Chinook catch rates in the lower Columbia River have dropped a bit in the first few days of September after the water level came down.
Through Sunday, there have been an estimated 74,000 angler trips with 10,530 chinook kept. The total catch expectation is 25,100 chinook and 1,500 hatchery coho.
On Saturday and Sunday, there were 15,059 trips with 2,946 chinook, 123 summer steelhead and 27 coho kept.
Fall chinook retention rules in the lower Columbia River change beginning Monday.
Downstream of Warrior Rock, the limit is two fish including fin-clipped chinook, fin-clipped coho and fin-clipped steelhead, but only one chinook.
Upstream of Warrior Rock, the limit is two adult salmon or steelhead including any chinook, fin-clipped coho and fin-clipped steelhead. Two chinook can be kept.
Angler checks from the Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) department of Fish and Wildlife:
Lower Columbia — Longview, 371 boaters with 92 adult chinook, seven jack chinook and two steelhead kept plus one adult coho released; 57 bank rods with five adult chinook kept. (WDFW)
Longview to Portland, 761 boaters with 165 adult fall chinook, nine jack chinook, one adult coho and six steelhead kept plus four adult chinook, four jack chinook, four wild coho and one wild steelhead released; 45 Oregon bank rods with one adult chinook and one steelhead released. (ODFW)
Cowlitz River mouth, 44 boaters with 14 adult chinook, one jack chinook, two adult coho and four steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Kalama, 85 boaters with 26 adult chinook and two jacks kept plus one adult chinook, one jack chinook, two adult coho and one steelhead released; 71 bank rods 26 adult chinook and four jack chinook kept plus one jack chinook and one adult coho released. (WDFW)
Woodland, 302 boaters with 84 adult chinook and four jacks kept; 37 bank anglers with six adult chinook and two jack chinook kept. (WDFW)
Warrior Rock to Kelley Point, 70 boaters with 19 adult chinook, one jack chinook and two steelhead kept plus one steelhead released; 16 bank rods with one adult chinook kept. (WDFW)
Troutdale, 115 boaters with seven adult chinook, one adult coho and three steelhead kept; eight boaters with six walleye kept. (ODFW)
Camas-Washougal, three boaters with no salmon or steelhead; one boater with no walleye. (WDFW)
North Bonneville, 41 bank rods with five adult chinook, one jack and two steelhead kept. (WDFW)
Columbia Gorge, 38 boaters with 19 adult chinook and one jack chinook kept plus one jack chinook and one coho released. (ODFW)
Mid-Columbia — The Dalles pool, 10 bank rods with one legal sturgeon kept plus seven sublegals released; two boaters with 24 sublegals released; three bank rods with five bass kept and one released; one boater with one bass. (WDFW)
Cowlitz — Thirty-two boaters with three adult chinook, 10 steelhead and four cutthroat trout kept plus one chinook released; 41 bank rods with five adult chinook kept and one cutthroat trout released. (WDFW)
Kalama — Seven bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Washougal — Seven bank rods with no catch. (WDFW)
Drano Lake — Eleven boaters with one jack chinook kept and one steelhead released. (WDFW)
Klickitat — Eight bank rods with three adult chinook kept. (WDFW)
