"Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Contact: Anne Pressentin Young (503) 872-5264 x5356
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us

For Immediate Release April 11, 2001

Columbia River Closes to Spring Chinook Angling April 18

PORTLAND - Sport fishing for hatchery spring chinook on the lower Columbia River closes effective 12:01 am April 18, fishery managers from Oregon and Washington decided Wednesday during a phone conference to review the harvest.
Anglers can fish from the mouth of the Columbia at Buoy 10 upstream to Bonneville Dam through Tuesday, April 17. Two adipose fin-clipped chinook salmon or steelhead may be harvested per day.
The season opened March 12 with a forecasted run of a record 365,000 spring chinook destined to go above Bonneville Dam. About 80 percent of the run is hatchery-bred, and most of those were marked with a clipped fin before release as juveniles. The federal Endangered Species Act requirements for 2001 limit impacts from the lower Columbia sport fishery to no more than 0.9 percent of the listed stocks of upriver wild spring chinook. The wild fish impact is expected to be slightly less than the 0.9 percent cap and stems from hooking mortality on fish caught and released.
Fishery managers estimate that by April 17 about 145,000 angler trips will be made to catch 34,800 spring chinook, of which 22,500 adipose fin-clipped fish will be retained.
"This year's fishery was even more successful than many of those of the 1960s and 1970s, before closures went into effect," said Steve King, salmon fisheries manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Aerial counts showed 4,000 to 9,000 anglers fishing each day. Catch rates were good in all areas and outstanding in some areas, according to King. In addition, angler compliance with regulations was high. King also noted that most anglers returned the wild fish to the water carefully and unharmed.
This year was the first time since 1977 that the Columbia has been open to spring chinook angling in April, and many anglers took advantage of the opportunity.
The April 18 closure applies to salmon, steelhead, and shad. Angling from adipose fin-clipped hatchery steelhead reopens May 16 below the I-5 Bridge and June 16 above the I-5 Bridge. Angling for shad reopens May 16, and angling for fall chinook opens Aug. 1.
Fishery managers agreed to meet again by conference call April 20 to update the actual spring chinook run size based on counts over Bonneville Dam and results of the sport fishery. As of April 10, almost 90,000 spring chinook had passed Bonneville Dam. If the run is larger than predicted, additional fishing days may be allowed in the lower Columbia in late April. An announcement will be made the afternoon of April 20.
The closure announcement applies only to the mainstem Columbia below Bonneville Dam. No changes were made to any of the ongoing seasons in the tributaries, including the Willamette, Clackamas, and Deschutes rivers. These rivers are open to adipose fin-clipped spring chinook harvest and are not expected to close. Recent catches in the Willamette below the falls have been good and are expected to peak the last week of April and first week of May. The Clackamas River will provide the best fishing opportunity in May and June."

Thank you much for that update C.A.D. I hope they re-open the lower Columbia for late April so I don't have to ponder whether I am up to bucking the crowds at Wind/Drano. - RT

here come all the loonies to Oregon City!

Sounds like good job on the C&R for natives though, maybe we can do it all again some day!

Hey next year ALL the hatchery fish are clipped ! Right?

[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: Phish_on ]

Hi Phish. Ya, O.C. and Wind/Drano won't be lacking for boats; an understatement . But there are lots of less crowded areas and tributaries that will have plenty of fish this season!