Here is an excerpt from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife email I received – it makes for incredible reading:
“More upriver fall chinook salmon are returning to the Columbia River than any time in the past 75 years”
As a result of this, Washington and Oregon fishery managers have expanded sport fishing options below Bonneville Dam and have scrapped a previous rule that would have closed the chinook fishery.
People sometimes ask for a guarantee that they will catch fish. Fishing this year has been incredible, and the fish and wildlife agencies have confirmed why. This is about as close to a guarantee as you could wish for!
After a month of hot fishing action at the mouth of the Columbia, I am moving my clients to some incredible fishing in the rivers of Oregon and SW Washington. The Lewis and Cowlitz rivers in SW Washington and further up the Columbia in Oregon is where the fishing action moves to in mid-September. The fishing this year and the start of the salmon run is phenomenal and every day in my recent trips in and around Astoria on the Columbia saw full quotas almost every single day for the entire boat. Lots of happy clients and lots of salmon in the freezer!
Join me…contact me or book and secure your trip today.
Ben
PS: More from that email I received:
Based on the latest forecast, 664,000 to 835,000 upriver bright adult chinook are expected to return to the Columbia River this year, well above the record of 420,000 fish set in 1987. On Sept. 7, more than 48,700 chinook from a variety of upriver stocks crowded up the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam, setting a new daily record. That record was broken two days later when 63,870 upriver chinook moved past the dam, followed by 56,044 the next day.
“This will be a fishing season to remember,” Norman said. “This year’s run of upriver fall chinook is through the roof, and a positive sign that regional efforts to rebuild this salmon population are making a difference. These new rules will increase fishing opportunity for anglers, while providing protection for the wild fish returning to the lower Columbia tributaries.”
