In Season ODFW Regulation Updates 2024

• West Puget Island to Warrior Rock: This area had closed to all salmon angling on Sept. 12 consistent with the preseason fishing plan but will now reopen Sept. 20-30 with a daily adult bag limit of two salmon (Chinook or hatchery coho, only one may be a Chinook).
• Warrior Rock/Bachelor Island line upstream to Bonneville Dam: Chinook and hatchery coho retention will remain open through Sept. 30 with a daily adult bag limit of two salmon (Chinook or hatchery coho, only one may be a Chinook).
• Bonneville Dam upstream to Hwy 395 Bridge at Pasco, WA: Chinook and hatchery coho retention will remain open until Sept. 30 with a bag limit of two salmon (Chinook or coho, only one may be a Chinook). Wild coho caught downstream of the Hood River Bridge must be released.

CLACKAMAS, Ore.—Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington added additional recreational salmon fishing days in the mainstem Columbia River during a joint state hearing yesterday afternoon.

Chinook fishing at Buoy 10, which had closed Sept. 4, will reopen from Sept. 12-22 and the daily adult bag limit will increase to three salmon (no more than one may be a Chinook). The daily adult bag limit from Sept. 23-Oct. 31 will now be three hatchery coho.

Mainstem fisheries from Warrior Rock upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, WA were scheduled to close to salmon fishing on Sept. 16 but will remain open through Sept. 22.

Area definition: From the Buoy 10 line upstream to a line at the west end of Puget Island extending from green navigation marker #39 on the Washington shore to green navigation marker #41, then to red navigation marker #42, and terminating at red navigation marker #44A on the Oregon shore:‌‌

• General regulations during fall season:‌
  • Wild coho must be released.
  • All steelhead must be released August 1 – October 31.
  • Permanent rules for size limits and retention of jacks are in place:
  • Between Buoy 10 and the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line, adult Chinook are longer than 24-inches and adult coho are 16-inches and longer.
  • Between Buoy 10 and the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line, jack retention is prohibited through September 30; Chinook jacks are not allowed if the retention of adult Chinook is closed.
  • Between Tongue Point/Rocky Point and west Puget Island, adult Chinook are longer than 24-inches and adult coho are longer than 20-inches.
  • Between Tongue Point/Rocky Point and west Puget Island, the retention of coho jacks (12–20-inches) and Chinook jacks (12–24-inches) is alloweda when retention of adult fish of those species is allowed.
  • The Tongue Point/Rocky Point line is defined as: a line projected from Rocky Point on the Washington shore through red navigation buoy #44 to the navigation marker at Tongue Point on the Oregon shore.
• Additional regulations:‌
  • Retention of sturgeon is closed. Catch-and-release fishing is allowed except in the sanctuary areas downstream from Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary dams during May 1 – August 31. The annual statewide bag limit is two fish, applicable to any/all 2024 retention fisheries.
  • August 1–29: Retention of adipose fin-clipped Chinook and hatchery coho allowed. The daily adult bag limit is two salmon, but only one may be a Chinook.
  • August 30 – September 3: Retention of Chinook and hatchery coho allowed. The daily adult bag limit is two salmon, but only one may be a Chinook.
  • September 4 – October 31: Retention of hatchery coho allowed. All Chinook must be released. The daily adult bag limit is two hatchery coho.

CLACKAMAS, Ore.—Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington took action to close salmon and steelhead fishing in the mainstem Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam as the spring Chinook allocation for this fishery has been met. 

Salmon and steelhead angling and retention will close between Bonneville Dam and the OR/WA state line (upstream of McNary Dam) at 11:59 p.m. tonight, Monday April 29. This area was originally scheduled to be open through May 2. 

• Effective March 1 – April 5, 2024: the following area, retention, and daily bag limits apply:
  • Area definition: Buoy 10 line upstream to Beacon Rock (boat and bank) plus only bank angling from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline.
    • Legal upstream boat boundary defined as: A deadline marker on the Oregon bank (approximately four miles downstream from Bonneville Dam Powerhouse One) in a straight line through the western tip of Pierce Island to a deadline marker on the Washington bank at Beacon Rock.
  • Retention allowed: open for hatchery Chinook and hatchery steelhead. Shad may also be retained.
  • Daily bag limit: two adult hatchery salmonoids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
  • All other permanent regulations apply.