Summer chinook fishing on Columbia River to close Saturday

Summer chinook retention in the Columbia River from the Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to Priest Rapids Dam will be closed beginning Saturday, July 1, although fishing for steelhead and sockeye will remain open.

Washington and Oregon made the summer chinook closure decision Wednesday after Bonneville Dam counts show the run is tracking well short of the forecast of 85,387 adult chinook to the mouth of the Columbia.

State biologists reduced the run estimate by 30 percent while awaiting a specific forecast from the Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee.

The sport catch for summer chinook from Astoria to Priest Rapids Dam near the Tri-Cities is projected to be 2,488 fish through June 30. That is 11 percent over the allocation at the reduced return expectation.

Sockeye are tracking close to the projected run of 138,537 fish. The sport catch of sockeye downstream of Bonneville Dam is estimated at 651 sockeye kept and 40 released.

Summer steelhead runs are in terrible shape with only 63,400 fish expected to cross Bonneville Dam this summer, which is just 41 percent of the 10-year average.

Downstream of Bonneville, the estimated catch is 347 summer steelhead kept and 128 released through June 25.

A plethora of closures both in the main Columbia and some tributaries are scheduled this summer. The main summer steelhead run does not start crossing Bonneville Dam until July 1.