elstunar:
**edit**just now saw Roger posted basically the same thing before i hit post
--- Quote from: Dungydog on September 26, 2025, 06:41:06 AM ---I'm hoping to make it out there next week.
Upstream of the falls for coho is barbless artificial lures only.
--- End quote --- I'm not as familiar with this area as some so I'm just trying to find the actual regs. In the E-regs (https://www.eregulations.com/oregon/fishing/willamette-zone) I'm seeing:
Salmon above Willamette Falls: Angling is restricted to artificial flies and lures in streams. See Exceptions where use of bait is allowed. Harvest of wild salmon is prohibited in the Willamette Zone unless noted under Exceptions. There is no annual limit on hatchery salmon as long as the appropriate number of Hatchery Harvest Tags have been purchased to record the catch.
Then when I scroll down to the Willamette River (Mainstem) section I see:
Willamette Falls to Hwy 20 bridge in Albany
Open all year for hatchery Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and hatchery steelhead. Open for white sturgeon 1 per day and 2 per year, 38 inch minimum and 54 inch maximum fork length. Use of bait allowed.
So I'm either confused or not seeing where barbless + artificial only applies to this section?
Beer_Run:
I have landed two, lost two so far this year. Last year it got pretty good in early Oct. It is two poles, barbs ok, 2 fish, any coho or wild chinook. Unless regs specifically call out barbless pretty sure they are ok.
Nice to have some peaceful time on the water after battling B10, Mouth of the Lewis and Drano. Very high quality fish. Size and condition.
C_Run:
As a matter of fact, I rode the Buena Vista ferry yesterday and asked the operator if he had seen any salmon rolling. Indeed he had.
I just looked at the stats for 2024 vs 2025 for this approximate date. About 30,000 coho above the falls in '24 vs about 3500 so far this year counting jacks, so about a tenth as many as last year by this date.
craig:
--- Quote from: Beer_Run on September 26, 2025, 07:58:21 AM ---I have landed two, lost two so far this year. Last year it got pretty good in early Oct. It is two poles, barbs ok, 2 fish, any coho or wild chinook. Unless regs specifically call out barbless pretty sure they are ok.
Nice to have some peaceful time on the water after battling B10, Mouth of the Lewis and Drano. Very high quality fish. Size and condition.
--- End quote ---
Hatchery Chinook not wild.
I fished it last weekend. Very few out trying and I saw no fish rolling. I will try again this weekend.
Dungydog:
Jeezus christmas, ignore my previous response, evidently I was citing old regulations.
If ODFW can clearly outline the regs for LEO to enforce then how come it's so convoluted for fishermen, ChatGPT, and ForaFrank alike? We're smart people with the best AI tools, it should not be this difficult.