Columbia Zone
Table of Contents
Recreation Report
May 15, 2024
If there’s not a photo, it didn’t happen
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Current and upcoming fishing opportunities
- Shad fishing opens May 16 below Bonneville Dam.
- Hatchery summer steelhead and hatchery jack Chinook opens May 16 from Tongue Point upstream to the I-5 Bridge.
- Hatchery Chinook opens Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19, Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27, and Wednesday, June 12 through Saturday, June 15 from Tongue Point upstream to Beacon Rock, plus bank angling only from Beacon Rock to Bonneville Dam.
- Walleye fishing has been good in The Dalles and John Day Pools.
- All permanent rules for the Columbia River Zone, as stated in the 2024 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations remain in effect.
Announcements
2024 spring-summer forecast
Fishing for cash
The Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program pays anglers for each northern pikeminnow they catch in the Columbia River. Each pikeminnow caught helps a few more juvenile salmon and steelhead make their way to sea. Read more about the program.
Fish consumption advisories
The Oregon Health Authority has issued consumption guidelines for parts of the Columbia River due to high levels of mercury and/or PCBs. Fish with these chemicals look, act, smell and taste like any other fish, so caution is important.
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
Lower Columbia River (below Bonneville Dam):
Closed for salmon and steelhead angling. No report.
Bonneville Pool (Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam):
Closed for salmon and steelhead angling. No report.
The Dalles Pool (The Dalles Dam upstream to John Day Dam):
Closed for salmon and steelhead angling. No report.
John Day Pool (Columbia River above John Day Dam and John Day Arm):
Closed for salmon and steelhead angling. No report.
Sturgeon
Lower Columbia River (below Bonneville Dam):
Closed for retention. No report.
Bonneville Pool:
Closed for retention. No report.
The Dalles Pool:
Closed for retention. Weekly checking showed two sub-legal, three legal, and four over-sized sturgeon released for one boat (three anglers).
John Day Pool:
Closed to retention. No report.
Walleye
Lower Columbia River (below Bonneville Dam):
No report.
Bonneville Pool:
Weekly checking showed three walleye kept for three boats (six anglers).
The Dalles Pool:
Weekly checking showed 67 walleye kept and 13 walleye released for 23 boats (61 anglers).
John Day Pool:
Weekly checking showed 40 walleye kept and seven walleye released for 17 boats (36 anglers); and no catch for one bank angler.
Regulation Updates
Regulation updates as of April 29, 2024.
The following regulations reflect changes or additions to the permanent regulations listed in the 2024 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations. All other permanent regulations remain in effect. Please see e-regulations.
Salmon, steelhead, and shad
Buoy 10 upstream to Bonneville Dam
- Effective March 1 – April 11, 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 salmonids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
- All other permanent regulations 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.
Bonneville Dam upstream to the Oregon/Washington State Line (upstream of McNary Dam)
- Effective April 1 – April 29, 2024: the following area, retention, and daily bag limits apply:
- Area definition: Tower Island power lines (approximately six miles downstream of The Dalles Dam) upstream to Oregon/Washington state line, plus the Oregon and Washington banks between Bonneville Dam and the Tower Island power lines.
- Retention allowed: open for hatchery Chinook and hatchery steelhead.
- Daily bag limit: two adult hatchery salmonids (Chinook or steelhead) per day, but only one may be a Chinook.
- All other permanent regulations apply.
Select Area Recreational Fisheries
- Effective March 1 – June 15, 2024: On days when the mainstem Columbia River recreational fishery below Bonneville Dam is open to retention of Chinook, the salmonid daily bag limit in Oregon and Washington Select Areas will be the same as mainstem Columbia River bag limits. On days when the mainstem Columbia River recreational fishery below Bonneville Dam is closed to Chinook retention, the permanent salmonid bag limit regulations for Select Areas apply.
Sturgeon
See 2024 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations for legal size, daily and annual bag limits and sanctuary closure areas.
Columbia River Mainstem and Reservoirs, Buoy 10 to McNary Dam
- Except as listed below, 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.
Retention fisheries for sturgeon in Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day pools are closed for the remainder of 2024.
COLUMBIA RIVER COMPACT ACTION NOTICES