The 2019 coho run does not seem to be coming in as strong as fisheries managers expected, and hatchery mark rates have been lower than expected as well.
Also, the Columbia River was closed to all salmon and steelhead fishing above the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line Wednesday. Fisheries managers acted because recreational fisheries had exceeded their take of bright fall chinook salmon, not because the return of coho salmon has been below expectations.
Ocean abundance was projected to be close to a million coho salmon, and the Columbia River return was supposed to be in excess of 600,000 adults. However, catches of coho salmon have been below expectations at Buoy 10, and in the Columbia River.
Many disappointed anglers are asking, where are all the fish?
“There are mixed signals on whether the run will materialize,”” said Ryan Lothrop, the Columbia River Fishery Manager for the WDFW. “The way its tracking now, for the early run, it very likely will be shy of the projection.”
Mark rates have been an issue, too. Wendy Beeghly, the WDFW coastal salmon manager, reported that catch rates in the ocean were pretty good, but the mark rate did not measure up.
“The only thing that was unexpected was that the mark rate was about 50 percent,” said Beeghly. “The modeling predicted a mark rate of 60 percent.”
“It’s hard to say what the low mark rate means,” she added. “It could mean that there are less hatchery fish out there than we expected.”
Catches at Buoy 10 have been lower than expected, too. According to Cindy Lafleur, the WDFW policy coordinator for the Columbia River, the expected catch at buoy 10 was about 52,000 adult coho.
“Buoy 10 is tracking at about half of our preseason total,” said Lafleur.
She also said the commercial catches within the Select Areas near Astoria are also lagging well behind what was expected.
Buzz Ramsey of Yakima Bait fished Buoy 10 on Sept. 20 and reported that they had a tough time finding hatchery keepers.
“We caught eight coho, none of them keepers,” he said.
He reported that on some days anglers have been doing better, but mark rates are low.
“I’ve talked to several guides, and they say they are catching 25 to 30 fish to get eight keepers,” said Ramsey.
Brandon Glass of Team hook-up Guide Service reported that his catches of coho at Buoy 10 were not great, and the mark rate was an issue.
“Also, most of the coho were pretty small, smaller than most years,” said Glass.
Farther upstream in the mainstem Columbia below Bonneville Dam catch rates for chinook, which must be released, have held strong. Meanwhile catches of coho have been low, and skewed toward un-clipped wild fish.
For instance, last week from Bonneville Dam to Cathlamet, 259 boat anglers kept only 21 coho, while releasing 32.
Also, the number of coho crossing Bonneville Dam is much lower than expected.
“The Technical Advisory Committee yesterday looked at the dam count of early coho, and they updated that,” Lafleur added. “They projected it was going to be 40% of the preseason expectation.”
As of Sept. 23, the count of coho crossing the dam was a little over 49,000 adults. That is better than last year at this time, but well below where it should be.
Many anglers are holding out for the late run, which is expected to have a slightly better mark rate. The run was expected to be a little less than the early component of the run. Over 390,000 adults early run coho were expected back to the Columbia, with an additional 220,000 late returning fish expected.
Catch rates in the Columbia River tributaries are off the mark, too. Rivers with big expected returns such as the North Fork Lewis, with a projection of 72,000 adults, and the Colwitz River, with a projection of around 60,000 coho, are not kicking out the numbers of fish they should be for this time of year.
Both the Lewis and Cowlitz Rivers will get a late coho run, and that run could prove stronger. However, it will be mid-October before anglers see enough of that run to judge it.
Until then anglers may need to dial their expectations back for the year. Even with the lower than expected returns anglers will still find fishing better than last year, but the fact is that the collapsing coho run could mean that Northwest salmon fisheries are not yet on the rebound after years of stagnant runs and river closures.
Guided trips: Brandon Glass, Team Hook-up: 503-260-8285.
