Washington extends Columbia springer fishing because of late run

FISHING — Anglers will have at least four more days to fish for hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon on a section of the Columbia River stretching 163 miles upstream from Bonneville Dam to the Tri-Cities area.

Citing the late timing of this year’s run, fishery managers from Washington and Oregon today agreed to extend the fishery through May 6.

According to current projections, anglers will catch only about 232 of 1,689 salmon available for harvest through May 2, when the fishery was initially scheduled to close pending an updated run assessment.

“Fishing above Bonneville Dam has been slow, with the bulk of the run yet to arrive,” said Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River policy manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). “Both states agree we can safely give anglers an additional  four days of fishing above the dam with little risk to the resource.”

The extension does not apply to salmon fishing below the dam, which has been closed since April 23 pending the run update. By then, anglers had taken about 70 percent of their initial quota of upriver chinook for that stretch of the river – most during the last week of fishing.

Above Bonneville Dam, boat and bank anglers are allowed to fish from the Tower Island powerlines to the Washington/Oregon state line, 17 miles upriver from McNary Dam. Bank anglers can also fish from the powerlines downriver to Bonneville Dam.

Anglers fishing those areas can keep two marked hatchery adult chinook per day. All wild, unmarked chinook must be released unharmed.