FISHING -- The number of boat pursuing fall chinook on the Hanford Reach of the Columbia has virtually doubled each week since late August -- and the crowd hasn't curbed the catch.

Here's the latest report on Hanford Reach fall chinook fishing from Paul Hoffarth, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist in the Tri-Cities:

Harvest and effort picked up this week in the Hanford Reach fall Chinook fishery (in the week ending Sept. 21).  An estimated 2,942 boats fished for salmon in the Hanford Reach this past week. 

WDFW staff interviewed anglers from 1,834 boats (2,429 anglers:14,773 pole hours). 

An estimated 3,933 adult chinook and 360 jacks were harvested this past week.  

Boats averaged 1.5 chinook per boat.  The 182 bank anglers interviewed put in 739 hours fishing for salmon at Ringold with 17 chinook harvested. Anglers are also finding a few coho in their catch! 

An estimated 7,489 angler trips were tallied for fall Chinook in the Tri-cities this past week.  Fall Chinook counts at Bonneville Dam have been holding steady at ~ 20,000 adult chinook per day. Harvest should continue to improve as more fish move into the Reach. 

An in-season run update was completed for the Hanford Reach this week and the return appears to be meeting the forecast at around 200,000 adults.