After some time off from fishing every day for Fall Chinook and Coho in the fall of 2022, it’s time to get fish back on the brain. We have very exciting news for this year, as we are expecting some huge runs on nearly all Columbia River species. First order of business is our Spring Chinook run!
Spring Chinook are the most prized of all of the NW salmon. The fat content that these fish retain are only rivaled by a couple other species that run the Columbia River. What makes these fish so delicious is the fact that they have hundreds of river miles to travel before getting to their spawning grounds. But they don’t just spawn and die off right away after getting there. They actually will hang out for another 6 months depleting their fat supply to grow their reproductive organs. This is what makes “springers” so fatty. And we all know, fat is flavor.
Catching a fresh Columbia River Spring Chinook is a treasure that anglers from all around cherish. Anglers come from great distances just to have a chance to catch one to bring home and eat. Springers are definitely one of my favorites, and even I get super excited to catch my first one of the year.
The Spring Chinook season is forecasted to the highest returning number of fish since 2014. Columbia salmon managers are expecting an overall return of 307,800 Spring Chinook back to the Columbia this year! That’s up from the 2022 forecast of 197,000, which the actual return was 274,945! Ocean conditions have been stellar the past 3 years and also the outgoing flow of the Columbia has been great as well. This is the recipe we need for great salmon and steelhead runs on the west coast.
Another shining light is the amount of Spring Chinook that are expected to return to the Columbia’s tributaries. 71,000 Spring Chinook are set to return to the Willamette River this year which is up for 50k last year!
Expectations are also up for the Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, Wind, Drano, and Yakima Rivers compared to the 2022 forecasts. Overall, the Spring Chinook run this year looks to be not one to miss! If you’ve never caught and eaten a Spring Chinook, you don’t know what you’re missing!
This year, we are most excited to fish The Willamette, Wind River, Lewis River and Drano Lake. Once fish counts increase over Bonneville Dam, we can actually see when the best time to hit Wind River and Drano Lake are. Historically it’s always the last week of April through the first two weeks of May.
Just before that timeframe, we will be jumping in between the Lewis River and Willamette. The Lewis River is finally getting back to its glory days of being able to catch great numbers of Spring Chinook in a small river setting. The Lewis River is my home river and having spent thousands of days on it, I fortunately know where the fish are hiding on any given condition.
After we beat up Spring Chinook for three months straight, we are also very excited for our Summer Chinook, Summer Steelhead, and Sockeye Salmon runs. All of which are forecasted to be above average for 2023. I’ll post a blog in the future on those runs and how they are shaping up but get your seats early for the best possible dates. Looking forward to seeing all of you on the water!
