2015 Lower Willamette Spring Chinook Fishery

Just found this on the ODFW Willamette Falls website:

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/fish_counts/willamette/2015/15_chs_will_summaries.pdf

It's a weekly status report on Spring Chinook harvest on various section of the Willamette River.  Includes fish kept, released, and anger trip counts, on a weekly basis.  Some interesting stats -> over 1700 "angler trips" to yield 80 keepers in the lower Willamette last week.

-Sam

Do you know what the different areas are? I.e. what is lower river, middle river, etc.?

I don't know - usually I've seen reference to upper/lower, with the falls being the demarcation.

-Sam

The title of the document is "2015 Lower Willamette Spring Chinook Fishery" which is a reference to the entire stretch of river below the falls. 

After that they split the lower Willamette into three areas (upper, middle, and lower). I don't know the exact cutoffs, but it's probably more based on where the counters are stationed and not the actual location you fish.

The upper in this case is the Oregon City area. 
The middle area is going to include areas like Sellwood and Downtown/Hawthorne Bridge.
The lower area is the St. John's area.   

153 fish caught for 3900 anglers. 4% success rate. Still early.

Though the success rate is low, this is the time of year when the bigger fish are caught.  Something to think about if you're on the fence about heading out.

-Mark-

I like big fish but size doesn't always matter...I guess. Heres some numbers I like looking at & just reconfirms that there's potential for everyone who takes that first step & drops their line in the water. Always believing.

I emailed ODFW and asked about the surveys last year. I don't remember exactly where the divide between lower and middle was, but I think it was the Hawthorne Bridge, and the division between middle and upper is the Milwaukie RR bridge. Willamette Falls is the upper boundary. The surveys are carried out by boat and by air for the most part.

I emailed ODFW and asked about the surveys last year. I don't remember exactly where the divide between lower and middle was, but I think it was the Hawthorne Bridge, and the division between middle and upper is the Milwaukie RR bridge. Willamette Falls is the upper boundary. The surveys are carried out by boat and by air for the most part.

Thanks!

I dug up the old email:

Mr. Case,
The Willamette catch estimates are divided into the following sections:
Lower River: St. Johns Bridge downstream to Mouth at Kelley Point and includes all of the Multnomah Channel (head of the channel down to mouth at St. Helens)
Middle River: St. Johns Bridge upstream to the Oak Grove/Milwaukie Railroad Bridge
Upper River: Oak Grove/Milwaukie Railroad Bridge upstream to the deadline below the Falls

The weekly estimates are not just actual contacts but are estimates based on two components: 1) estimated total effort which is derived from one weekday and one weekend flight to count total boats on the water combined with shore based counts 7 days/week along with a separate count of bank rods in the upper section (we do not estimate salmonid catch from bank anglers in the lower sections since the majority of the salmonid bank effort occurs in the upper section) 2) an average catch per angler trip which is stratified by section and angling method (boat or bank) which is from our creel sampling.  Our goal is to sample 20% of the total catch and effort for a given section each week.   

The likelihood of you getting checked will depend on which boat ramp you use especially for the area you are fishing.  We primarily sample at the Willamette Park boat ramp for the middle river because that is where the majority of the effort in this section launches and is also where the shore side effort count is made.  We do sample at the Milwaukie boat ramp and Cedar Oak, but not every day.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.


Kevleen Melcher
Ocean Salmon/Columbia River Program
17330 SE Evelyn St.
Clackamas, OR 97015
[email protected]
971-673-6030 Office (Mon-Thur 8:30-4:30)
971-673-6072 Fax

Thanks for the clarification on the lower Willamette boundaries - interesting information.

Guess I'll wait a little while longer to hit the lower river, rain storms over the past two days have led to a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Advisory:  http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/article/522604.

-Sam

Thanks for the clarification on the lower Willamette boundaries - interesting information.

Guess I'll wait a little while longer to hit the lower river, rain storms over the past two days have led to a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Advisory:  http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/article/522604.

-Sam

Glad we don't have that problem here what a load of carp! Sewer overflow