Fall chinook numbers update
Approximately 1.2 million adult fall chinook will have entered the Columbia River by the time the counting is done in December.
Robin Ehlke of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife told the Columbia River Compact the return is anticipated to include 832,500 “upriver brights” and 69,000 chinook destined for Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery in Skamania County.
Tallying the fall chinook returns to lower Columbia River tributaries takes more time and includes hatchery counts and spawning ground surveys.
Sportsmen at Buoy 10 caught 28,000 chinook. Anglers between Tongue Point and Bonneville Dam will have caught about 38,000 chinook. Fishermen between Bonneville Dam and the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco are projected to harvest about 14,000 chinook.
