Spring chinook season extended in Columbia Gorge reservoirs

Spring chinook angling in the Columbia River between Bonneville Dam and the Washington-Oregon boundary east of Umatilla will remain open through Sunday — a two-day extension of fishing.

State officials today approved the additional weekend of sport fishing to allow the catch to come closer to the early-season allocation of 1,002 salmon.

Biologist John North of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the catch estimate through Sunday was 140 fish. The projected catch total for this week is 560 spring chinook.

That would result in a projected catch of 700 spring chinook through Friday’s final scheduled day of fishing, or just 70 percent of the allocation for the Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day pools, plus McNary pool from the dam to the state boundary.

North said an estimated 293 spring chinook will be caught on Saturday and Sunday, bringing the projection to 993 salmon, which would be 99 percent of the allocation.

Guy Norman, regional director for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the extra weekend should appeal to mid-Columbia spring chinook anglers, who often come to fish for multiple days at a time.

The Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday to review the upper Columbia-Snake run and likely issue a revised forecast.

Washington and Oregon officials may meet as early as 1 p.m. Tuesday to review non-Indian fisheries. Spring chinook fishing in the lower Columbia is closed currently.