More Days Of Spring Chinook Fishing On The Columbiabelow And Above Bonneville Dam

Anglers will get 3 more days to catch spring
chinook below and above Bonneville Dam

OLYMPIA – The sportfishing season for spring chinook salmon on the Columbia River will reopen for three days beginning later this week under an agreement reached yesterday by fishery managers from Washington and Oregon.

Anglers can fish Friday, May 13, through Sunday, May 15, from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line upriver to the Washington/Oregon state line. Boat anglers, however, aren’t allowed to fish between Beacon Rock and Bonneville Dam.

The fishing area above Bonneville Dam extends from the Tower Island power lines upriver to the Washington/Oregon state line, 17 miles above McNary Dam. Bank anglers can also fish the shorelines between Bonneville Dam and the power lines.

During this three-day opening, fish managers are implementing a closure at the mouth of the Lewis River to protect Lewis River spring chinook, said Ron Roler, a fishery manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Details on that closed area can be found on WDFW’s webpage at https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/erule.jsp?id=1805.

Anglers can catch and keep one adult hatchery chinook salmon as part of their daily limit of two adult fish. Only hatchery fish marked with a clipped adipose fin may be retained. Fishing for hatchery steelhead and shad will also be open. 

Roler said representatives of the two states will meet again early next week to determine whether to allow any additional days of fishing.

That decision will be based on periodic updates of the number of spring chinook crossing Bonneville Dam, he said.

“We’re taking this a couple of days at a time,” Roler said. “We want to give anglers as many days on the water as we can without exceeding the catch guidelines.”

All catch projections remain below wild chinook conservation limits established under the federal Endangered Species Act, he said. 

“Catch guidelines change along with the latest run forecast, and we expect to have another run-size update next week," Roler said.