Ocean salmon anglers off to mediocre start

ILWACO — Salmon anglers off the southern Washington and northern Oregon coast are averaging slightly more than a fish per trip, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday.

For the week of July 4 to 10, there were 1,212 angler trips with a catch of 57 chinook and 1,467 coho. That’s an average of 1.26 salmon per trip.

The season began on July 1. Weak coho runs are forecast to the Washington coast and Puget Sound, with a mediocre return predicted for the Columbia River.

For the first 10 days of the season, anglers have taken 15.4 percent of the coho quota and 2.1 percent of the chinook guideline.

Salmon angling off Westport, La Push and Neah Bay is open only for chinook this summer.

Catch averages last week were 0.47 chinook per rod at Westport, 0.15 per rod at La Push and 0.39 per rod at Neah Bay.

Westport has caught 6.7 percent of its chinook guideline, while La Push has taken 3.5 percent and Neah Bay has landed 19.8 percent.