Spring chinook salmon fishing seasons are shaping up, with Oregon and Washington ready to set rules Thursday in a joint-state hearing in Vancouver.
It begins at 1 p.m. in the Clark Regional Waste Water District offices, 8000 NE 52nd Court.
Best news is the states' intent to keep sport anglers on the Lower Columbia River through April 6, by boat up to Beacon Rock and bank all the way to the Bonneville Dam deadline, starting March 1. Before then, fishing is open from the Interstate 5 bridge downriver.
And, until at least a May run update, there will be no commercial fishing on the mainstem, thus no one-day sport closures.
Heavy snowpacks in the distant Rocky, Blue, Wallowa and Cascade mountains could affect fishing in both the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers if high water delays the run. Conversely, it also means good outmigration for juvenile salmon and steelhead.
Tucker Jones, ocean salmon and Columbia River program manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said "a big muddy spring might slow things down and allow us to go a little further," but probably not much before the run is updated in mid-May.
After that run update, if the 160,400 fish expected at Bonneville appears to be on track and gill-nets haven't used up their off-channel impacts, there might be a chance for a brief commercial tanglenet season in the river's mainstem.
Upriver from Bonneville, look for a mid-March to early May fishery.
Meanwhile, Jones said the outlook may be a bit dicier for the lower Willamette River, where only 40,200 spring chinook are predicted - 2,100 of them younger jack salmon, and 8,100 of the remainder expected to turn up into the Clackamas River. (The Sandy River's predicted spring return is 3,600.)
Last year's prediction of 70,100 resulted in a disappointing actual run of 49,800.
No decisions have been made about cutting back Willamette sportfishing, Jones said, adding Oregon biologists may be ready by next week's joint-state hearing to announce Willamette regulations.
There could be talk of a one-chinook daily bag limit, as has occurred in the past.
"The only decision we have made for sure is that there will be no two-rod endorsement this year on the lower Willamette," Jones said.
On the upside, Jones and his staff are modeling fall chinook predictions and this year's forecast of 582,600 is only a little behind 2016's actual return of 643,300 (although that was from a forecast of 951,300).
That means overall, fall chinook numbers may come in still "at or slightly above the long-term average," he said.
Steelhead crash? Biologists are beginning to sweat the upper Willamette winter steelhead run, which is running a dismal 25 percent or less at Willamette Falls.
Given the as-yet early date, the run may strengthen into March, but seems certain to fall far behind its normal showing regardless.
"I'm very concerned," Jones said. "I don't know if it's sea-lion related or what's going on."
The total through Thursday last week was just 300, but should have been more than 1,200 by now, Jones said.
"The river has been big and muddy and the hope is fish are just holding until conditions are more conducive to migrating," he said.
And on the plus side, Clackamas hatchery officials said Friday the season's first winter steelhead entered the trap on Valentine's Day, right on schedule.
Sturgeon retention? The number of keeper-sized sturgeon has risen sharply in the lower Columbia River since retention fishing ended in 2014.
But while biologists said earlier the lack of both undersized and large spawners remains troubling, the door hasn't entirely closed after all on a limited keeper season this year
"It's quite a conundrum from a fisheries standpoint," Jones said, adding "It's difficult to explain to anglers why they can't (keep) fish with higher numbers of legal-sized fish in the river.
During a in-depth informational review last week before the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, Jones said "I don't believe they shut the door on retention."
But neither Oregon nor Washington commissions told their staffs to move forward, either, he said.
Jones said sturgeon biologists in both states will likely talk more and brief their respective commissions.
-- Bill Monroe
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