Hanford Reach’s Naturally Spawning Fall Chinook Show High Returns, High Spawning, High Angler Catch

This year’s fall chinook salmon return to the Columbia River basin was supersized, as advertised, and motivated record angler trips to such places as central Washington’s “Hanford Reach,” a 50-plus mile stretch known as home to the basin’s largest remaining wild population of the species.



Those anglers, in 44,000 trips to the Hanford Reach since Aug. 1 harvested 26,880 adult fall chinook, 3,474 fall chinook “jacks” and 171 coho salmon. That fall chinook catch was a record, exceeding by more than 4,000 (17 percent) the previous high mark set last year.



According to the most recent evaluation, the 2014 Columbia River fall chinook return to the mouth of the Columbia River is expected to reach 1,153,000 adult fish, including 658,100 upriver brights compared to the preseason forecast of 1,510,600 chinook (919,000 URBs).



And while the actual return to the mouth of the Columbia will fall short of expectations, it is still the second highest return ever for upriver stocks, which include the URBs, Bonneville Pool Hatchery tule fall chinook and “pool upriver brights” that hurdle Bonneville Dam (river mile 146) on their way to spawning areas and hatcheries .... http://www.cbbulletin.com/432550.aspx

I doubt "second highest return ever" is even in the neighborhood of the truth. Maybe since accurate records were kept, or since Obama was elected, or since the dams went in, or.....