This past week Columbia River fisheries mangers released their preliminary forecast for Columbia River Spring Chinook, Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook, Columbia River Summer Chinook, and Sockeye. If initial predictions hold true, we should have more fish available in just about every fishery we fish then last year. Although the forecast isn’t great by any means, what it does mean is that we will have some great opportunities to fish for some of our favorite fish of the year.
Looking at the above image there are a few key areas I want to focus on. While these numbers obviously are not “great” by any means, they do indicate that some of our favorite fisheries will have fish to catch.
The first area of the chart above I want to look at is the prediction for the Snake River Spring/Summer portion of the run. These are the fish we pay the most attention to as they return to the Clearwater, Salmon, and Hells Canyon areas. I grew up fishing our home waters for these fish, and with numbers like these we should definitely see some sort of season, although as we have seen in the past, this isn’t always the case. Hopefully enough of these fish make it up river and we can finally have a season here at home.
The second place I want to focus on is the Columbia River Summer Chinook Forecast. While this forecast is down from last years forecast it is actually higher than last year actually run. These are the summer Chinook we chase in July and Early August. This is one of of favorite fisheries, as there is nothing quite like putting the boat in with shorts and sandals. July on the upper Columbia is just a great fishery that needs to anyone’s list.
Finally let’s look at the sockeye numbers. This is probably the thing I’m most excited about. Notice the improvements in the sockeye numbers from last year. We had a great although short sockeye season last year, and with number like these we should have a full sockeye season on the upper Columbia. The other point I want to make is that we saw more small sockeye last year then I have ever seen in the upper Columbia! These were jack sockeye that came back a year early, so in my opinion this forecast is actually low, and I expect to see a bunch more sockeye then predicted. Hopefully I’m right, but regardless we have a great sockeye season ahead of us on the upper Columbia.
If anyone is interested in fishing any of these fisheries with us make sure you get in touch with us early. Often times if you wait until the actual season dates are announced we are already booked. For season that we are sure if season structures, we will pencil you in for your dates, and when the season dates are announced we will call for payment.
