Spring chinook restrictions announced for lower Willamette

Spring chinook salmon and steelhead fishing in the lower Willamette River will close beginning Monday, then be open only on Thursdays through Saturdays.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the new regulations in response to poor counts at Willamette Falls.

The three-day-a-week schedule applies downstream of Willamette Falls at Oregon City and includes Multnomah Channel, which is the portion of the river on the west side of Sauvie Island. The rule also applies to the Clackamas River downstream of the Highway 99E bridge.

The bag limit is two fish, but only one chinook. The two-rod angling validation and use of barbed hooks continues.

Through Thursday. just 366 adult spring chinook had been counted at Willamette Falls.

“The cumulative passage at Willamette Falls is substantially lower than anything we’ve seen before,’’ said Tucker Jones, ocean salmon and Columbia River manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Water temperatures should be increasing and we hope to see passage improve dramatically. If this happens, and other signs improve, we might loosen restrictions but if poor counts continue, an outright closure might be warranted.’’