A Columbia River summer Chinook fishery beginning on the upcoming Fourth of July weekend was set today by fishery managers from Oregon and Washington. This is the first recreational summer Chinook fishery since 2018.
Fishery managers approved the season after scientists from the Tribes, states, and federal government revised the upper Columbia summer Chinook forecast to 65,000 fish on Monday. Sockeye and steelhead angling closed last Thursday due to ESA take limits on Snake River sockeye salmon. Most sockeye will have migrated past the fishery by this upcoming holiday weekend and it was determined that a Chinook-directed fishery starting then would not accrue any additional impacts.
“We are definitely concerned about Sockeye returning to the Snake River, but it seems likely that we can provide access to relatively abundant hatchery summer Chinook while not further impacting these endangered fish,” said Tucker Jones of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. “That being said, we will be carefully monitoring the fishery to make sure our assumptions hold true.”
The season will be open from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line near Astoria, upstream to the Oregon-Washington border (upstream of McNary Dam) from Saturday, July 4 through Wednesday, July 8. The bag limit is two adult hatchery Chinook salmon per day. Anglers must release all sockeye and steelhead unharmed.
For more information about upcoming Columbia River seasons, including regulation updates, visit ODFW’s online fishing reports at www.myodfw.com.
