Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington took joint state action Wednesday (April 9) to add another six days of recreational spring Chinook salmon fishing in the mainstem Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam. This fishery had closed on Monday April 7 per the preseason schedule adopted in February.
The added days (April 11-13 and April 15-17) are broken into two blocks with a one-day break between them to allow fishery managers time to assess the catch and confirm the second block of days is able to continue as adopted.
With the additional days added, the following regulations are in effect:
Dates: Open, Friday April 11 – Sunday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 15 – Thursday, April 17
Bag limit: Two adult hatchery salmonids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
Open area: Buoy 10 line upstream to Beacon Rock plus only the Oregon and Washington banks from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline. For exact boundaries visit https://myodfw.com/articles/regulation-updates#columbia-zone
Shad may also be retained.
Dates: Open, Friday April 11 – Sunday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 15 – Thursday, April 17
Bag limit: Two adult hatchery salmonids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
Open area: Buoy 10 line upstream to Beacon Rock plus only the Oregon and Washington banks from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline. For exact boundaries visit https://myodfw.com/articles/regulation-updates#columbia-zone
Shad may also be retained.
Fishing has been slow this year due to poor river conditions, and the lower river fishery used less than 10 percent of its initial allocation of upriver-origin spring Chinook through April 7. Fishery managers will evaluate the spring Chinook fishery in May, after an in-season upriver Chinook abundance update, to see if additional fishing time is possible.
There have been 521 adult upriver spring Chinook counted at Bonneville Dam through April 7, compared to the recent 10-year average of 669 fish and the recent five-year average cumulative adult count of 415 fish. It is still very early in the run—based on 10-year average run timing, less than half of 1 percent of the adult upriver spring Chinook have passed Bonneville Dam through this date.
The fishery upstream of Bonneville Dam (from the Tower Island power lines upstream to the Oregon/Washington border) started April 1 and is scheduled to continue through April 26.
All other permanent regulations are in effect including the use of barbless hooks when angling for salmon or steelhead in mainstem Columbia River waters from the mouth upstream to the OR/WA state line.
Anglers should always check for in-season regulation changes before fishing, see updates at https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone#Regulation-Updates
See CBB, Jan. 10, 2025, Columbia River Spring Chinook 2025 Forecast About Same As Last Year’s Actual Return; Lower For Summer Chinook, Sockeye https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/columbia-river-spring-chinook-2025-forecast-about-same-as-last-years-actual-return-lower-for-summer-chinook-sockeye/