Chinook catch isextended at Buoy 10
With chinook retention in the popular Buoy 10 fishery at the mouth of the Columbia River open through Labor Day, anglers can expect a busy holiday weekend.
Tuesday’s sampling from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated 511 boats and 1,407 angler trips, resulting in 313 chinook retained and 147 coho retained. That works out to one fish for every three rods.
An estimated 260 chinook were released, along with 220 coho.
The fishery will continue following a decision reached Tuesday by officials in both Oregon and Washington, keeping the catch open through Monday. The decision followed sampling that showed the lower Columbia tule (dark) chinook are only about 19 percent of the catch compared to the expected 28 percent.
The catch of lower Columbia tules is what ultimately determines the length of the fishery. The fish are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
In addition to the smaller-than-anticipated catch of lower Columbia River tules, there also are expected to be some savings from the ocean recreational fishery that can be applied to the Buoy 10 allocation, according to ODFW biologist John North.
The per angler catch at Buoy 10 is the best in the past four years, he added. The week of Aug. 20-26 showed an average retention of 0.54 fish per rod.
Buoy 10 in the name given to the lower 16 miles of the Columbia from Buoy 10 at the river’s mouth upstream to Tongue Point in Oregon and Rocky Point in Washington.
Angler checks from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Long-view, 441 boaters with 71 adult chinook, one jack and one coho kept, and two chinook released; 210 bank anglers with seven adults kept.
• Cowlitz River mouth, 171 boat anglers with 45 adult chinook, two jacks, and one coho kept, and two adults released.
• Kalama, 289 boat anglers with 68 adults and two jacks kept, one adult released; 378 bank anglers with 49 adult chinook and two jacks kept, two chinook released.
• Woodland, 258 boat anglers with 53 adult chinook and one jack kept.
• Camas-Washougal, 21 boat anglers with no catch; 10 bank anglers with no catch.
• Bonneville, three boat angler with no catch; 126 bank anglers with three adult chinook, two jacks caught, and none released.
• Cathlamet, one boat angler with no catch; 37 bank anglers with three adult chinook kept.
