Salmon (& some shad) passing the fish counter station at Bonneville
Better than expected returns of Chinook salmon to the Columbia River prompted fishery managers from Oregon and Washington to reopen salmon season below Bonneville Dam on May 15.
“For the first time since 2007, we have a run update that is going to let us open a late-spring Chinook season,” said Chris Kern, assistant manger of ODFW’s Columbia River Fisheries Program. “This also allows us to get an early start on fishing for summer steelhead between the I-5 Bridge and Bonneville. That area doesn’t usually open until June 16.”
The daily bag limit will be two adult salmon/steelhead in combination, of which only one may be an adult chinook. Chinook salmon and steelhead must be adipose fin-clipped to be retained; the fin clip requirement does not apply to sockeye. Fishing from boats will be allowed from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line near Astoria upstream to Beacon Rock, approximately five miles downstream from Bonneville Dam. Bank fishing will be permitted all the way up to Bonneville Dam.
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The tastiest of all salmon…spring Chinook…are making their way up rivers all up and down the West Coast and April-July is the time to get out after ‘em. While there are many ways you can target these prime kings, one of the most popular techniques on rivers like the Rogue and Klamath is to fish on anchor with spinners.
One of the top salmon guides in Northern California, John Klar, shows you how to do it…
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According to our man in the Northwest, Joel Shangle, the bomber spring Chinook season on the Columbia River has yet to materialize. Dam counts are pretty anemic so far and the bite is far from red hot. Were the forecasts for a massive run that far off (again) or are the fish just fashionably late? Time will tell!
See fish counts and all the how-to and where-to go stuff for the 2010 springer season at Northwest Wild Country
by JD on December 13, 2009
Well, we’ve been down this road before…so maybe it’s a bit early to get excited just yet…but the forecast for the Columbia River’s spring Chinook salmon run this coming spring looks to be HUGE!
According to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife:
The technical committee advising Columbia River fishery managers has released its forecast for the 2010 spring Chinook run. If the fish show up as projected, the forecast of 470,000 spring chinook would be the largest return to the Columbia since 1938.
The forecasted run is up significantly from last year’s final run of 169,300 fish. [click to continue…]
