Washington and Oregon adopted the spring chinook seasons for the Columbia River on Wednesday leaving anglers little left to do now except impatiently wait for six weeks to see if the salmon actually arrive.
Last fall, officials predicted more than 500,000 coho would return to the Columbia River, but the number turned out to be only about 100,000.
It is assumed deteriorating ocean conditions in the north Pacific, including a patch of warm water referred as “the blob,’’ took a huge toll on those coho.
Will spring chinook suffer the same fate?
“There is reason to be cautious,’’ said Pete Hessemer, anadromous fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Four of Idaho’s hatcheries provide 50 percent of the lower Columbia catch.
Chris Kern, an assistant administrator of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, also was concerned.
“I treat that (so few coho) as a warning,’’ Kern said. “We’ll keep an eye on the run size.’’
Fishing already is open downstream of Interstate 5.
On Wednesday, Washington and Oregon adopted a season of March 1 through April 9 from Buoy 10 to Beacon Rock for boaters and upstream to Bonneville Dam for bank anglers.
The daily limit is two hatchery steelhead or one hatchery spring chinook and one hatchery steelhead.
Two Tuesdays — March 29 and April 5 — will be closed to allow for commercial fishing on the lower Columbia without a clash between the sport and net fleets.
The sport-fishing closure date is an estimate of when the catch allocation will be reached. Angling could end sooner — or be extended.
Returns of 110,400 spring chinook to tributaries downstream of Bonneville Dam and 188,800 to waters upstream of the dam are forecast for 2016, said Robin Ehlke, assistant Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Under the plethora of Endangered Species Act limitations, tribal/non-Indian catch sharing agreements, sport-commercial allocation policies and overharvest buffers, sportsmen get 7,515 upper Columbia spring chinook downstream of Bonneville, 1,002 between Bonneville and the Washington-Oregon line east of Umatilla, Ore., and 1,005 in the lower Snake and upper Columbia.
Commercial fishermen get 1,222 in the mainstem lower Columbia and 198 in the off-channel areas.
Overall, lower Columbia sportsmen are projected to catch 9,100 spring chinook when salmon headed for the Willamette, Lewis, Kalama, Cowlitz and Sandy rivers are added to the upper Columbia fish.
Catch allowances will change after the upper Columbia River run forecast is updated in early to mid-May.
The season for the Columbia River between Bonneville Dam and the Washington-Oregon state line east of Umatilla, Ore., was set for March 16 through May 6. Fishing from a boat is not allowed between Bonneville Dam and the Tower Island power lines, which are about 6 miles downstream of The Dalles Dam
Smelt — Washington approved a single day of sport smelt dipping in the Cowlitz River. Dipping will be allowed from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m on Feb. 6. The limit is 10 pounds per person.
Smelt returns in 2016 are expected to be smaller than in 2014 and 2015.
Guy Norman, regional director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the intent is provide one day of meaningful recreational dipping in the Cowlitz.
Another day might be considered, depending on smelt abundance in the Cowlitz on Feb. 6.
Oregon opted to not set a smelt season in the Sandy River for 2016, but may open a season on short notice if the smelt appear, Kern said.
Commercial smelt fishing will be allowed 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays from Feb. 1 through 25 in the Columbia River downstream of the mouth of the Lewis River.
The season amounts to 56 total hours.
