Fishing: The Buoy 10 salmon fishery near the mouth of the Columbia River got off to a characteristically slow start Aug. 1, but is expected to pick up in the days ahead. Meanwhile, anglers continue to reel in hatchery steelhead from waters both above and below Bonneville Dam.
Salmon were scarce during the first few days of fishing at Buoy 10, but that's not uncommon for that fishery, said Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist. "Buoy 10 often starts slow, then ramps up quickly and peaks around late August," he said. "I expect we'll see a similar pattern this year."
To track the fishery's progress, anglers can check daily catch-sampling summaries posted on WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regions/reg5/buoy10.htm . The site also includes links to area web cameras, along with marine forecasts and information on water temperatures and salinity.
Under this year's rules, anglers will have the entire month of August - plus Labor Day (Sept. 1) - to catch and retain chinook salmon 16 miles downriver from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line to the mouth of the Columbia. There's a limit of two salmon per day, of which only one may be a chinook. Wild coho, chum and sockeye must be released.
With 32 days to catch and keep chinook at Buoy 10, anglers should do considerably better there this year than last, when the retention season was limited to just 12 days, Hymer said. On the other hand, anglers will be required to release all chinook salmon intercepted from Rocky Point/Tongue Point to Bonneville Dam, except during a retention fishery set for September 1-16.
Fishing seasons for both areas were designed to conserve ESA-listed chinook salmon bound for the Lewis and Snake rivers, while focusing fishing effort on abundant upriver brights returning to hatcheries above Bonneville and wild fish headed for the Hanford Reach, said Cindy LeFleur, WDFW Columbia River policy coordinator.
"The goal is to target those healthy upriver hatchery stocks, which tend to bite well when they first enter the river," LeFleur said. "We're also expecting a strong return of chinook reared in net pens in select areas throughout the lower river."
In all, 376,800 adult fall chinook are expected to return to the Columbia River this year, compared to 219,600 last year.