nwsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2019 Northwest Sportsman 51
W
hen I
think
about
underutilized salm-
on runs, it’s the
coho fishery at the
mouth of the Co-
lumbia that comes
to mind most often.
Given the season
restrictions that will follow Chinook as they
migrate to and above Buoy 10 this year, an-
glers should give these fish a chance. Af-
ter all, with 611,000 entering the river, I’m
thinking anglers should vacate their trout,
kokanee and walleye hot spots and chase
coho salmon this fall.
Columbia coho are divided into two
distinct groups, “early” and “late” stocks.
Early-returning coho, which forage in the
ocean off the Oregon and south Washing-
ton Coasts, return to the river from the first
week of August through September. The
late fish come back from mid-September
through December, with peak migration
occurring during the mid-October time-
frame. In case you don’t know, late coho
tend to migrate north from the Columbia,
spending their saltwater time foraging off
Washington and southern British Columbia.
The ocean abundance estimate for
both stocks was 900,000 adults, with half
a million of those early coho and roughly
350,000 late silvers. Of course that figure
was for before ocean fisheries had been
executed, which will reduce the number
returning to the Columbia to 600,000 coho,
but it’s still quite a bit higher than 2018,
when only 286,000 actually came back.
According to Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife fish manager Tucker
Jones, the restricted Chinook fishery has
been modeled to allow for a full coho sea-
son, not only at Buoy 10 but throughout
the Columbia system. So even though we
will see in-season closures for Chinook,BUZZ
RAMSEYGive 600,000 Coho
A Chance
COLUMN
Coho fishing opportunities at Buoy 10 and the Lower
Columbia should last well into September as a solid
run of late-returning silvers will follow on half a
million early-timed fish. (BUZZ RAMSEY)