Recreation Report
Columbia Zone
Recreation Report
May 24, 2023
If there’s not a photo, it didn’t happen
Submit your fishing photo to ODFW and we might use it here or elsewhere on MyODFW.com.
Current and upcoming fishing opportunities
- Effective Friday May 19 – Sunday June 4, spring Chinook fishing is open from Tongue Point upstream to Beacon Rock (bank and boat), plus the Oregon and Washington banks from Beacon Rock to the Bonneville Dam deadline. See regulation updates for details on open season dates, daily bag limits, and other regulations.
- Effective May 16, 2023, shad fishing is open from Buoy 10 upstream to Bonneville Dam under permanent regulations.
- Bonneville Pool, The Dalles Pool, and John Day Pool are now closed to the retention of sturgeon. Catch-and-release fishing remains open under permanent regulations.
- All other permanent rules for the Columbia River Zone, as stated in the 2023 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations, remain in effect.
Announcements
Pitch in to keep water banks clean
We wish it didn’t have to be this way. But as more anglers hit the water, more trash piles up on shore. We know it’s not your job to pick up discarded beer cans, slurpee cups, fishing line, hamburger wrappers and other trash that aren't yours. But if everyone pitched in and picked up what they saw, wouldn’t it be a nicer place to fish?
No sturgeon retention season planned for lower river
Fishery managers are not planning a sturgeon retention season in the lower river this year due to a decline in the abundance of legal size fish and low survival/recruitment of juvenile sturgeon (see Feb. 7 sturgeon fishery update report.)
2023 forecasts
2023 fisheries expectations
- Columbia River 2022 Fisheries Results and 2023 Expectations (pdf)
- Columbia River summer/fall fishery plan (pdf)
Sign up for the latest information on boater access
Marine Board’s Opportunities and Access Report incorporates information from federal and state agencies, local facility operators and fellow boaters to provide up-to-date information so boaters can decide where to recreate and what to expect this season. Subscribe to receive email updates.
Find Columbia River regulation updates for salmon, steelhead, shad and sturgeon by clicking the Regulation Updates button.
Salmon, steelhead, and shad
On Saturday’s (5/20) flight, there were 344 salmonid boats and 289 Oregon bank anglers counted from Bonneville Dam to Buoy 10.
Gorge:
Weekly checking showed no catch for one boat (one angler); and three adult Chinook and two jack Chinook kept for 30 bank anglers.
For shad, weekly checking showed three shad kept for one boat (one angler); and 23 shad kept for 13 bank anglers.
Troutdale:
Weekly checking showed five adult Chinook and one jack Chinook kept, and five adult Chinook released for 81 boats (170 anglers).
Portland to Sauvie Island:
Weekly checking showed two adult Chinook kept for 21 boats (52 anglers); and 13 adult Chinook, one jack Chinook, and one steelhead kept, and five adult Chinook released for 82 bank anglers.
Sauvie Island to Rainier:
Weekly checking showed five adult Chinook and one jack Chinook kept, and three adult Chinook released for 26 boats (70 anglers); and four adult Chinook, three jack Chinook, and two steelhead kept, and one adult Chinook released for 95 bank anglers.
Rainier to Tongue Point/Rocky Point:
Weekly checking showed 18 adult Chinook and seven jack Chinook kept, and three adult Chinook released for 37 boats (95 anglers); and one jack Chinook and one steelhead kept, and one adult Chinook, one jack Chinook, and one steelhead released for 103 bank anglers.
For shad, weekly checking showed no catch for one bank angler.
Bonneville Pool (Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam):
Weekly checking showed no catch for one boat (two anglers); and two jack Chinook kept and two adult Chinook released for nine bank anglers.
The Dalles Pool (The Dalles Dam upstream to John Day Dam):
Weekly checking showed no catch for three boats (six anglers); and 14 adult Chinook and three jack Chinook kept, and two adult Chinook released for 35 bank anglers.
John Day Pool (Columbia River above John Day Dam and John Day Arm):
Weekly checking showed six adult Chinook and one jack Chinook kept, and five adult Chinook released for 13 boats (37 anglers); and no catch for nine bank anglers.
Sturgeon
Lower Columbia River (below Bonneville Dam):
Closed to retention. No report.
Bonneville Pool:
Closed to retention. Weekly checking showed four sublegal, eight legal, and one oversize sturgeon released for three boats (seven anglers).
The Dalles Pool:
Closed to retention. Weekly checking showed two sublegal and six legal size sturgeon released for one boat (four anglers).
John Day Pool:
Closed to retention. Weekly checking showed three oversize sturgeon released for one boat (four anglers).
Walleye
Lower Columbia River (below Bonneville Dam):
No report.
Bonneville Pool:
No report.
The Dalles Pool:
Weekly checking showed 104 walleye kept for eight boats (24 anglers).
John Day Pool:
Weekly checking showed 81 walleye kept and 13 released for 12 boats (34 anglers)