Anglers will get six more days to fish the Columbia River for spring Chinook.
Oregon and Washington held a compact meeting on Wednesday, and after reviewing the catch data for the season that closed on April 7, decided there was enough leeway to allow the extra fishing days.
River conditions, and a slower than usual start to the run, meant there were fish left on the table after the initial season ended.
The extra days announced included three days this weekend, from Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13, and Tuesday, April 15, through Thursday, April 17.
The area open is from Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia River, to Bonneville Dam. The upstream boundary for boats is Beacon Rock, and only bank anglers may fish from Beacon Rock to the deadline below the dam.
The two-day gap between the fishing days is to allow the states to review catch data and ensure catches stayed within allowable limits.
As of April 6, the states estimated the catch as 528 adult spring Chinook kept and 105 released for 25,800 angler trips. Those low catches left the states with room to add the extra days.
Anglers may keep two hatchery fish a day, Chinook, or steelhead, only one of which may be a Chinook.
The spring Chinook is one of the most sought-after fish in the Northwest, known for both their fine flavor, and their fighting abilities.
The same thing happened in 2024, when river conditions were also poor, and although the states did allow some extra days, the conditions did not improve, and neither did the fishing.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife winter fact sheet, released ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the five-day average outflow at Bonneville Dam is 195 kcfs (thousand cubic feet per second), compared to the recent five-year average of 138 kcfs. The visibility is only 3.4 feet, compared with the five-year average of 6.1 feet.
Another factor that has negatively affected the fishing has been the huge run of smelt in the Columbia River. When the river is chock full of these bait fish, the Chinook have little interest in anglers’ offerings. If they want a meal, all they have to do is turn their heads.
Some anglers are wondering if this time things may work out better. Fishing guide Marvin Henkel of Marvin’s Guide Service in Portland was very disappointed with the early season.
“This has been the slowest start to the spring season that I have ever seen,” Henkel said.
He has been fishing around the Portland International Airport and the Interstate 5 area, and said the poor conditions are not the only thing that anglers are contending with.
Henkel reports the river is full of sea lions that have followed the smelt upriver. Even with all the smelt, the sea lions do not object to catching and eating spring Chinook when they can.
“Between the sea lions and the smelt in the river, it has been tough,” Henkel said. “I can’t even tell you how many salmon I’ve seen eaten by sea lions in the last week.”
Columbia River fishing legend Buzz Ramsey of Lyle, has also seen very slow fishing on the big river.
“There was kind of an early push, and a few fish were caught,” Ramsey said. “Then it rained a lot in the Willamette Valley, and that started pushing a lot of grass downstream.”
After the rains fishing really slowed. Creel surveys taken near the end of the open season saw only 39 Chinook kept, and 10 released, for 410 boats.
Ramsey said a friend of his fished 36 days during the recent season, and only managed to put four Chinook in the boat.
Many anglers have shifted their attention to the tributaries, although conditions there were little better.
Fishing in the Willamette River, which was affected by the dirty water coming from the south, has been slow, but better than in the Columbia.
In fact, Henkel reported he may not even fish the Columbia when it opens, and may prefer to stay on the Willamette.
In addition to better fishing, he can also use barbed hooks on the Willamette, and anglers there can keep two hatchery Chinook a day.
Anglers must fish with barbless hooks in the Columbia, which can make it difficult for the inexperienced anglers that guides might have in their boats to land the salmon.
Both Henkel and Ramsey think conditions will hopefully improve.
“I think conditions are improving, but that depends on the weather,” Ramsey said. “If it gets hot, if we have some high temperatures, it could turn dirty again from snow melt.”
“I assume (conditions) are going to get better,” said Henkel, “and I think the sea lions are going to begin making their way back down the river. The smelt are thinning out.”
Beyond the river conditions, the numbers of Chinook going over the Bonneville Dam has been low. As of April 9, only 583 adult spring Chinook have passed over the dam. However, it is early, and movement over the dam is tied to water temperature. The dam crossings could pick up once the water warms up.
The fact sheet data suggests that with the extra days, if conditions do improve, anglers could see the total catch run upward of 4,000 fish. That would certainly please local anglers who have been frustrated so far.
Even with the tough conditions, Ramsey said anglers will get out and fish. The spring Chinook headed upriver of Bonneville are know to have more fats than the Chinook that return to the lower tributaries. These fish, called black face springers, are highly prized.
Prior to the announcement, Ramsey was afraid they wouldn’t set any extra days later in the run.
“What they may try to do is put this on the back end of the run,” he said. “That would not be good for us.”
With the days being open during the better part of the run, the chances of good fishing improve. But, if conditions and catches are real good, there might not be enough room left for the last set of open days.
“If the river conditions are reasonable, the catch rates could really be high. It could be over in two days,” warned Ramsey.
“My advice? If it reopens, go!” he said.
