Columbia river salmon fishing – Jones Sport Fishing

July 14, 2025July 14, 2025

Experience World-Class Chinook Salmon Fishing at Buoy 10 – Book Your Guided Trip from Astoria, Oregon

If you’ve ever dreamed of battling a hard-fighting salmon on the legendary Columbia River, August is the time to make it happen — and Astoria, Oregon is the place. Every year, the Buoy 10 fishing season draws anglers from across the country to take part in one of the most productive and exciting salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest.

And this year? It’s shaping up to be epic.

2025 Salmon Forecast: A Season to Remember

This August, nearly 750,000 fall Chinook salmon are expected to return to the mouth of the Columbia River. That’s right — three-quarters of a million Chinook will surge past Buoy 10, offering prime opportunities for anglers looking to hook into these powerful, ocean-bright fish.

Alongside this massive Chinook run, 350,000 coho salmon are also forecasted to enter the system — making 2025 one of the most promising salmon seasons in years.

If you’ve been thinking about booking a guided fishing trip out of Astoria, now is the time.

Why Fish Buoy 10 in August?

Buoy 10, located where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean, is famous for its unmatched access to fresh-run fall Chinook and coho salmon. These fish stack up near the mouth of the river, feeding aggressively before heading upriver to spawn.

Astoria serves as the gateway to this fishery, making it the perfect launching point for your Columbia River salmon fishing trip. During August, the action is fast and furious, with many anglers catching limits before noon.

Whether you’re chasing a 25+ pound Chinook or a feisty, fast-jumping coho, Buoy 10 offers unforgettable fishing experiences — especially when you’re out with an experienced guide.

Guided Salmon Fishing Trips from Astoria with Jones Sport Fishing

At Jones Sport Fishing, we specialize in fully guided salmon trips during the Buoy 10 fishing season. Our expert captains have years of experience fishing these waters, and we know where to be — and when — to give you the best chance at success.

What to expect when you book a guided fishing trip in Astoria with us:

Safe, clean, and fully-equipped boats
Professional, friendly fishing guides
Top-tier rods, reels, and tackle
Up-to-date knowledge on current salmon movement
Instruction and support for all skill levels
A great day on the water — and fish to take home!

We cater to everyone — from hardcore anglers to families and first-timers. Our Astoria Oregon fishing guides are passionate about helping you create memories and land fish you’ll be proud of.

Don’t Miss the Peak Season – Book Your Buoy 10 Fishing Trip Today

Because of the strong salmon returns and limited season, guided fishing trips at Buoy 10 fill up fast. With a run of this size expected, now is the time to secure your spot before it’s too late.

👉 Check out our calendar: We Have Three Boats in Astoria this year, So chances are we have the date you want!

Or give us a call and let’s talk fishing.

Whether you’re chasing the fish of a lifetime or just want an incredible day on the water with friends or family, Jones Sport Fishing will get you there.

Tight lines,
The Jones Sport Fishing Team
Your go-to source for Buoy 10 salmon fishing guides

July 14, 2025

Upper Columbia River Chinook Opener!

This is the news we have been waiting for! Due to an initial run prediction that did not provide enough Summer Chinook to provide a recreational fishery for the upper Columbia we have not had our usual Summer Chinook Salmon season here in the Upper Columbia, but last week managers met and due to a better return than anticipated we will see a Summer Chinook Fishery open on July 16, 2025.

Check out the link to the emergency rules here https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/emergency-rules/hanford-reach-and-upper-columbia-river-salmon-fishery-updates-2025-07

Starting Wednesday July 16 and running on the current 4 day a week schedule for salmon fishing we will be able to keep one adult Hatchery Chinook in addition to 2 sockeye. Salmon fishing is currently only open Wednesday – Saturday, and Chinook will only be open from Rocky Reach Dam to Wells Dam.

We are beyond excited to be able to have some Chinook fishing on this section of river, as we have become known for providing the opportunity to catch both Chinook and Sockeye during the same day. Currently we have open dates. Check out the calendar below to see our open dates.

June 13, 2022June 14, 2022

It’s almost July, and that means Summer Chinook and Sockeye

The month of July will find us on the Upper Columbia River chasing summer Chinook and Sockeye. This is such a great opportunity as we have the best limits of the year. 2 adult chinook in addition to 2 sockeye is our daily limit. We often catch both Chinook and Sockeye on these trips, and there is nothing better than salmon fishing in July. Such a great time of year as we ditch the rain gear for shorts and sandals, and get a full day of fishing in before it gets too hot.

