Before the spring and summer salmon seasons get announced on the Columbia we get to review the final tally of the 2023 returns and the 2024 forecast.
Credit NWSportsman for publishing the numbers provided by WDFW and ODFW which I’ve taken the liberty to store in my burgeoning database to provide these fine visualizations throughout this article.
Feel free to use the below table-of-contents to skip around to your favorite river or forecast.
Columbia River Springer 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
It does appear that our spring chinook abundance trend on the Columbia River has crested in 2022.
The 2023 forecast was significantly off from the actual returns.
If you fished the 2023 spring chinook run on the Columbia, you know that the excitement and expectations didn’t translate to the actual angling experience.
We had a really good week just prior to the first closure, but earlier in mid-late March, fishing conditions and catch were quite challenging.
It does appear that 2024 is shaping up to be a similar experience, making it super important to be flexible enough to go fishing when the springers really push in.
You can read about our approach to fishing for springers on the Columbia River here.
Also, feel free to take a look at our video of springer tips below:
Here’s the related graphs for lower river, all upriver returns above Bonneville Dam and the far upper reaches:
Lower Columbia River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
Upriver Columbia River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
Upper Columbia River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
Columbia River Summer Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The far upper reaches of the Columbia River are the destination of the summer chinook run that’s expected to come in slightly below the actual return in 2023.
Lower Columbia River Tributary Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
Now that we’ve taken a look at the numbers for the big river, let’s take a look at a few popular lower tributaries.
Willamette River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The most important Columbia River tributary below Bonneville Dam is the Willamette River, which usually contributes a significant portion of the lower river return of Spring Chinook.
The forecast is reduced from 2023 but still exceeds the actual 2023 returns.
Cowlitz River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The Cowlitz River was a bit disappointing this year, even though I was fortunate to get a springer out of here plunking the lower river.
I also fished some prime days of the season with nothing to show for it. Seeing the 2024 forecast come in well below the actual return in 2023 is not encouraging.
Lewis River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
Kalama River Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The Kalama River appears to be the only lower tributary that exceeded the 2023 forecast, but as you can see the 2024 forecast seems to be in line with the other rivers’ reduced trend.
Columbia River Tributaries above Bonneville Dam 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
Let’s take a look at a few of the tributaries above Bonneville to see what’s expected upriver.
Snake River Summer Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The Snake River is expected to have a reduced run of Spring/Summer Chinook in 2024 compared to 2023.
Drano Lake Spring Chinook 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The Drano Lake forecast is also reduced in 2024, which is unfortunate given the popularity of this fishery.
Columbia Basin Sockeye 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
While most of these forecasts are somewhere between “bad news” and “meh”, the expectations for sockeye in 2024 are far more encouraging.
Okanogan River Sockeye 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The Okanogan River Sockeye make up the majority of Columbia River Sockeye returns, so seeing a forecast between the epic returns of 2022 and the still robust 2023 return is quite encouraging.
Lake Wenatchee Sockeye 2023 Returns and 2024 Forecast
The forecast skill for sockeye seems to be a work in progress, but we see here the Lake Wenatchee forecast for 2024 on a continued upward trajectory compared to 2022 and 2023, but still below the actual returns of those prior 2 years.
