Anglers working the buoy 10 fishery on the bottom end of the Columbia River will be given extra opportunity to boat and keep chinook on Sept. 4-5, as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will lift the mark-selective rule on kings for those two days. Buoy 10 is scheduled to close for chinook retention Sept. 6, but will remain open for hatchery coho.
The daily limit on Sept. 4-5, according to WDFW biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver, will be two, of which only one may be a chinook, hatchery or wild. Only one hatchery steelhead may be retained. Release all salmon other than chinook and fin-clipped coho.
Hymer said the better bet will probably be just above or just below the Astoria bridge, rather than down by buoy 10 or at the upper boundary, the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line. Hymer said he would probably try herring or anchovy first, then a spinner, and as a last resort, Brad’s Super Bait.
The reason for the increased opportunity is that the chinook catch has been lower than expected in the buoy 10 fishery to date. Removing the clipped fin requirement should provide a larger harvest.
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