Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Columbia River spring chinook

are the finest salmon in the world. Well, their summer cousins are bigger and better, and the eight-day fishing season for them begins Saturday.
Summer chinook season between the ocean and Bonneville Dam will be open through June 28. Sportsmen in the lower Columbia have a catch guideline of 1,200.
A run of 52,000 summer chinook is forecast to enter the Columbia headed for waters upstream of Priest Rapids Dam.
A sport allocation of just 1,200 may appear to be a piddly amount on a run of 52,000, and here’s why.
For spawning, 29,000 summer chinook need to pass Priest Rapids Dam in central Washington. Then the Columbia River treaty tribes get half of the available surplus.
What’s left is split between upper Columbia tribes (which do not have treaty fishing rights), upper Columbia sport fishermen, lower Columbia sport fishermen and the lower Columbia gillnetters. Fishing forum and tips

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