There are winners and losers within the spring Chinook seasons that were announced last week by state fisheries managers.
The losers are those fishermen who like to fish the lower sections of the Columbia River, while the season structure could be a boon to fishermen who target the Portland area and above.
Here are the springer seasons as approved below Bonneville Dam:
Columbia River: Salmon fishing will open March 1 and run through April 10 on the Columbia River upstream from Warrior Rock boundary line to Bonneville Dam. Anglers may retain two salmon, two steelhead, or one of each per day, but only one salmon may be a Chinook.
The lower river downstream from Warrior Rock will be closed to fishing from March 1 through April 10 to conserve spring Chinook returning to the Cowlitz and Lewis rivers.
Tributaries: The Cowlitz and Lewis rivers will also close to salmon fishing March 1 to conserve spring Chinook for hatchery escapement needs, but will remain open for hatchery steelhead retention. The Kalama River will remain open to fishing for salmon and steelhead, but the daily limit of adult salmon will be reduced to one fish on March 1.
The loss of popular spots below Warrior Rock, including the Clifton Channel troll, the Puget Island anchor fishery, and the popular troll below Warrior Rock itself, will be a hard pill to swallow for fishermen who have fished those areas for years. Lower river anglers will need to drive farther to fish, too.
The closure will be especially hard on bank fishermen, who will lose their favorite lower river beaches. Their only option will be to drive east and fight the crowds at the Bonneville Dam deadline, or at other already crowded bank fishing spots in Portland.
The winners may be the anglers in the Vancouver/Portland area.
The closure of the lower river means that the spring Chinook headed to the Willamette and the upper Columbia will not see a bait until they reach Sauvie Island.
That was the case in 2008, when the river was closed below the I-5 bridge. The result was a red-hot bite in the east Portland area, although the crowds were intense. Could that be the case again this year?
“It could be the same thing this year,” said Steve Leonard of Steve’s Guided Adventures in Washougal. “It could get crowded, but there are a bunch of fish that go through there.”
Iconic Northwest fisherman Buzz Ramsey of Yakima Bait also thinks the season structure could produce a good bite at the deadline, along with crowds.
“The best fishing is going to be there right above the deadline in the slough, (Multnomah Channel)” Ramsey said. “That will be a high-traffic area, but it may also produce the highest catch rates. Those fish haven’t seen anything until they get there and they are going to be eager biters.”
Both intend to target the channel and lower Willamette in the early season, and move into the Columbia later.
Ramsey also points out that many Willamette River-bound salmon will overshoot the mouth of that river in high water years, fueling a better bite in popular Columbia River areas such as the Portland Airport.
Once the season matures Leonard will look to Reed Island and the Washougal reach.
Early season tactics
The early bite in the lower river centers mostly on trolling.
Ramsey will be running Fish Flash flashers in front of plug-cut or whole herring fished along the bottom, trolling mostly downstream. He will reserve one rod for a Maglip 4.0 that he will run out about 30 feet or more behind the other baits.
The trailing plug will often pick up fish that do not hit the other gears.
“If the tide gets ripping too fast to where the fish can’t catch the bait then a guy can even backtroll,” Ramsey said. “A lot of guys will anchor, too.”
He will target depressions along the bottom, where the fish will tuck in and lay out of the current to rest.
Leonard will be using the same tactics, although he will run KoneZone flashers, and sometimes he will switch to prawns later in the season.
Above Rooster Rock there are big, wide flats where the spring Chinook gather and hold all the way up to the boat deadline at Beacon Rock. These are excellent areas to troll for spring salmon, but this bite happens later in the year.
If the season does reach April 10 — and that is dependent on the return and catch rates — this stretch should provide some excellent opportunity those last 10 days.
Both Ramsey and Leonard enjoy fishing this reach.
“Once you get into that first week of April it really starts picking up,” said Leonard, who added that it will spread out the fishermen, too. “At the least it will be less crowded.”
“There should be some opportunity up there,” agreed Ramsey. “One thing about it, there is going to be less pressure.”
The late season should allow for a good bank fishery from Beacon Rock to Bonneville Dam, where anglers plunk with Spin-n-glos tipped with bait. While springers can be taken here in March, the fishery really picks up in April.
The area will once again be closed to boat fishing.
The rules can change mid-season if the runs come in low or if landings approach the quotas. All anglers are advised to check the regulations before heading out to fish.
Guided trips
Steve Leonard of Steve’s Guided Adventures: 360-609-1902, www.stevesguidedadventures.com
