The Springers are coming! The Springers are coming! The Springers are coming! Also, details have been released on the official season (outside of any emergency closures). I’ve additionally added a “Springer watch” section keeping track of temps and dam counts
If your heart skipped a beat as you clicked on this article, you may be a Springer junky like me! Each year my family (and some friends) and I spend several days on the Columbia River targeting the tastiest of all salmon: The Columbia River Springer.
My family doesn’t even like to fish with me most of the time, but they know they have a duty to perform, and that’s to be on the boat with a license, and maybe handle a rod or fish or two. Love you fam!
So I’m scrolling through one of my social feeds, and I come across an article by Northwest Sportsmans they mention the Springer forecast and it’s actually good news for once! I mean finally, right?
Here’s the deal: There are about 122k Springers expected back to tribs above the dam and almost 2x the quota of mortalities allowed below Bonneville. We may even get a fishable run on some lower rivers which would be epic and very welcome.
Springer Watch
As of 3/2/2022, we’ve got only 2 adult chinook over the Willamette and 0 over Bonneville. Temps in the river are around 38-39 degrees, but some more promising warming forecasts in eastern WA over the next week or two.
2022 Columbia River Springer Season
Here are some excerpts from the WDFW email
OLYMPIA – Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon on Wednesday approved this year’s spring Chinook recreational fishing season for the Columbia River, with some improvement to expected returns compared to 2021.
The 2022 forecast for upriver spring Chinook numbers is 122,900 fish, which would be the highest return since 2016 and above the 91,756 fish that returned last year, although only 81 percent of the 10-year average of about 152,300 fish.
Salmon fishing is currently open daily to fishing from the mouth of the Columbia River to the Interstate-5 bridge, but spring Chinook usually don’t arrive in large numbers until late March and April.
The river will be open for the following dates and locations:
March 1 through April 6: From Buoy 10 line upstream to Beacon Rock (boat and bank), plus bank angling by hand-cast only from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline.
April 1 through May 5: From the Tower Island power lines (approximately 6 miles below The Dalles Dam) upstream to the Oregon/Washington border, plus bank angling by hand-cast only between Bonneville Dam and the Tower Island power lines.
The allowable catch plus release mortalities of upriver spring Chinook for this season’s fishery below Bonneville Dam is 3,913 (2,206 in 2021) adults and above Bonneville Dam is 559 (315 in 2021) adults. The projected recreational fishing harvest in 2022 is 5,179 (upriver and lower river spring Chinook) for the fishery below Bonneville and 524 above Bonneville. Managers will monitor the fisheries, dam counts, and hatchery returns and adjust as necessary in-season, with the run-size update typically occurring mid-May.
Unlike the past several years, the lower river mainstem is open for spring Chinook fishing thanks to higher projected returns to several lower-river tributaries that are predicted to meet their corresponding escapement goals. The Cowlitz River is expected to see 4,000 spring Chinook return, the Lewis River is expected to see 2,300 fish return, and the Kalama River is expected to see 2,000 fish return.
In the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis rivers, anglers can expect opportunity to harvest hatchery spring Chinook this season. The Lewis will follow fishing rules published in current Washington sport fishing rules pamphlet. The Cowlitz and Kalama rivers have updated regulations to help ensure broodstock collection goals are met and are as follows:
Cowlitz River – March 1 through April 30: from the mouth up to 400 feet below the Barrier Dam, the salmon daily limit will be 6 fish; up to 1 adult salmon may be retained. Only hatchery Chinook and hatchery coho may be retained. Effective May 1 until further notice, salmon angling closed.
Kalama River – March 1 until further notice: from the mouth upstream to 1,000 feet below the fishway at Kalama Falls Hatchery, the salmon daily limit is 6 fish; up to 1 adult may be retained. Only hatchery Chinook and hatchery coho may be retained.
Getting prepared for Springers!
So what should you be doing now to get ready? Let’s start with a basic question: Do you have the gear you need to hit this fishery hard when it’s on?
Head over to my Springer Fishing on the Columbia River page. Refresh your knowledge of the techniques and gear you need. I mostly highlight the trolling technique, but I may do some more anchoring with plugs this year as well.
Are you ready to watch temps and dam counts? Because that’s what matters for predicting the start of this awesome fishery. Here’s the temperature link. We want to see temps above 45 ideally, which means we need some consistently warm weather in Eastern WA.
Dam counts? Check out this page. By the middle of March, we should all be paying close attention. They are predicting the run to last until April 6th, but that prediction isn’t worth much. If the temps spike those fish will come in and the quota will get ground up before April 1st.
Because of the popularity of this fishery and the low quotas, it’s not one where you can afford to wait. As soon as it’s go time, you need to go. If you can score a few fish each day for your crew you are doing great.