Fall chinook fishing should pick up at Hanford Reach

FISHING — “The fall chinook fishery in the Hanford Reach is off to a slow start as is typical for this fishery,” reports Paul Hoffarth, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in the Tri-Cities.   But more salmon are on their way up the Columbia.

From Aug. 17-23, WDFW staff interviewed 49 boats (103 anglers) fishing for fall chinook in the Hanford Reach.  Anglers reported harvesting 7 adult fall chinook and releasing 1 sockeye.  Staff sampled 25 percent of the boats fishing for salmon this past week.  Estimated harvest for the week was 28 adult chinook and 8 jacks.

Fall chinook counts at John Day Dam picked up over the weekend to over 2,000 fish per day. Counts at McNary are averaging more than 500 adult fall chinook per day.  Based on the long term trend, fall chinook should start passing Bonneville Dam in good numbers this week.

WDFW staff also interviewed boats fishing for bass, northern pikeminnow, and walleye.

• Bass: 16 boats, 35 anglers, 125 bass, 1 pikeminnow - 1.1 hours/bass
• Pikeminnow: 5 boats, 8 anglers, 18 pikeminnow, 3 bass, 1 walleye - 1.9 hours/NPM
• Walleye: 3 boats, 6 anglers, 16 walleye – 2.2 hours/walleye