Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon added eleven recreational fishing days (Thursday, May 25-Sunday, June 4) to the ongoing spring Chinook fishery downstream of Bonneville Dam during a joint state hearing Wednesday.
Adult Chinook passage at Bonneville Dam through May 23 totals 99,585 fish, which is 100 percent of the 10-year (2013-22) average cumulative count for this date and is well ahead of the recent 5-year (2018-22) average for this date.
Fishery biologists with the U.S. v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee are now expecting the upriver spring Chinook return to be 153,000 adults compared to the pre-season forecast of 198,600 adults.
Recreational spring Chinook fishing in the mainstem Columbia upstream of Bonneville Dam to the Oregon/Washington border closed close as scheduled Thursday as this fishery is projected to have met about 95 percent of its catch guideline.
Season dates and bag limits for the additional days follow:
Downstream of Bonneville Dam
Season: Thursday, May 25-Sunday, June 4 (11 days)
Area: Tongue Point/Rocky Point line upstream to Beacon Rock (boat and bank) plus bank angling only from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline. Legal upstream boat boundary defined as: a deadline marker on the Oregon bank (approximately four miles downstream from Bonneville Dam Powerhouse One) in a straight line through the western tip of Pierce Island to a deadline marker on the Washington bank at Beacon Rock.
Daily Bag Limit: Two adult hatchery salmonids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
All other permanent regulations apply.
Columbia River spring Chinook salmon seasons are driven by balancing opportunity with Endangered Species Act limitations, provisions in the management agreement between the states, Columbia River tribes, and the federal government that specify the total harvest guideline of upriver-origin spring Chinook, and guidance from the Oregon and Washington Fish and Wildlife commissions regarding allocations among the non-treaty fisheries.
Anglers are reminded that, effective March 1 through June 15, on days when the mainstem Columbia River recreational fishery below Bonneville Dam is open to retention of Chinook, the daily salmonid bag limit in Oregon and Washington Select Areas will be the same as mainstem Columbia River bag limits.
For the latest on Columbia River fishing regulations and a look at the upcoming fall and summer seasons, visit https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone