10 to the west Puget Island line will reopen for any Chinook this Thursday for 11 days, September 12-22, when the bag limit also expands to three adult salmon (only one Chinook). The three-hatchery-coho limit will also run from September 23 through at least the end of October.

Managers don’t expect a huge catch of Chinook at the mouth of the Columbia, modeling a harvest of about 400 fish, as much of the run has already passed that point.

Upriver, the big river from just above the Lewis at the Warrior Rock-Bachelor Island line up to the Highway 395 bridge in Pasco – which had been scheduled to close after September 15 through the end of the month – will instead stay open September 16-22 for Chinook and coho under the previous limits.

Modeling suggests anglers below Bonneville Dam will catch 6,000 Chinook, while fishermen in the Columbia Gorge pools will land 2,600.

The additional fishing opportunities were supported by sport angling advisors and fishermen on the call, who generally praised this season’s salmon management and also argued for the increased coho bag.

A WDFW staffer explained that sticking with a two-hatchery-coho limit through the end of the year would take the catch to 60 percent of the impact limit on the Lower Columbia natural stock, while a three-fish limit would take it to 70 percent.

Tucker Jones and Charlene Hurst, agency Columbia managers representing their respective directors, also approved two commercial openers in what is known as Zones 4 and 5, the Columbia from the Lewis to Bonneville and concurred with tribal fisheries in the gorge pools.

In other news from today’s Columbia River Compact, the A-run summer steelhead forecast was increased to 130,300 fish at Bonneville by the U.S. v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee, or TAC. The preseason forecast was for 89,900. While good to see many more As returning than predicted, TAC’s Stuart Ellis termed it “still a low abundance overall.” If the new runsize comes to pass, it would be the most since 2015’s 234,000.

THE FOLLOWING IS AN OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PRESS RELEASE

Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington added additional recreational salmon fishing days in the mainstem Columbia River during a joint state hearing yesterday afternoon.

Chinook fishing at Buoy 10, which had closed Sept. 4, will reopen from Sept. 12-22 and the daily adult bag limit will increase to three salmon (no more than one may be a Chinook). The daily adult bag limit from Sept. 23-Oct. 31 will now be three hatchery coho.

Mainstem fisheries from Warrior Rock upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, WA were scheduled to close to salmon fishing on Sept. 16 but will remain open through Sept. 22.

The decision comes after fishery biologists with the U.S. v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) provided the first in-season abundance update for upriver stocks of fall Chinook on Sept. 9.  This included a slight upgrade to upriver bright Chinook, which was the primary limiting stock in preseason planning. This, coupled with an assessment of recreational Chinook fisheries to date, allowed the states to add some more Chinook fishing opportunity.

Visit the Columbia River zone regulations updates page to see the updated seasons and bag limits https://myodfw.com/articles/regulation-updates#columbia-zone

All other permanent regulations are in effect including the use of barbless hooks when angling for salmon or steelhead in mainstem Columbia River waters from the mouth upstream to the OR/WA state line.

Fishery managers may meet again next week to consider additional non-treaty fisheries; subscribe to Columbia River Action Notices or Fact Sheets to be informed about the meeting.

Correction, 8:10 a.m., September 11, 2024: The downstream boundary of the Chinook season extension has been clarified from the general location of the Lewis River mouth to the more specific Warrior Rock-Bachelor Island line adopted by the states and located just upstream of there.