The popular Lower Deschutes River in central Oregon will remain open for steelhead fishing under permanent regulations.
It’s a phenomenal year for sockeye salmon in Central Washington, with record numbers of fish making their way upriver. Through July 31, an astounding 165,071 sockeye have been counted at Tumwater Dam on the Wenatchee River.
Last week, Oregon and Washington fisheries managers shut down retention of Columbia River sockeye salmon from the ocean to the two-state border at Hwy 395 near Pasco, WA, even as the run size forecast rose twice and by early this week had nearly doubled.
Oregon and Washington fisheries managers of the Compact gave recreational anglers upstream of Bonneville Dam another chance to catch spring Chinook salmon from the dam to the two-state border.
Oregon and Washington this week gave anglers downstream of Bonneville Dam the go-ahead to continue spring Chinook fishing through June 15, beginning June 1, despite a predicted downturn in the forecasted run.
Recreational anglers will return to the Columbia River to fish for spring Chinook salmon beginning today, May 17, for a total of 10 additional fishing days through June 15, but only downstream of Bonneville Dam.
Due to a lateness of the run of spring Chinook salmon and lower than expected harvest, Oregon and Washington extended recreational angling for the fish through Tuesday, April 9. The angling period set by the two-state Columbia River Compact in February began March 1 and was due to end today, Friday, April 5.
Oregon and Washington fisheries managers approved 36 days of recreational angling in the mainstem Columbia River from Buoy 10 near the river’s mouth to Bonneville Dam to kick off the 2024 spring Chinook salmon season. Fishing begins March 1 and ends April 5, which is more than a month before the spring Chinook season officially ends on June 15.
Oregon and Washington closed recreational white sturgeon retention from Bonneville Dam upstream to the tailwater of the John Day Dam this week. The closure began the end of the day on January 3.
The final winner in the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program this year received a whopping $107,800 for their efforts to catch the aggressive predator of juvenile salmon and steelhead. Even the second-place angler received nearly $100,000 in winnings with a total catch of 9,786 pikeminnow.
A Pacific County judge has sentenced a recreational fisherman to 50 days in jail, fined him $1,500, and imposed a five-year fishing license suspension for repeat salmon snagging violations, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.
Oregon and Washington this week set 2024 sturgeon winter retention seasons for recreational anglers in the Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam, beginning Jan. 1.
In the early morning of October 6th, Kyriacos Panayiotou of McCall waded into the cool waters of the Clearwater River, Idaho's legendary steelhead mecca. Using a two-handed spey rod, he began searching the water, hoping a steelhead would grab the fly.
Idaho Fish and Game biologists learned on Oct. 10 that Lake Lowell near Nampa now likely has a reproducing population of walleye. While the effects to Lake Lowell and other area fisheries are uncertain at this point, they are concerned about what this might mean for this fishery and others in Southwest Idaho, including the Snake River below Hells Canyon, which is a major migration corridor for salmon and steelhead.
Matt Hosking of Lewiston, Idaho caught a colossal coho in the Clearwater River in on October 13th, setting a new state record for coho salmon.
With an updated and higher fall Chinook run forecast, recreational angling for salmon will continue through the end of the year on the mainstem Columbia River from Buoy 10 to the Oregon/Washington border near Pasco, WA.
With a higher in-season forecast of Chinook salmon tracking above the 5- and 10-year average, Oregon and Washington reopened all the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam to recreational angling for Chinook and hatchery coho as of Sept. 22. The reopening is for the remainder of this year.
With higher-than-normal numbers of adult-size sturgeon found dead in several pools of the Columbia River so far this summer, white sturgeon fishing will close on a large portion of the mid-Columbia beginning Saturday, July 29, fishery managers from Washington and Oregon announced Wednesday.
With a lower-than-expected return of summer Chinook to the Columbia River, Washington and Oregon will close the river downstream of Priest Rapids Dam to recreational angling for the fish July 1, bringing the summer season that began June 15 --and was to go to July 31 -- to an abrupt end.
With a flurry of spring Chinook passing Bonneville Dam daily the past two weeks, Oregon and Washington decided to reopen spring Chinook angling from Buoy 10 in the lower Columbia River to the Oregon/Washington border.
Oregon and Washington fishery managers recently finalized seasons and regulations for 2023 Columbia River summer and fall recreational salmon and steelhead fisheries. The harvest would come amidst the potentially lowest return of upriver summer steelhead to the Columbia since 1938.
The number of upriver summer steelhead forecasted to return to the Columbia River basin has been declining, year after year. This year’s return of the fish is anticipated to be the lowest count of both hatchery and wild steelhead since the construction of Bonneville Dam -- at only 42 percent of the 10-year average.
Earlier this month, Ryan Mejaski and Joe Wilhite were fishing for kokanee on the Deschutes arm of central Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook without much luck when they decided to move spots. After casting into a group of small kokanee that were jumping to the surface, his secret lure sank to about five feet when he got a big strike that took off screaming.
Oregon and Washington this week extended spring Chinook salmon fishing in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam by four days, two days more than was recommended by the two-state Columbia River Compact staff.
Anglers in Washington can expect similar salmon fishing opportunities this year compared to 2022, with some improved opportunities in the ocean driven by better Chinook forecasts and another large coho return, state fishery managers announced. In contrast, California ocean recreational fisheries in all areas from the Oregon/California border to the U.S./Mexico border are closed given the low abundance forecasts for both Klamath and Sacramento River fall Chinook.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
