Recreational fishing for hatchery steelhead and Chinook salmon will open Thursday through the end of the month, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday.
Fishery managers in Washington and Oregon set additional salmon and steelhead fishing days this month during their joint meeting today, thanks to the continued strong upper Columbia summer Chinook and sockeye runs.
Recreational fishing will be open through July 31 for the retention of hatchery steelhead and hatchery Chinook (adults and jacks), in the mainstem Columbia River from the Tongue Point-Rocky Point line upstream to the Highway 395 at Pasco.
The daily bag limit includes two adult hatchery salmonids (Chinook and steelhead only), of which only one may be a steelhead. All salmon except hatchery Chinook must be released. All other permanent regulations, including bag limits for jack Chinook, apply.
The shad fishing closure scheduled through Wednesday in Bonneville Pool was intended to limit sockeye handle, but was not continued during Wednesday’s meeting.
Therefore, shad fishing in Bonneville Pool (Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam) will reopen Thursday. Sockeye handle in this fishing zone is expected to be minimal due to low effort and the waning shad run, so no additional mortality to ESA-listed Snake River sockeye due to shad fishing is expected.
Fall management seasons on the Columbia River begin Aug. 1, and fall seasons have already been set. Some areas of the mainstem will be closed to salmon fishing as of Aug. 1 and reopen later in the month.
Anglers are reminded that thermal angling sanctuaries to protect wild steelhead take effect today, July 15. All fishing is closed in these sanctuaries adjacent to, and within the lower reaches of Eagle Creek, Herman Creek, and the Deschutes River.
