Updated at bottom with an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife press release
BY ANDY WALGAMOTT, NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE
It’s official, there will be no January 1 sturgeon retention openers on the Bonneville and The Dalles Pools next year.
State managers’ plan instead is to monitor water temperatures in the Columbia Gorge and consider potential fisheries “later this winter” when the big river is running cooler than it has in recent years and fishing is less likely to be as hot as it was on New Year’s Day 2025.
That’s when the entire Bonneville Pool sturgeon harvest guideline – and then some – was gobbled up in a single day as relatively high numbers of anglers enjoyed banner fishing.
ODFW’s Tucker Jones termed that “not sustainable,” and he said that as someone originally from Northcentral Oregon who knew how important the January 1 opener is locally.
“For people who live out there, it’s a big deal,” he said during a Columbia River Compact conference this afternoon.
But Jones added that fisheries need to last more than one day and not risk going over the guideline.
Relatively warm water conditions and high turnout have led to high sturgeon catches and quick closures on The Bonneville and The Dalles Pools each of the past two years – including 1,365 on a harvest guideline of 1,250 on the former reservoir this season – leaving managers and anglers frustrated.
So now the state agencies are looking to push back keeper season to when there are more reliably cold water temperatures and seeing how it behaves and whether that produces meaningful fisheries that stay within harvest guidelines.
“You can catch fish in mid-February – it’s just slow,” said sportfishing advisor Harry Barber of Washougal during public comment this afternoon.
Technically, what happened today is that WDFW’s Charlene Hurst agreed Washington would close sturgeon retention in the Bonneville and The Dalles Pools starting January 1, effectively matching what is in ODFW’s permanent regulations.
And for his part, Jones agreed to match WDFW’s January 1 sturgeon retention opener on the John Day Pool.
There were some concerns that that would result “effort shift” – that is, Bonneville and The Dalles sturgeon anglers would trailer up to the John Day Pool come January 1, 2026.
DFW staffers said they hadn’t seen that in past years when the two lower pools were closed and the upper reservoir was open.
Jones acknowledged that, but said that managers were also “doing something new. When you do something new, there is some risk.”
He said there wasn’t much uncertainty around what anglers would do on January 2, but the day before being a holiday meant a fair amount of risk.
There are exactly 105 keeper-length sturgeon available in the John Day Pool guideline, a tenth of what’s been seen in the Bonneville Pool in recent years and about 38 percent of The Dalles Pool guideline. The guideline hasn’t been busted there in the past five years.
Catch and release sturgeon fishing remains open in the meanwhile on all three reservoirs.
THE FOLLOWING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
CLACKAMAS, Ore. – Sturgeon retention will not open in Bonneville and The Dalles pools on the traditional date of Jan 1. following a joint state hearing held by Oregon and Washington fishery managers today. However, the retention fishery in the John Day pool, where harvest rates have been stable and conditions have been more consistent, will open as typical on New Year’s Day.
In recent years, warmer-than-normal winter water temperatures, increased angling effort, and high catch rates have resulted in the Bonneville and The Dalles pool fisheries closing after a day or two. Because of this, fishery managers are employing a new approach to the retention fisheries in these areas starting in 2026. By delaying the opener until water temperatures cool off in late January or February, managers expect catch rates will be lower, increasing the likelihood the fishery could remain open longer. Managers will review this approach after the 2026 season and will use their findings to determine the structure of future fisheries.
For information concerning these decisions, see the Nov. 13, 2025 Winter Fact Sheet No.1.
Anglers should be aware of changes to Columbia Zone regulations appearing in Oregon’s 2026 Sport Fishing Regulation book, such as having all Columbia River sturgeon retention fisheries closed unless opened via in-season action.
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Correction, 5:00 p.m., November 13, 2025: A quote in the fourth paragraph was incorrect in the original version of this blog. ODFW’s Tucker Jones said “not sustainable,” not “not unsustainable.” It has been corrected above.
