CLACKAMAS, Ore.—Following an in-season assessment of the upriver spring Chinook return, fishery managers from Washington and Oregon added six additional fishing days for recreational spring Chinook (Friday, May 19–Wednesday, May 24) both upstream and downstream of Bonneville Dam during a joint state hearing today.
Passage of this year’s run appears to be timed late as just over 28,000 adult spring Chinook had passed Bonneville Dam as of May 7, when about 40 percent of passage is typically complete. But since May 8, passage has picked up considerably with more than 55,000 adults counted in nine days, likely due to warmer river temperatures and more stable flows.
Fishery biologists with the U.S. v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) are now expecting the upriver return to be at least 139,000 adult Chinook (which would be a reduction from the pre-season forecast of 198,600). Due to the uncertainty surrounding the actual abundance of this year’s upriver spring Chinook return and fishery performance, fishery managers are recommending some opportunity now while fish abundance is still high, and additional opportunity may be added during a hearing next week.
Season dates, bag limits, areas for the days added follow:
Downstream of Bonneville Dam
- Season: Friday, May 19 through Wednesday, May 24 (6 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.
Bonneville Dam to Oregon/Washington Border
- Season: Friday, May 19 through Wednesday, May 24 (6 days)
- Area: Tower Island power lines (approximately six miles downstream from The Dalles Dam) upstream to Oregon/Washington border, plus the Oregon and Washington banks between Bonneville Dam and the Tower Island power lines.
- 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.
Fishery managers will meet again on Wednesday, May 24 at 1 p.m. to consider the latest information on catch rates and abundance expectations and will determine if more fishing days can be added during the spring season, which ends on June 15.
Summer season fishing on the mainstem Columbia River opens June 16 with Chinook retention open upstream and downstream of Bonneville Dam.
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