We have openings for this fantastic fishing, so don’t hesitate to contact us and let’s get you summer plans all set up.

July 5, 2021

Upper Columbia Summer Of Salmon! Hot weather equals Hot Fishing!

Last week our Summer Chinook and Sockeye season opened on the Upper Columbia, and fishing was absolutely on fire! Opening day was one of the absolute best opening day’s we can remember! We had two boats out and early limits where the name of the game. while the rest of the season won’t be quite as on fire as the first two days we will see consistently great fishing for the rest of the month of July.

We are seeing great success trolling both super baits and 3.5 Colorado spinners behind 11 inch 360 style flashers. One of our keys is to really watch out speed and make sure our rods are thumping at about a 1 thump per second interval. It’s a little hard to explain, but this action really leads to more fish in the boat. For this reason we run cannon ball droppers and skip out on the downriggers. Also by running cannonball lead we are able to let all our customers drop lines and be part of the action.

We still have some open dates mid month, so don’t hesitate to give us a call and book your trip. These fish are amazing and we would love to share this experience with you. Enjoy the pictures below, the smiling faces and big fish tell the story. The Upper Columbia Summer of Salmon is an experience you need to be part of.

August 24, 2020

Buoy 10 update, only a few days left to go!

Today marks the start of our final week chasing Fall Chinook and Coho in the Columbia River estuary for 2020. This has been an awesome season so far, and it has been a pleasure to spend some great days on the water with such great people. Our customers are the absolute best and our business would not be growing without their support.

While we have seen some amazing fishing, this season has also had plenty of challenges. We have had some days where we struggled to get fish only to have our day saved in the 9th inning, and other days that we just couldn’t quite come up with the magic formula. Some years this fishery is difficult and this is one of those years, but despite having to work extra hard for fish this year the payday is seeing a 30 pound black and chrome specimen hit the deck.

With the tides setting up great it’s looking like we will have the opportunity to end our season with a bang. The next few days we get soft tides, and great fishing should follow.

While this season is winding down others are just starting to ramp up! We are beyond excited to get back to our side of the mountains and chase fall chinook and steelhead in our favorite fisheries. September will find us both on the Hanford Reach and at the Confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. We consider both of these locations to be home waters, and we are so looking forward to this season.

Once fall is officially here and the nighttime temps get crisp, you will know October has arrived. October will find us fishing for fall Chinook and steelhead on two of our favorite rivers. The Clearwater and Snake Rivers in October are two rivers everyone should have a chance to fish. We will be targeting the 1-2 punch while side drifting small baits on light rods for both acrobatic steelhead and hard pulling Fall Chinook.

We still have openings during both September and October, and with access to some of the best guides in the inland northwest we can find a way to get you on the water almost every day.

September 23, 2019

Hanford Reach Fall Chinook Report

It’s been a full week straight of fishing for us on our 2019 Hanford Reach Fall Chinook season. This week has seen its ups and downs, but we are definitely on fish and we have had the opportunity to limit each of the past 4 days, some days we have pulled it off and other days we came in a fish or two short.

This is one of our absolute favorite fisheries of the year, and there is nothing quite like spending an early fall day on the Hanford Reach. The weather this time of year makes for some amazing days spent on the water.

All our fish have been coming on the downstream troll. We have been doing equally well on both superbaits and spinners pulled behind pro troll flasher.

Our program goes roughly as follows, remember there are a lot of times we may fish deeper or shallower depending on the situation. Bow rods with 12oz at 30′ (these often start much shallower, but when water depth allows we run these suspended all day) middle rods 12oz at the same depth as the bottom (if it’s 35 feet deep these rods are run at 35 and so on) back rods 10oz at 10 feet deeper than the bottom depth ( if in 35 Feet the line counter is at 45 and so on).

We also still have some openings for this year. Our open dates for Kyle’s Boat are as follows.

September:

29,30 3 open seats.

October:

1, 4 open boat

5th 3 seats

7th 4 seats

8th 5 seats

9th open boat

10th 2 seats

15th open boat

September 21, 2018

Hanford Reach Fall Chinook

We are just absolutely in love with these awesome fall Chinook from the Hanford Reach! We will be here through the 15th of October! We have open boats!