Anglers in the lower Columbia River will get one final chance — on Saturday — to catch spring chinook salmon.
Washington and Oregon agreed on Wednesday to reopen fishing from the mouth of the Columbia upstream to Rooster Rock for boaters and upstream to Bonneville Dam for bank rods on Saturday only.
At the end of fishing on Saturday, sportsmen are projected to be at 95 percent of their early-season allocation, said John North of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Anglers are allowed 10,157 spring chinook of upper Columbia River origin prior to a run forecast update in early to mid-May.
North estimated there will be 11,000 to 12,000 angler trips on Saturday with an overall handle of 2,500 spring chinook, including 1,743 kept or release mortalities of upper Columbia salmon. That would bring the spring total of upper Columbia chinook to 9,625.
“This is about all we’re going to get out of this until the run update,” said Tony Nigro of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Angling for boaters has been open upstream to Beacon Rock.
But, on Monday’s final day of fishing, a very high catch rate of nearly four chinook per boat was observed upstream of Rooster Rock, said Ron Roler, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Opening on Friday, instead of Saturday, was considered, then rejected. Fishing on Saturday allows greater participation and gives anglers a bit more notice of the final day, said Guy Norman, regional director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Some sportsmen asked if limiting the fishing to downstream of Interstate 5 would constrain it enough to get two additional days.
North said the biologists looked at if making Interstate 205 the upper boundary would be enough to spread the allocation to last two days, but decided anglers will shift to whichever area is open.
Bob Rees of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders proposed the final day of fishing be on Saturday, April 26. That would allow more chinook to pass through to anglers upstream of Bonneville Dam.
Roler said April 26 would be even closer to the peak of the run with more anglers, better weather and likely a higher catch.
Jack Marincovich of the Columbia River Fisheries Protective Union, an Astoria-based commercial group, pointed out that the net fleet has only landed 1,511 spring chinook.
John Sims, who said he buys his fish, testified that lower Columbia fishery management “is an absolute travesty to the consumer.”
A run of 227,000 upper Columbia chinook are forecast to enter the river headed for waters upstream of Bonneville Dam.
Roler said half the run typically has crossed Bonneville by May 7 and that it is far too early to know if the forecast is on track.
