First spring chinook counted at Bonneville Dam

NORTH BONNEVILLE — The first spring chinook salmon of the season has been counted at Bonneville Dam.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife tallied the salmon last week. Winter counts are done by videotaping.

Officials noted that the chinook had a white chin, which is like a lower Columbia chinook, rather than the black chin typical of an upriver stock.

Turbidity is increasing in the lower Columbia River and the streamflow is up to 268,300 cubic feet per second at Bonneville Dam with 64,000 cubic feet per second of spill.

The water temperature is about 36 degrees.

State, federal and tribal biologists are forecasting a run of 160,400 adult spring chinook in 2017 for waters upstream of Bonneville Dam.

Spring chinook counts normally reach their peak in early May at Bonneville.

Fishing is open for spring chinook currently downstream of the Interstate 5 Bridge. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife checked three bank rods and two boaters between Westport, Ore,, and Portland with no catch last weekend.