Anglers on Hamilton Island below the Bonneville Dam measure a summer chinook to see if it is shorter than 24 inches. The retention of adult Chinook below Bonneville was closed on July 1, but anglers can keep jacks. (Terry Otto/The Columbian)
Anglers in the Columbia River Gorge continue to catch shad, salmon, and steelhead below Bonneville Dam but the action will now transition from shad and summer Chinook to sockeye and steelhead.
There will still be shad around for a couple weeks more, but the run is winding down. Also, state fisheries managers closed the Columbia River below Bonneville to the retention of summer Chinook on July 1 because of a lackluster return.
Anglers can still keep jack Chinook under 24 inches long.
However, a much stronger than expected return of sockeye salmon prompted the states to open the Columbia for sockeye retention.
Record shad run
Anglers are busy putting the final touches to a surprisingly good run of American shad.
As of July 1, the total run of shad over Bonneville dam was a record-setting 5,736,863. On average about 1 million shad return to the Columbia every year.
Fishermen have been catching them in very good numbers at locations below Bonneville Dam. These include the reach right below the deadline on the Washington side of the Dam, as well as Bradford and Robins Islands on the Oregon side. Fishing was also good at the Cascade Locks in Oregon just above Bonneville.
Fishermen continue to find decent numbers of shad below the Washington side deadline, but shad have pretty much quit biting at Cascade Locks.
Kyle Dillard from the Tri-Cities area was casting from the rocks below the deadline with his father.
“It’s my first-time shad fishing,” Dillard said.
He seemed to be enjoying it.
“I’ve caught four, and my son caught his first shad, too.”
The general consensus of the anglers on the bank was that the fishing was still OK, but it had slowed down a bit over the last week.
Bill Maldonado from Hood River had come up to do a little fishing on Hamilton Island. He agreed that the fishing had slowed. But, it had been a good year for him.
“I’ve caught 25 to 30 shad the last couple times out,” said Maldonado. “There’s still fish around.”
Another gentleman who did not wish to be identified said that what works best on the fish can change from day to day.
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“Sometimes they are sensitive to color, and sometimes not,” he said.
The most common method was casting jig heads with a little extra weight. Popular colors were green, pink, and silver.
Chinook
Fishing for summer kings in the Columbia has been slower than expected, although bank anglers at the Oak Tree Hole and at Hamilton Island below Bonneville were taking fair numbers of fish.
Boat anglers in the Portland area and lower were finding a few Chinook but fishing overall has been slower than expected.
A few anglers are still fishing for jack Chinook below Bonneville.
Chinook adult retention remains open above Bonneville Dam.
Sockeye
The better-then-expected sockeye run has been a sweet spot in an otherwise tough year for salmon. The unexpected strength of the run is welcome news for anglers tired of dismal projections and shortened seasons.
Sockeye are a fickle fish in the lower river although once they get high up in the system they will take trolled baits. In the lower river the best way to catch them is to “plunk.”
Plunking is a term for fishing stationary baits from the bank. The idea is to set offering in the travel lanes used by the salmon and wait for them to swim up and strike the bait. It is a very effective way to catch salmon that are on the move.
Some anglers will also anchor their boats in 6- to 10-feet of water and fish stationary baits.
The sockeye run should remain strong for a couple weeks more.
Summer Steelhead
This run is just getting started although the Skamania run of hatchery summer steelhead has been returning to the lower Columbia tributaries for some weeks now. Anglers in the lower Columbia have been doing pretty well, although reports point to a disappointing run overall.
The best action in the lower Columbia River has been from Kalama to Cathlamet. Anchoring with plugs such as the Maglip 3.5 has brought the best success.
Steelhead will be available in local rivers and streams for the rest of the summer.
Cascade Locks fishery
A unique salmon bank fishery takes place at the old Cascade Locks. Anglers here drift yarn, bait and other lures along the sides of the old locks, targeting salmon and steelhead and shad.
Jarrod Murray of Beaverton was fishing the locks on July 1, and he managed to take a nice sockeye on a green Geisha Squid. He said that the fishing depends on how much water is being dumped below Bonneville.
“High flows are the best,” said Murray. “When the flow is high the fish run right along the edge.”
He explained that flows through the old locks depend on how much water is being released from Bonneville Dam.
Anglers use a flipping method similar to the bass fishing technique. They use heavy weights that drop quickly and work the baits right along the edge of the lock’s wall.
Chinook retention is open above Bonneville, so anglers can currently take sockeye, steelhead, and summer Chinook from this one location.
Always check the regulations before fishing any water.
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