dalles and up

[Firedog]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us

For Immediate Release May 1, 2001

Three Day Spring Chinook Season Opens Sunday on Columbia River above The Dalles Dam

PORTLAND - Fishery managers decided Tuesday to open the Columbia River from The Dalles Dam to McNary Dam May 6 through May 8 to spring chinook angling for the first time since 1977.
Anglers may harvest adipose fin-clipped chinook salmon and adipose fin-clipped steelhead and shad. The bag limit for salmon and steelhead is two per day and there is no limit on shad harvest.
Fishery managers from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) also revised the total spring chinook run size to 400,000 destined for hatcheries or spawning grounds above Bonneville Dam. This compares to a pre-season forecast of 365,000 fish and a mid-season forecast of 440,000.
ODFW and WDFW were able to provide this sport fishery opportunity because the allowable non-tribal impacts to the threatened wild stocks of upriver spring chinook had not been reached following the lower Columbia River sport and commercial fisheries. The total allowed impact, or mortality, on wild fish was 2 percent of the run, based on negotiations with tribal governments and federal agencies earlier this year. Less than 0.02 percent was still available.
Opening the Bonneville pool to spring chinook angling was considered, however, such an opener would have resulted in more impacts to wild fish. Fishery managers indicated that the Columbia River above Bonneville Dam would receive more consideration next year for sport fisheries. The large spring chinook return this year allowed fishery managers to open the lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam to sport angling in March and April. However, anglers in northeast Oregon expressed concern that some of the angling opportunity should have been allowed east of the Cascade Mountains.

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[blackdog]

Does this mean there will be a fishery at the mouth of the Deschutes similar to the fall fishing? Looking at the dam passage numbers, there should be some 40,000 + fish somewhere between the Dalles dam and the John Day dam. Anyone with any guesses as to how this will fish? Coming from Central Oregon, it would be nice to not have to drive all the way to Drano/Wind.

[SteelieSteve]

Fish have begun moving over the Dalles dam. There should be plenty of salmon for this short fishery. Good luck! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Firedog]

Blackdog,just looked at the counts and there are over 225k over the dalles dam. They are moving through pretty good since ther are about 180k over the John Day. Should be some biters though. Good luck [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]