Chinook fishing ends this week, state officials say
Thursday, September 14, 2006 7:01 AM PDT
By Staff
Printable version
E-mail this articleSport fishing for chinook salmon in most of the mainstem Columbia River will end later this week, state fishery managers decided Wednesday.
The sport chinook fishery from Bonneville Dam downstream to the Tongue Point-Rocky Point line near Astoria will close at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The fishery from the Highway 395 bridge in Pasco downstream to Bonneville Dam will close at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
In both areas, anglers can continue to fish for hatchery coho and steelhead.
Chinook fishing will still be allowed in the Buoy 10 area.
The mainstem chinook closure doesn't pertain to tributaries of the Columbia.
During a conference phone call Wednesday, fish managers said that the latest estimate of upriver bright fall chinook has been reduced to 198,700 fish, compared to a preseason forecast of 249,050. Fishing seasons are driven by limiting "impacts" on upriver brights, which include a small number of Snake River chinook listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Even with the early closures, the upriver bright allocation for sports anglers will be exceeded.
The sport catch of spring chinook between the river's mouth and Pasco is expected to reach nearly 15,000 fish. Though fishing was poor at Buoy 10 this year, catch rates upstream of Cathlamet were among the highest in recent years.
Commercial fishermen still have some of their allocation of fall chinook left to catch. Fishery managers will discuss setting more gillnet seasons at 9:30 a.m. today at Kalama City Hall.
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