Chinook fishing in the Columbia River will continue without interruption through the remainder of the summer season, fishery managers from Oregon and Washington decided today, thanks to stronger than predicted returns of summer Chinook and sockeye including a possible record sockeye run this year.
The Chinook run is coming in above the pre-season forecast and the in-season return expectation was recently upgraded to 82,300 adults at the Columbia River mouth. A run of this size would be the largest return to the Columbia since 2016 and 119 percent of the average return over the last 10 years.
Through July 11, the sockeye count at Bonneville Dam is 591,134—the highest count to date since the construction of Bonneville Dam in 1938 with the potential to beat the current record cumulative sockeye count at Bonneville of 614,179 fish set in 2014. The sockeye run peaks around the last week of June, then slows down but continues through the month of July. The current forecast is for 636,500 sockeye to return to Columbia River this year but the final estimate won’t be made until later this year.
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife announced the following season was set Wednesday for areas downstream of Bonneville Dam:
- Area: Astoria- Megler Bridge to Bonneville Dam
- Season: July 14-31
- Bag limit: Two adult salmonids (hatchery Chinook, hatchery steelhead, and sockeye) of which no more than one may be a steelhead. All sockeye are considered adults. The daily bag limit for jack salmon is five fish. All previously adopted regulations remain in effect.
Previously adopted regulations for the mainstem Columbia River between Bonneville Dam and the Highway 395 Bridge (Pasco, Wash.) remain in effect, see the Columbia River Fishing Report and click Regulation Updates for details https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone (In this area, salmon fishing also continues through July 31 with a daily adult bag limit of two fish, both sockeye and hatchery Chinook retention allowed, only one hatchery steelhead allowed).
Fall Columbia River salmon seasons begin Aug. 1, see more about seasons set by clicking the Regulations Updates tab at https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone.
